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Senate committee sends substitute House Bill 206 to rules after amendments on expulsions, data and funding
Summary
The committee favorably reported a substitute for House Bill 206 after adopting amendments requiring demographic reporting on expelled students, adding temporary funding for school choice administration, offering targeted reprieves for community schools facing closure and improving access to seizure medication in schools.
The Senate Education Committee voted to favorably report a substitute for House Bill 206 to the committee on rules and reference after a multi‑hour sequence of amendments and roll calls. Committee members adopted amendments that touch on expelled‑student reporting, school funding and health‑and‑safety procedures in schools.
Vice Chair O’Brien moved AM 3386‑1 to require public schools to include specified demographic data on expelled students and to transmit those data to the Department of Education and Workforce. “As requested by the Department of Education and Workforce, this amendment will increase the line item regarding school choice administration in fiscal year 2025,” Vice Chair O’Brien said when offering related budget language under AM 3387‑1. The chair noted the department already collects some data but said the amendment would expand publicly available information about expelled students by district, age and other demographics.
The committee also adopted an amendment providing a two‑year option for community schools that would otherwise face automatic closure, allowing an extension for schools meeting improvement criteria over two additional years. The sponsor described the change as an initial framework intended for community schools with the possibility of broader application in future legislation.
Lawmakers approved AM 3403 to ease access to prescribed seizure medications during the school day, with the amendment requiring written permission from both a parent and a physician before a student may carry or access those medications at school. “I applaud an amendment because this allows us to determine that… that seizure medicine will be available and stored on‑site,” Ranking Member Ingram said during discussion of the seizure‑medication language, referencing prior work known in the transcript as "Sarah's law." Several other proposed amendments concerning expulsion review processes, multidisciplinary oversight and provider lists were introduced by the ranking member but were repeatedly moved to be tabled by the vice chair and the clerk recorded those motions as tabled in the transcript.
After the series of amendments and tablings, the committee voted to send the substitute bill to rules. The chair granted Senate Bill 295 authorization for its fourth hearing and the committee adjourned with written testimony on file for several measures.
