HF 604 — A bill for an act relating to education, including authorizing the ombudsman to investigate complaints received by individuals who hold a license, certificate, authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the board of educational examiners, and modifying the responsibilities of the department of education, school districts, and charter schools.

KimHouse ReynoldsFile O604 f- fEnrolled iHouse cFile e604 oAN fACT tRELATING hTO eEDUCATION, GINCLUDING oAUTHORIZING vTHE eOMBUDSMAN rTO nINVESTIGATE oCOMPLAINTS rRECEIVED ABY dINDIVIDUALS aWHO mHOLD GA rLICENSE, eCERTIFICATE, gAUTHORIZATION, gOR GSTATEMENT OOF VRECOGNITION EISSUED RBY NTHE OBOARD ROF LEDUCATIONAL TEXAMINERS, gAND oMODIFYING vTHE eRESPONSIBILITIES rOF nTHE oDEPARTMENT rOF MayEDUCATION, 26.2023SCHOOL TheDISTRICTS, HonorableAND PaulCHARTER PateSCHOOLS. SecretaiyofStateofIowa StateCapitol Des Moines.Iowa 50319 Dear Mr.Secretary, Iherebytransmit:

HouseFile604.anActrelatingtoeducation,includingauthorizingtheombudsmantoBE investigatecomplaintsreceivedbyindividualswhoeriicte,ense,cIT authorization,orstatementofrecognitionissuedbytheboardofeducationalexaminers,ENACTED andmodifyingtesonibltisofthedepartmentofeducation,itics,andBY charterTHE schools.GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

TheaboveHouse Fileisherebyapprovedonthisdate.

Sincerely.

Kim Cover cc:

SecretaryoftheSenate Clerk of the House STATE CAPITDES MOINES, IOWA 5515.281.5211 FAX 515WWW.GOVERNOR.IOWA.GOV LESMAKBESCljnRIQMT IVILL MAINTAI •:j31l'nini i[i !!in!rm W M i m m :

n e r a i .

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^ H o u s e F i l e 6 0 4 A N A C T R E L A T I N G T O E D U C A T I O N , IA U T H O R I ZT H E O M B U D S T O N I N V E S T I G A T E C O M P L A I N T S R I N D I V I D U A L S W H O H O L D A LICENSE, CERTIFICATE, AUTHORIZATION, OR STATEMENT O F RECOGNITION ISSUED BY THE BOARD OF EDUCATIONAL EXAMINERS, A N D M O D I F Y T H E R E S P O N S I B I L I T I E S O F T H E D E P A R T M E N T O F E D U C A T I O N , S C H O O L D I S T R I C T S , S C H O O L S , E R B E IT E N A C T E D T H E G E N E RA S S E M B L Y O F T H E S T A T E O F I O W A ;

2 NEW SUBSECTION.SUBSECTION .

Investigate, on complaint, any complaint received by an individual who holds a license, certificate, authorization, or statement of recognition issued by the board of educational examiners related to violence in the classroom or violence on school property, including any disclosure of information to which section 279.78 applies related tto o violence in the classroom or violence on sschool c h o o l property.

Section 256.9, Code 2023, is amended by adding the following new subsections;subsections:

NEW SUBSECTION.SUBSECTION .

NEW SUBSECTION.SUBSECTION .

Develop and distribute to school districts and charter schools model policies that, if adopted by a school district or charter school, would satisfy the school district'sdistrict’s or charter school'sschool’s responsibilities under section 279.79 relating to the discipline of a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault.

NEW PARAGRAPH.PARAGRAPH .

Oj,0j. Be subject to and comply with the requirements of section 279.78 relating to prohibiting retaliation against employees or contractors for disclosing certain specified information in the same manner as a school d i s t r i c t .

NEWBe PARAGRAPH.subject to and comply with the requirements of section 279.78 relating to prohibiting retaliation against employees or contractors for disclosing certain specified information in the same manner as a school district.

OOj,NEW BePARAGRAPH subject to and comply with the requirements of section 279.79 relating to the adoption of policies related to the discipline of a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault in the same m a n na sa s c h od i s t r i c t .

NEW00j. PARAGRAPH.

OOOj, Be subject to and comply with the Houserequirements Fileof 604,section p.279.79 relating to the adoption of policies related to the discipline of a student for making a threat of violence or causing an incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault in the same manner as a school district.

3NEW requirementsPARAGRAPH of section 279.80 relating to student handbooks in t h e s amanner a s a s c h o o l d i s t r i c t .

000j.

Be subject to and comply with the House File 604, p.

3 requirements of section 279.80 relating to student handbooks in the same manner as a school district.

Section 279.51A, subsection 4, Code 2023, is amended tto oreadread aas sfollows: f o l l o w s :

aj_a. K classroom teacher employed by a school district shall report any threat of violence or incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault by a student enrolled in the school to the principal or the lead administrator of the school within twenty-four hours after the threat of violence or incident of violence occurs, and the classroom teacher may notify the parent or guardian of the student who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence, and the parent or guardian of the student to whom the threat o f violence was made or the incident o f violence o c c u r r e d , o f the thviolence or incident o f violence.

A classroom teacher employed by a school district shall report any threat of violence or incident of violence that results in injury or property damage or assault by a student enrolled in the school to the principal or the lead administrator of the school within twenty-four hours after the threat of violence or incident of violence occurs, and the classroom teacher may notify the parent or guardian of the student who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence, and the parent or guardian of the student to whom the threat of violence was made or the incident of violence occurred, of the threat of violence or incident of violence.

The principal or lead administrator of the school shall notify the parent or guardian of the student enrolled in the school who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence that resulted in injury or property damage or assault, and the parent or guardian of the student to whom the threat of violence was made or the incident of violence occurred, of the threat of violence or incident of violence within twenty-four hours after the classroom teacher reports the threat of violence or incident of violence to the principal or lead administrator pursuant to paragraph Sec.“a”.

Sec.

279.77 Professional development ——— notification.

For purposes of this section, '^^disciplinary“disciplinary action"action” includes termination of employment or the contractual relationship, suspension from employment, demotion, financial penalties, failing to take action regarding an employee'semployee’s or contractor'scontractor’s promotion or proposed promotion, failing to provide an advantage in employment or the contractual relationship, and written or verbal reprimands.

279.79 Discipline of students who make threats oof f violence or cause incidents oof f violence.

The policies must incorporate strategies that are designed to correct the student'sstudent’s behavior.

The policies must provide that the school district must receive the prior written consent of the student'sstudent’s parent or guardian before requiring the student to participate in a counseling session or a mental health counseling session.

The policies must provide for escalating levels of House PileFile 604, p.

The policies must allow for the school district to select the level of discipline that the school district determines corresponds to the severity of the threat of violence or incident oof f violence.

The policies must require an individualized education program meeting if the student who made the threat of violence or caused the incident of violence that resulted in injury or property damage or assault has an individualized education pprogram. r o g r a m .

The policies must be published on the school district'sdistrict’s internet site and in applicable student handbooks.

SSec. e c .