Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Arts topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances bill allowing K–12 students to participate in film productions with limits and teacher supervision
Summary
House Bill 442 (LC492237) would permit students to participate in film productions with on-set certified teachers, set a 25-school-day cap on participation (subject to local discretion), and require local school approval; the committee advanced the bill.
The House Education Committee advanced House Bill 442 (LC492237), a bill intended to allow K–12 students to participate in film and television productions while protecting academic progress.
Representative Reese presented the bill and said it responds to parent concerns about students losing too much class time when cast in film productions. The bill permits student participation when a certified teacher provides instruction on set and requires approval by the student’s local school administrator. The draft contains a 25-school-day cap on aggregate participation; committee members discussed whether that cap should be a firm statewide limit or whether local school systems should have discretion to exceed it. Legislative counsel noted that if the statute imposes a “shall not exceed 25 days” cap, it would need language providing exceptions; leaving the statute silent would preserve greater local discretion.
Representative Reese said the bill’s intent is to both protect academics and create opportunity: “This is introducing them to the arts. This is allowing them to engage in the film industry,” he said. Committee members praised the plan for requiring certified teachers on set and for aligning with practices in other states. One member asked whether the certified teacher model included periodic academic check-ups; the sponsor said the certified teacher would follow standards and that local administrators should have discretion on timelines for completion of missed work. Another member asked how many students currently exceed a 10-day participation threshold; the sponsor said she did not have that number and did not expect the cohort to be large.
The committee moved and voted to advance the bill. Committee discussion signaled openness to further technical changes (for example, to clarify whether local districts can authorize more than 25 days). The transcript shows the committee recorded voice votes but does not include numerical roll-call tallies.
