Company LOGO 2015 Legislative Session Summary

2015 Session Summary The 2015 Session  This session saw the introduction of 948 Senate bills and 1300 House bills, with more than 325 relating to the funding, operation, or governance of local school systems.  MABE monitored all of these bills, and submitted written and oral testimony on more than 70 bills.

2015 Session Summary MABE’s 2015 Priorities  Support for continued governance autonomy for local boards of education to set education policy and school budgets; and opposition to unfunded mandates;  Support for full funding for Maryland’s outstanding public schools;  Support for robust school construction and renovation funding; and  Support for sustained local government investments in education.

2015 Session Summary Session Highlights  FY 2016 Operating Budget  FY 2016 Capital Budget  Charter School Reform  Taskforces on Dyslexia Education, The Role of Testing, and School-Based Clinics  Blind/Visually Impaired Student Services  Public Information Act Reform  Data Security  School Personnel  Elections  Local Bills

2015 Session Summary Budget Bills HB 70 Budget Bill - Fiscal Year 2016  This bill provides FY 2016 state aid to education amounts based on the current statute and as amended by the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act. HB 72 Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA) of 2015  This bill executes the actions needed to balance the State budget, by transferring & redirecting fund balances and revenues, and amending laws to adjust mandated spending levels.

2015 Session Summary State Aid for Education The State Budget provides $6.2 billion for public education, including:  $5.27 billion in state aid to fund education programs in the school year;  $122 million for nonpublic special education; and  $729 million for the teachers’ retirement system. The budget provides a $6,954 per pupil foundation amount for FY 2016, including the 1.4% inflation factor increase over FY 2015.

2015 Session Summary The Governor’s Budget The Governor’s proposed budget would have:  Funded the per pupil foundation amount at its FY 2015 level of $6,860 for FY 2016; a reduction of $74 million.  Delayed the phase-in of the Net Taxable Income funding adjustment.  Funded the Geographic Cost of Education Index (GCEI) at 50%; a reduction of $68.1 million.  Capped inflation-based increases at 1% to  Proposed an FY 2016 reduction of $144 million.

2015 Session Summary General Assembly’s Budget The House and Senate passed a final budget which:  Removed the Governor’s proposals to freeze per pupil funding and cap inflation;  Agreed to delay NTI phase-in by one year; and  Made funding available to the Governor, at his discretion, to restore 100% of GCEI to $136.2 million.

2015 Session Summary Budget Standoff Late in session, Governor Hogan introduced a Supplemental Budget to provide $44.7 million in additional funding for programs including hospital capital funding, a state police barracks re-opening, personal property tax exemptions for small businesses, and prison funding. The Governor also requested $5 million for a grant program to partially reimburse businesses for contributions to an organization providing financial assistance to students attending nonpublic schools.

2015 Session Summary Nonpublic School Funding The General Assembly’s budget did not include the nonpublic school funding initiative proposed by Governor Hogan. Instead, the Conference Committee agreed to fund the budgeted $5.7 million for the Nonpublic School Textbook Program; and an additional $4 million was provided, but made contingent on GCEI being fully funded.

2015 Session Summary GCEI Funding Campaign Don’t Shortchange Maryland – Following session, MABE partnered with other education advocates to request the Governor’s action to provide full funding in the coming school year based on the General Assembly’s enacted State Budget.

2015 Session Summary GCEI funding at the 50% and 100% levels and the impact in the eligible local school systems

2015 Session Summary FY 2016 Education Funding*

2015 Session Summary School Construction Funding HB 71 This bill provides the FY 2016 capital budget, including school construction projects and programs. The bill provides $275 million to the Public School Construction Program; and $6.1 million to the Aging Schools Program. SB 110 This bill provides $4.6 million to the Qualified Zone Academy Bond Program.

2015 Session Summary Targeted Facility Funding HB 923/SB 490HB 923/SB Capital Grant Program for Local School Systems With Significant Enrollment Growth or Relocatable Classrooms This bill establishes the Capital Grant Program for Local School Systems with Significant Enrollment Growth or Relocatable Classrooms, and it requires the Governor to include $20.0 million annually in the capital budget to fund the program.

2015 Session Summary Nonpublic School Facilities  The FY 2016 Capital Budget (HB 71) includes, for the third year, $3.5 million for grants to reimburse private and parochial schools for facility projects.  Schools may participate based on their eligibility for the longstanding private school textbook and computer funding program.  Grants may be awarded up to $100,000.

2015 Session Summary Charter School Reform SB 595SB Public Charter School Improvement Act Governor Hogan’s bill, as introduced, would have:  Removed teacher certification requirements;  Adopted a new, increased, per pupil funding formula;  Allowed the State Board to grant a charter school a comprehensive waiver;  Made the State Board the chartering authorizer and employer for charter schools approved on appeal;  Made charter schools eligible to participate in the state’s capital improvement program; and  Allowed charter schools to grant enrollment preferences to students with special needs or by geographic area.

2015 Session Summary Charter School Reform MABE strongly opposed the Charter School Improvement and Expansion Act as introduced. MABE lobbied as a member of a broad coalition of public education advocates in support of preserving local board authority to approve charter schools, maintaining requirements that charter schools have highly qualified teachers and principals, and preserving a workable definition and methodology for determining commensurate funding amounts for public charter schools.

2015 Session Summary Charter School Reform SB 595SB as amended and passed:  Allows charter schools to grant preferences to students with special needs, and students within a specific school attendance area.  Repeals the State Board’s role as a primary or secondary public chartering authority. The sole public chartering authority is a county board of education.  Grants operating flexibility for eligible high performing charter schools in existence for five years. - A principal may not be assigned to an eligible public charter school without the written consent of that school. - Teachers may voluntarily transfer to eligible charter schools upon the school’s request.

2015 Session Summary Charter School Reform Charter School Funding Study SB 595 requires MSDE to contract for a funding study to calculate the average local school system operating expenditures to be aggregated at the State level to serve as the baseline for determining commensurate charter school funding. The study is to be reported by Oct. 31, 2016.

2015 Session Summary Student Testing Commission HB 452/SB 497HB 452/SB Commission to Review Maryland's Use of Assessments and Testing in Public Schools  Survey and assess how much time is spent in each grade and in each local school system on administering local, State, and federally mandated assessments; and  Attempt to develop a statewide approach to administering assessments.  State and local reporting deadlines of July, September and October of 2016.

2015 Session Summary Special Education HB 278/SB 15HB 278/SB 15 - Task Force to Study the Implementation of a Dyslexia Education Program  Determine current practices for identifying and treating dyslexia in students in Maryland public schools and in other states;  Determine the appropriate structure for establishing a dyslexia education program;  Develop a pilot program to initiate the implementation of the task force’s recommendations.

2015 Session Summary Special Education HB 535/SB 538HB 535/SB Blind or Visually Impaired Children - Individualized Education Programs - Orientation and Mobility Instruction This bill requires orientation and mobility (O&M) instruction to be included in the individualized education program (IEP) of a child who is blind or visually impaired, unless the IEP team determines that O&M instruction is not appropriate. Even then, the IEP team is required to order an O&M assessment to be conducted.

2015 Session Summary Student Health HB 965/SB 334HB 965/SB The Hunger-Free Schools Act of 2015 Alters the enrollment count used to calculate compensatory aid in FY 2017 and 2018 for local boards that participate, in whole or in part, in the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP). To be eligible, LEAs and schools must meet a minimum level of students directly certified for free meals (40% of enrollment) in the year prior to implementing the option; agree to serve free lunches and breakfasts to all students; and agree to cover with nonfederal funds any costs of providing free meals to all students above amounts provided in federal assistance.

2015 Session Summary Student Health HB 375/SB 403HB 375/SB Education - Maryland Council on Advancement of School-Based Health Centers To improve the health and educational outcomes of students who receive services from school- based health centers (SBHCs); and Recommend how to streamline the existing process for the review and approval of new SBHCs.

2015 Session Summary School Safety HB 642/SB 508HB 642/SB Children - Child Care Facilities, Public Schools, and Nonpublic Schools - Contractors and Subcontractors Public and nonpublic school contracts must prohibit contractors or subcontractors from knowingly assigning an employee to work on school premises with direct, unsupervised, and uncontrolled access to children if the employee has been convicted of specified crimes.

2015 Session Summary School Safety HB 1032HB Public Safety - Transport of Weapons on School Property - Retired Law Enforcement Officers Adds retired law enforcement officers to the same exemption that applies to off-duty officers from the prohibition against carrying or possessing a deadly weapon on public school property. Applies only to a retired officer who is a parent, guardian, or visitor of a student attending a school located on the public school property.

2015 Session Summary College & Career Readiness HB 779/SB 816HB 779/SB Maryland Higher Education Outreach and College Access Pilot Program Establishes a two-year pilot grant program for eligible nonprofits to develop a program to target low-income Maryland high school graduates to:  Encourage low-income Maryland high school graduates to attend and complete college;  Connect students with nonprofit organizations that have a history of successful higher education outcomes for targeted youth.

2015 Session Summary College & Career Readiness HB 942HB Apprenticeship Pilot Program - Apprenticeship Maryland This bill establishes an apprenticeship pilot program, Apprenticeship Maryland, to prepare students to enter the workforce by providing on-site employment training and related classroom instruction needed to obtain a license or certification for a skilled occupation.

2015 Session Summary Public Information & Data HB 83/SB 444HB 83/SB Public Records - Inspection Establishes that under the Public Information Act (PIA), an official custodian is required to designate types of records that are to be made available to any applicant immediately on request, and to maintain a current list of the types of public records that have been so designated.

2015 Session Summary Public Information & Data HB 674/SB 852HB 674/SB Public Information Act - List of Contact Information for Governmental Unit Representatives Requires a governmental unit that maintains public records to identify a representative who a member of the public may contact to request a public record and to maintain and publish specified contact information in a user-friendly format on the governmental unit’s website.

2015 Session Summary Public Information & Data HB 755/SB 695HB 755/SB General Provisions - Public Information Act - Enforcement, Fees, and Exemptions Establishes the State Public Information Act Compliance Board and the Office of Public Access Ombudsman. The board must receive, review, and resolve complaints alleging that a custodian of a public record charged an unreasonable fee (limited to fees of more than $350). The board must issue a written opinion as to whether a violation occurred and order the custodian to reduce the fee and refund the difference, as appropriate. The Office of the Attorney General must post all of the board’s written opinions on the OAG website.

2015 Session Summary Public Information & Data HB 298HB Education - Student Data Privacy Act of 2015 Requires an operator of specified websites, online services, online applications, and mobile applications designed primarily for a preK-12 school purpose to: (1) protect covered information from unauthorized access, destruction, use, modification, or disclosure; (2) implement and maintain reasonable security procedures and practices to protect covered information; and (3) delete covered information upon request of the school or local school system. Prohibits unauthorized uses and disclosures, and engaging in targeted advertising.

2015 Session Summary School Personnel HB 947/SB 251HB 947/SB 251 – Professional Standards and Teacher Education Board - School Counselors - Certification Renewal Requirement (Lauryn's Law) Requires PSTEB to require a school counselor applying for renewal of a certificate to have obtained skills required to understand and respond to the social, emotional, and personal development of students, including knowledge and skills relating to: (1) the recognition of indicators of mental illness and behavioral distress, including depression, trauma, violence, youth suicide, and substance abuse and: (2) the identification of professional resources to help students in crisis.

2015 Session Summary School Personnel HB 1069/SB 677HB 1069/SB Education - Professional Development for Teachers and Providers of Early Childhood Education - Master Plan Requires MSDE & MHEC to develop a master plan to address the critical shortage of qualified professional teachers and child care providers in the early childhood education workforce.

2015 Session Summary School Personnel-Retirement SB 639SB Teachers' Retirement and Pension Systems - Reemployment of Retirees - Exemptions Allows school systems to hire up to five retirees of the Teachers’ Retirement System (TRS) and up to five retirees of the Teachers’ Pension System (TPS) to work in any position at any public school and be exempt from any retirement benefit reduction. This broad exemption replaces current provisions that allow local superintendents to rehire additional TRS/TPS retired teachers to work in specified schools or subject areas.

2015 Session Summary Elections HB 396/SB 204HB 396/SB Election Law - Primary Election Dates in the Presidential Election Year Modifies the date of the statewide primary and Baltimore City municipal primary elections that occur in a presidential election year so that the primary elections will be held on the fourth Tuesday in April rather than the first Tuesday in April.

2015 Session Summary Review: What Failed  Shift in IEP burden of proof  Post-Labor Day school year start date  Tax credit financed private school voucher program  Orange Ribbon certification for later school start times  Student Diabetes management/volunteer program  Sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention program  Sexual abuse and assault notification requirements  Translations of IEPs  Personal electronic account privacy protection  Maintenance of Effort (MOE) reforms & study  MOE Financial Advisory Board

2015 Session Summary Thank You! John R. Woolums, Esq. Director of Governmental Relations Maryland Association of Boards of Education 621 Ridgely Avenue, Suite 300 Annapolis, MD