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House committee advances HB 261 with amendments to protect districts and fund alternative schools

House Education Committee · April 1, 2026

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Summary

The House Education Committee on April 1 adopted two amendments to the committee substitute for HB 261: one to hold districts harmless when intensive‑needs students transfer, and another to fully fund students in alternative schools; the committee moved the substitute out of committee with technical changes authorized.

Rep. Story, co‑chair of the House Education Committee, opened the April 1 hearing and said the committee would consider the committee substitute for House Bill 261, an education‑funding bill that would use a three‑year average of student enrollment to provide districts an initial funding number for the year.

Rep. Eisheide moved Amendment 1, which bars the Department of Education from reducing a district’s state aid in a fiscal year when an intensive‑needs student moves to another district, intended to keep the receiving district whole when staff already are hired under contract. “A lot of times staff have been hired already and under contract to deal with that student,” Rep. Eisheide said in moving the amendment. The amendment was adopted after the chair removed an initial objection and no members recorded opposition.

Rep. Hemshutt moved Amendment 2 to restore language that fully funds students in alternative schools, arguing those students “generally require at least as much support as students in all the other schools.” The committee adopted that amendment without objection.

After discussing the bill’s fiscal notes and prior hearings, Rep. Hemshutt moved the committee substitute out of committee. The motion passed with no objections; the committee authorized Legislative Legal to make necessary technical and conforming changes and recessed briefly to sign the paperwork.

The committee’s actions were procedural — amendments and a motion to report the committee substitute — and no roll‑call votes were recorded in the hearing.

The committee will return to other education items at its next scheduled meeting.