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Votes at a glance: Education Committee advances eight measures including reporting, parental notice, discipline protections
Summary
The Education Committee advanced a package of bills by voice vote: SB 235 (technical reporting changes), SB 389 (parental notice on certain curriculum topics), SB 394 (school safety), SB 407 (SRO MOUs and training), SB 502 (suspension/expulsion limits for foster and IDEA students), SB 349 (science-of-reading incentives), HB 14303 (transportation funding companion), and HB 1389 (foresters scholarship).
At a regularly scheduled meeting, the Senate Education Committee considered and advanced multiple bills. Several measures had brief floor-level presentations and were approved by voice vote after sponsor remarks and committee questions.
- SB 235: Sponsored by Senator Jane English, this was described as a largely technical bill moving reporting duties to the Department of Education; the committee voted "do pass" by voice vote.
- SB 389: Senator Ballinger said the bill requires parental notice and the opportunity for parents to view curriculum when instruction covers sexual orientation, gender identity or similar topics; staff said definitions had been incorporated; committee approved by voice vote.
- SB 502: The bill narrows when school districts may impose out-of-school suspension or expulsion and explicitly extends protections to students in foster care and students with individualized education programs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, while allowing discipline in cases posing physical risk or serious disruption; committee advanced the measure.
- HB 14303: Companion language for enhanced transportation funding was presented as unchanged from prior discussion and approved by voice vote.
All the bills listed above were advanced by the committee by voice vote; transcripts record sponsor motions and chair calls for "ayes" and "noes" but do not show roll-call tallies.
