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PSBA liaison summarizes pending state and federal education bills, including new AED requirement
Summary
The district's PSBA legislative liaison briefed the board on multiple bills affecting schools — including Act 17 of 2026 requiring automated external defibrillators (AEDs) at PIAA events and a federal proposal to make school meals free nationwide — and noted many measures await committee action.
Mister Mael, the district’s PSBA legislative liaison, briefed the Exeter Township School Board on May 18 about state and federal legislation under consideration that could affect district operations.
He summarized recently passed and pending measures: Act 17 of 2026 (formerly PA Senate Bill 375), signed by the governor on May 13, which he said “requires school entities and nonpublic schools to have an AED at all PIAA interscholastic athletic events” and to include a sudden cardiac event emergency action plan in emergency-preparedness documents. Mael said the law also requires regular emergency-response drills to ensure coaches and staff can respond to cardiac events.
He reviewed other bills pending in the General Assembly: proposals to allow the PIAA to establish separate playoffs for boundary and non-boundary schools (PA House Bill 41), a bill to require notification to parents when a student is found to be a victim or perpetrator of bullying (PA House Bill 830), and measures about assessments, posting constitutional preambles, and optional hunting/trapping education in schools. On the federal level he noted U.S. House Bill 8728, introduced last week, which would make breakfast and lunch free for all students nationwide and bar schools from collecting meal debt.
Mael said PSBA’s positions vary by bill — some measures are supported, others are met with neutrality, and several raise concerns about statewide mandates imposed without flexibility for local school entities. The liaison’s update was informational; no board action followed.
