Senate Advances School Community Councils Bill After Technical Amendments

Senate Bill 167, which consolidates and clarifies the role of school-based community councils and the use of trust-land money at the school level, cleared a key Senate hurdle on Feb. 27 after legislators approved several technical amendments.

Senator Wright, sponsor of the measure, said the bill combines multiple existing committees — trust-lands committees, reading-improvement and professional-development bodies — into a single, elected community council at each school site. The councils are advisory, will prioritize parent representation over employees, and must preserve student confidentiality.

Amendments adopted on the floor clarified that community councils are advisory only, limited councils’ access to identifiably private student data, designated school principals as ex-officio voting members, and created a mechanism for the local board to appoint members if too few parents run in an election. Senator Gladwell emphasized the bill’s intent to preserve local policy-making authority while encouraging greater parent engagement.

Supporters said the changes reflect stakeholder input from PTA, school superintendents and trust-lands administrators; the sponsor noted PTA had reviewed proposed amendments and that the committee sought to balance parental involvement with classroom professional control. With the amendments adopted, the Senate voted to move SB167 to third reading by a voice/roll-call count (27 ayes, 0 nays at the time reported). Advocates said the next step would be continued outreach and clarification at the school-district level before final enactment.

The bill leaves in place protections for student privacy and requires councils to produce spending plans for trust-land proceeds, which remain subject to school-board approval.