LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - APRIL 3, 2015

The following bills were introduced in the House and are being tracked:

HB348
Relating to Lauderdale County; to amend Sections 1 and 2 of Act 33, 1931 Regular Session (Local Acts 1931, p. 7), to provide for the election of the Lauderdale County Superintendent of Education by the qualified electors of the county residing outside of the corporate limits of the City of Florence.
HB360
Relating to admission to schools; to amend Section 16‐28‐4, Code of Alabama 1975; to provide that a child must will be six years of age on or before December 31 to be admitted to first grade for that school year.
HB363
Relating to education; to amend Sections 16‐28B‐6 and 16‐28B‐8, Code of Alabama 1975, to require K‐12 schools to incorporate into health education curricula age‐appropriate sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention education and implement standards for training staff on sexual abuse and assault awareness and prevention.
HB376
Relating to Mobile County; to authorize electronic enforcement related to overtaking a school bus in the county or municipalities located in the county; to provide that the unauthorized overtaking of a school bus would be a civil offense; to authorize a county or city board of education located in the county to approve, in its respective jurisdiction, a civil process of electronic detection device of a school bus violation enforcement; to require certain procedures to be followed by a county or city board of education using electronic school bus enforcement; to make the owner of the vehicle involved in a violation presumptively responsible for payment of a civil fine; to provide procedures to contest responsibility or transfer responsibility to another person; to provide for the jurisdiction of district courts and municipal courts over the civil offenses; to provide for procedures for administering this act; to allow a law enforcement agency or a local governing entity to enter agreements with vendors of electronic devices; to provide for the destruction of recorded information after certain time periods; to allow appeals to the Circuit Court of Mobile County; to provide enforcement regarding licensing, titling, and driver's license issuance and renewal until the civil fine is paid.

The following bills were introduced in the Senate and are being tracked:

SB314
Relating to students with dyslexia; to define dyslexia and require each public school district to identify students with dyslexia and provide them with appropriate educational services including dyslexia‐specific intervention.
SB317
To prohibit any public charter school established in the state from being a virtual school.

The following bills received a favorable report from respective committees:

HB1
"Alabama Student Religious Liberties Act of 2015" - Authorizes religious expression in schools
HB151
To amend Sections 13A‐7‐1 and 15‐10‐3, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to warrantless arrests, to authorize a law enforcement officer to arrest a person without a warrant under certain conditions for trespassing on the property of an educational institution and to further provide for the definition of "building"
HB245
To require, at a minimum, each local board of education to adopt a policy for providing a virtual school option for eligible students in grades nine to 12, inclusive.
HB342
Relating to exemptions from state approval for entities participating in reciprocity agreements; to clarify the exemption for regional accrediting authorities and accredited degree granting entities; and to establish the State Reciprocity Committee and provide for the duties and powers of the reciprocity committee.

The following bills passed the Senate and now go to the House:

SB71
To amend Sections 16‐6D‐4 and 16‐6D‐9, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the Alabama Accountability Act of 2013
SB72
Relating to public K‐12 education; to require, at a minimum, each local board of education to adopt a policy for providing a virtual school option for eligible students in grades nine to 12, inclusive
SB114
Relating to education; to provide findings of the Legislature relating to public education; to authorize the State Department of Education, pending available funds, to offer certain grants to public schools for the purpose of developing new advanced educational and specialized programs for gifted or talented children; to require the department to adopt rules providing for the evaluation of applications for grants; to provide public access to applicant scoring; and to require local boards of education to match awarded grant funds