At Swing, we want to help schools stay up to date with their state’s newly enacted laws. While there’s lots of legislation in process, here are some recently passed updates pertaining to schools:

Jump to:
California
Illinois
New Jersey
New York
Texas

California

What: Assembly Bill 1503
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: Students are now allowed a full day excused absence from school per semester to attend religious events (vs. previous requirement of four hours).

What: Senate Bill 10 aka “Melanie’s Law”
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: Updates to Comprehensive School Safety Plan requirements. Requires schools, including charters, who serve pupils in grades 7-12, to develop and add to their school safety plans a protocol for suspected opioid overdoses.

What: Senate Bill 323
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: Updates to Comprehensive School Safety Plan requirements. Requires Comprehensive School Safety Plans to include adaptations for students with disabilities (in accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”).

What: Senate Bill 671
Effective: July 1, 2024
What you need to know: Updates to Comprehensive School Safety Plan Requirements. Requires schools develop procedures to assess and respond to reports of dangerous, violent, and unlawful activity being conducted (or threatened to be) at the school site, school sponsored activities, or on school buses – and that the same be added to the school’s safety plan.

What: Senate Bill 419 aka “Keep kids in school”
Effective: July 1, 2024
What you need to know: Prohibits the suspension or expulsion of public school students in grades 6 through 12 for “willful defiance”.

What: Senate Bill 291
Effective: 2024-2025 school year
What you need to know: Requires recess in public and charter schools to be at least 30 minutes on regular instructional days, and at least 15 minutes on early release day. Recess cannot be restricted by school staff members unless a student poses a threat to physical safety.

What: Assembly Bill 5 aka “Safe and supportive schools act”
Effective: 2025 school year
What you need to know: Requires CA Dept of Education to develop LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for teachers. The education department must have an online training program in place for the 2025 school year. 

Illinois

What: House Bill 3641
Effective: November 7, 2023
What you need to know: New credential: Educator License with Stipulations (ELS) for provisional career and technical educator license (CTE). License requires 8,000+ hours of work experience and will be valid for 5 years.

What: House Bill 3442
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: This amendment to the Illinois Education Code allows school districts to continue to employ the same substitute teacher in the same position for 90 days or through the end of the semester. In order to do so, the district must file a written request for a 30-day extension.

What: House Bill 2235
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: School boards are now allowed to enter into contracts for any period of time deemed appropriate to transport students to and from school. Exceptions include that no contract may exceed 10 years and contracts not involving the use of electric vehicles must include a termination option after 5 years.

What: House Bill 3690
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: Beginning July 1, 2024, requires school teachers, administrators, and support personnel to complete School Code training through a program conducted by their school board or other training opportunities

• Must be completed within six months of employment by a school board
• Must be renewed at least once every five years

What: House Bill 3402 (amended by HB 3641)
Effective: January 1, 2024
What you need to know: When hiring or assigning physical education, music, and/or visual arts educators, schools must now prioritize placing educators who hold an educator license and endorsement in those content areas. Educators assigned to physical education, music, and/or visual arts classrooms who do not hold the appropriate endorsement in the content area they will be teaching must acquire short-term approval.

What: Senate Bill 1772
Effective: July 1, 2024
What you need to know: Schools serving students in the K-8 grade range will be prohibited from scheduling pesticide applications on school property during the regular school day (including during partial days) when students are present for instruction.

What: Senate Bill 90
Effective: August 1, 2024
What you need to know: All Illinois schools must create, implement, and maintain an anti discrimination policy which meets minimum requirements as set forth in the new law. Policy must be posted in prominent, accessible locations; included in student handbooks for the next school year (24-25).

What: House Bill 2396
Effective: August 2, 2023 (first compliance year: 2027-2028)
What you need to know: Beginning in the 2027-2028 school year, all school boards must establish kindergarten programs which provide full-day attendance.

What: House Bill 3116
Effective: August 20, 2024
What you need to know: Requires school boards to conduct in-service training on homelessness for all school personnel at least once in every two year period.

New Jersey

What: Initial accreditation status awarded to the New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning’s educator preparation programs
Effective: February 6, 2024
What you need to know: Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) announced the award:

• NJCTL provides affordable tuition for prospective educators, and educators seeking to advance their degrees and specializations
• NJCTL approval provides a new avenue for educators to earn credentials, and lowers the barriers to entry into and advancement in the profession

What: Governor Murphy announced another round of FY 2024 Preschool Education Aid (PEA)
Effective: February 27, 2024
What you need to know: Allows districts across the state to establish/expand preschool programs. Governor’s FY 2025 budget includes substantial boosts for education

• Proposed $124m in additional funding for preschool education
• State school aid is calculated using the School Funding Reform Act (SFRA). First year SFRA has been fully funded and most schools will see a substantial increase in funding
• Includes resources for paying student teachers
• Additional funding for FY 2024:

New York

What: Assembly Bill A113A
Effective: July 1, 2024
What you need to know: All public and non-public schools with students in any grade 6-12 are now required to provide menstrual products in the restrooms of their buildings, at no charge to students

What: Senate Bill S1733
Effective: July 1, 2024
What you need to know: Effective: July 1, 2024

• School districts, boards of cooperative educational services, charter schools, and nonpublic schools are required to adopt a policy for the promotion of student voter registration and pre-registration for grades 10-12
• Policy requirements:
  • Procedures for disseminating voter applications among schools
  • Establishing methods of regular communication with eligible students regarding applications to vote being available, and of their rights to register to vote
• Schools must:
  • Make voter registration and pre-registration applications available to students during the school year
  • Provide students with an opportunity to register or pre-register to vote

Texas

What: Senate Bills 422 and 544
Effective: March 7, 2024
What you need to know: TX State Board for Educator Certification’s proposed rules implementing House Bills 422 and 544 went into effect

What: House Bill 2729
Effective: April 2, 2024
What you need to know: TX Commissioner of Education’s proposed rules implementing HB 2729, which addresses requirements for Pre-K teachers, are scheduled to go into effect April 2, 2024

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