The Senate School Choice Committee met on Wednesday afternoon and advanced two bills regarding requirements for private, parochial, or church schools and the Academics in Rural Schools Act.
Senate Bill 683 would remove certain requirements from kindergarten, preschool, or school education programs operated by a church, parochial, or private school.
This bill would require church-run kindergartens and preschools to be exempt from childcare licensing, certification, approval, and registration requirements; recognized by the state education department under policy 2330.
Some of the following requirements schools would NOT be exempt from include:
* Fire and building safety codes
* Health department rules
* Background checks
* General child safety laws
Senate Bill 63 would create opportunities for the Academics in Rural Schools Act.
This bill would create an application for establishing a new public charter school, convert a public school into a public charter school, or establish a program conversion public charter school.
Each application shall contain the following to be considered:
* A mission statement, including a specialized academic focus.
* Detailed description of the public charter school’s proposed program.
* Student achievement goals for the program.
* Data using plan from student evaluations and assessments.
* Chosen methods of evaluating whether students are attaining the skills and knowledge for specific goals.
The bill is intended to support rural communities by providing access to local schools and preventing unnecessary consolidation while offering financial support to in-person charter schools serving geographically remote areas.
Both bills were reported to the full Senate with a recommendation of passage, first being reported to the committee on Finance.
