Several legislative bills could impact county schools

When a delegation of Newton Community School District personnel went to Des Moines on Jan. 26, their interaction with Jasper County legislators included a warning.

At least, that’s the way Newton Superintendent Bob Callaghan read it.

At the NCSD board meeting, held later that night, Callaghan told those in attendance about discussions with Rep. Dan Kelley regarding a school start date. He said Kelley warned that the Sept. 1 waiver and calendar discussion, which has been high-profile of late, could be a public distraction as the legislature makes heavy decisions about hundreds of millions of dollars of key education budget items.

The Sept. 1 start date issue surged back into the limelight on Dec. 12, when Department of Education Director Brad Buck followed Gov. Terry Branstad’s directive, informing the state’s school districts that waivers for the Sept. 1 mandated earliest school start date would no longer automatically be granted. For the 2014-15 school year, all five Jasper County school districts were among the 336 Iowa districts that were granted waivers to start classes before Sept. 1.

However, the DOE released in January a list of extremely tough criteria required for exemptions to the Sept. 1 state-law mandate.

Schools are in limbo in trying to create 2015-16 calendars, which are typically completed around this time of year. Funding is a major concern as well, so it makes it tough to make any one bill the largest education priority. Here are a few of the education bills and proposals the Newton Daily News is tracking, along with their status as of late Friday afternoon:

• SF171, SF172, SF 174 and SF 175: “Allowable Growth” budget formulas, both of which call for 4 percent allowable growth for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 budget years that begin each July 1. All four bills were passed by the Democratic Party-majority Senate on Tuesday by a 26-24 vote, and was sent to a House education subcommittee on Wednesday.

The 4 percent budget increase is considerably different from Branstad’s initial proposal of a 1.25 percent increase. The sooner the Republican governor and the Republican-controlled House can come to terms on the bills, the sooner school districts can finalize their budgets as well.

• SF173 and 176: A district property tax replacement payment formula with some new complex provisions. The bills were passed by the Senate, 50-0, and was sent to the House Ways & Means committee on Wednesday.

• HF13, SSB1058 and SF 227 are among several bills related to the school start date. HF13 has been amended to include a hard Aug. 23 start date, with no waivers allowed. It cleared the House Education Committee on Thursday, as amended, and should go before the full House this week.

SSB1058 and SF 227 are bills that would repeal the section of Iowa Code that calls for a state-enforced September start date, allowing districts and accredited non-public schools, such as Newton Christian School, to “determine the school start date for the school calendar based on the best educational interests of the students.”

It also eliminates all waiver and penalty provisions. Both bills were introduced on Thursday, and approved by a Senate committee.

• SF47, a Senate bill that would require the school year start no earlier than Aug. 15 and end no later than June 15, went to a subcommittee on Jan. 21, and no action has been taken on since that date.

• SF162 is anti-bullying legislation, introduced on Feb. 5, would establish “a school climate technical-assistance office” and provide for the establishment of a school climate and bullying advisory committee.”

The bill went to a Senate education subcommittee on Feb. 10.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com