Here are 6 education bills moving forward in the state Legislature

The Senate and Assembly Education committees were among those acting on a flurry of bills covering topics such as distance education, what age children can start kindergarten and which Nevada colleges can be considered land-grant universities.

April 9 was the last day for bills to pass out of the committee to which they were originally referred. Those that didn’t won’t move forward this session.

One bill that didn’t make it was Assembly Bill 255, which called for hybrid school boards in Clark and Washoe counties with some elected members and some appointed by municipalities. Currently, all school board members are elected.

The Assembly bill, sponsored by Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, proposed four members of a seven-person board be elected, while the rest would be appointed. A similar proposal — Senate Bill 111, sponsored by Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno — called for three members to be elected and four appointed, but that bill also did not advance.

Another that isn’t moving forward is Senate Bill 321, which called for creating a separate governing body for the state’s four community colleges and removing them from the Nevada System of Higher Education’s authority.

Proponents have pushed the bill for years. Gov. Steve Sisolak also referenced the concept in his January “State of the State” address, pointing to the role community colleges will play as part of COVID-19 recovery efforts.

The Nevada System of Higher Education opposed the bill, saying it would be costly and would make it harder for students to transfer from a two-year college to a four-year university.

What the bills would do

Here’s a look at six of the bills and resolutions that are still in play:

— Senate Bill 102, sponsored by Sen. Scott Hammond, R-Las Vegas, calls for moving up the date when a child must be 5 years old in order to enroll in kindergarten for a new school year. Currently, children who turn 5 by Sept. 30 can register, but the proposal calls for changing the date to Aug. 1.

Proponents argue most other U.S. states have an earlier cutoff date than Nevada.

The legislation would impact up to 3,000 Clark County School District students.

“We appreciate the effective date of this bill starting for the 2022-2023 school year as online registration for the upcoming school year will be open prior to this bill passing,” the district said in a written statement.

The date change would also apply to requirements under state law for a child to be 6 in order to start first grade and 7 to start second grade.

— SB 215, sponsored by Sen. Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, would require the board for each public school district and public charter school to develop a plan “for conducting a program of distance education.” The bill incorporates recommendations from the state’s Blue Ribbon Commission for a Globally Prepared Nevada.

By Oct. 1 each year, a school district or public charter school would have to identify students and “teachers or other school employees” who don’t have the technology needed to participate in distance education, including internet access or a computer.

A plan, including a cost estimate, would be required by Dec. 31 to make technology available to all those identified.

In Clark County, which operated for about a year under 100 percent distance education with the exception of seven rural schools, district officials say they’re looking to provide both full-time distance education and full-time, face-to-face instruction next school year. Superintendent Jesus Jara said last month that some students have done well under the distance education model.

District officials testified in support of the bill.

“As we start to return to some form of in-person learning, distance education has become a part of the equation for how we will reach a subset of students,” the district said in a statement. “This is why CCSD Superintendent Jesus Jara was a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission, to help ensure innovation is at the forefront of how we educate our students.”

The bill gives school districts flexibility “so instruction is not restricted to a set time on the calendar,” the district said.

Accelerated path for student teachers

— SB 352, sponsored by the Senate Education Committee, proposes allowing a paraprofessional — someone who provides instructional help in a classroom — seeking to become a teacher to complete an accelerated student teaching program while on the job.

It also would require the Nevada Department of Education to accept student teaching or other teaching experience from an out-of-state or out-of-country applicant if it “substantially fulfills the standards of a program of student teaching.”

The legislation comes amid a nationwide teacher shortage, which is impacting Nevada.

Ronnow Elementary School Principal Michelee Cruz-Crawford worked with “a number of community partners, including the Public Education Foundation, on bringing this idea forward,” the district said in a statement. District officials also testified in support of the bill.

“Ensuring there is a healthy teacher pipeline is incredibly important to the entire state, there is no better way to work towards this than by using the hard-working support professionals in our schools currently,” the district said.

— Assembly Bill 19, sponsored by the Assembly Education Committee on behalf of the Nevada Department of Education, would require parents homeschooling their child or children to add subject areas within social studies, including civics, financial literacy and multicultural education. The change would also apply to all public schools.

The Nevada Homeschool Network opposes the bill.

The state Department of Education provides “technical assistance” to the Legislature, but doesn’t advocate or lobby for legislation, spokeswoman Jessica Todtman said via email.

“AB 19 was drafted in response to school district feedback with the intent of clarifying social studies requirements for HS graduation (to include multiculturalism and financial literacy),” she said.

Land grant schools

— SB 287, sponsored by Sen. Dallas Harris, D-Las Vegas, would designate state land-grant schools as University of Nevada, Reno, UNLV and the Desert Research Institute.

Land-grant institutions were designed under the federal Morrill Act of 1862, which provided public lands in order for states to open colleges.

UNR is typically considered the state’s only land grant institution by the Legislature, but some past legal opinions have also included UNLV and the Desert Research Institute.

What’s now UNR opened in 1874 in Elko, but moved to Reno more than a decade later. UNLV opened in 1957 and the Desert Research Institute debuted in 1959.

In an April 8 letter to Denis, chair of the Senate Education Committee, state and local officials wrote in support of expanding land-grant status to “all three higher-education research institutions in the state, including UNLV.” Among those signing the letter were UNLV President Keith Whitfield, Vegas Chamber President Mary Beth Sewald, Council for a Better Nevada Executive Director Maureen Schafer, and Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance President/CEO Jonas Peterson.

“Ultimately, the legislation is about achieving equity for UNLV with its peer institution and allowing UNLV to better serve the needs of our Southern Nevada community,” they wrote.

It would also allow for better access to federal grants that have “land-grant requirements,” according to the letter.

Desert Research Institute is neutral on the bill, school spokeswoman Detra Page said.

But William Payne, dean of UNR’s College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources, told the Review-Journal he has “grave concerns” about the bill and the impact it will have on the university’s programming throughout the state.

“We serve over 28,000 youth in Clark County alone and are worried about the potential disruption that this legislation will cause,” Payne said. “I understand that this is a very complex issue, but I don’t believe this will increase federal funding to UNLV or DRI.”

The 2018 Farm Bill clearly states no additional federal land-grant money will go to states that designate additional land-grant schools, he said. “I also have it on unambiguous federal authority that claims that land-grants get special points or consideration in competitive federal grant applications are inaccurate.”

Payne said the university offered an amendment to study the issue “in an effort to come up with a solution that serves the entire state.”

“We hope to be part of the conversation as this moves through the Legislature,” he said.

— Senate Joint Resolution 7, sponsored by Sen. Marilyn Dondero-Loop, D-Las Vegas, and Assemblyman Tom Roberts, R-Las Vegas, seeks to remove references to the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents from the Nevada Constitution.

Voters narrowly defeated a similar proposal, Question 1, during the November 2020 election.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.