Rep. Tammy Story

High schools - accelerated college opportunity exam fee grant program. The act renames the advanced placement exam fee grant program as the accelerated college opportunity exam fee grant program (grant program) and expands the grant program to make funds available to high schools to reduce or eliminate the international baccalaureate exam fee for low-income students. The department of education is not required to award all grants from the program in the same amount, but a grant awarded for a lesser amount must cover the entire cost of the exam fee for which the lesser grant is awarded.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Under existing law, each licensed teacher receives a written evaluation, at least 50% of which must be based on student academic growth. Under the bill, 30% of the evaluation must be based on student academic growth and at least 20% on other measures determined by the school district board of education or the board of cooperative services to support student, educator, and system success. The bill creates a working group consisting of the commissioner of education, or his or her designee, several members appointed by the governor who represent teachers, administrators, parents, students, and education policy experts, and 6 legislators appointed by legislative leadership. The working group shall review the implementation of educator performance evaluation systems in Colorado and in other states and countries, identify best practices in performance evaluation, and make recommendations to the general assembly and the state board of education to improve the implementation and use of performance evaluations. The working group must complete its report by November 1, 2019, and submit it to the state board of education and the education committees of the general assembly. The department of education will post the report on the department's website. The working group is repealed, effective July 1, 2020. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.) Read More

Early childhood leadership commission - infant and family child care strategic action plan. The act requires the department of human services (department), in consultation with the early childhood leadership commission (commission) and various stakeholders, to draft a strategic action plan addressing the declining availability of family child care homes and infant child care. The act requires the department to submit the completed strategic action plan to the commission; the state board of human services; the joint budget committee; the health and human services and education committees of the senate, or any successor committees; and the public health care and human services and education committees of the house of representatives, or any successor committees, no later than December 1, 2019. The act anticipates the department will receive $50,688 in federal funds to implement this act for the 2019-20 state fiscal year. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Children's basic health plan - dental services for pregnant women - appropriation. Current law requires the medical services board to include dental services for eligible children enrolled in a children's basic health plan. The act requires the board to include dental services to all eligible enrollees, which includes children and pregnant women. The act appropriates $66,955 to the department of health care policy and financing to implement the act. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Area technical colleges - capital construction and equipment requests. The act establishes a grant program to provide up to $4 million annually to area technical colleges (ATC) for specified capital construction and equipment purchases. An ATC may submit a request to the Colorado commission on higher education (commission). If there is more than one request in a year, the ATCs must prioritize the requests. The commission may include the grant request in its budget request for ATCs in the following state fiscal year. If the commission includes more than one request, it must prioritize the requests. If the ATC receives grant money, the ATC must submit a report back to the commission in any year in which it expends grant money.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Open meetings law - executive session - developing strategy for negotiations relating to collective bargaining or employment contracts. Under the Colorado open meetings law, a board of education of a school district (board) may hold an executive session for the purpose of determining positions relative to matters that may be subject to negotiations, developing strategy for negotiations, and instructing negotiators. The act clarifies that these matters authorizing the board to meet in executive session include development by the board of its strategy for negotiations relating to collective bargaining or employment contracts. The act also makes a conforming amendment to the "Colorado School Collective Bargaining Agreement Sunshine Act". (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Multi-district online schools - enrollment data - accountability. The act directs the online division in the department of education (department) to prepare an annual report concerning students who withdraw from enrollment in an online school after the annual count date. The report must include the date on which the student withdrew from enrollment, the grade level at which the student was enrolled at the beginning of the school year and when the student withdrew, and, to the extent known, whether during the same school year the student enrolled in another school or graduated or completed high school. The department must submit the report to the state board of education and the education committees of the general assembly. Before passage of the act, the statute required a school district, a group of school districts, a board of cooperative services, or the state charter school institute that seeks to authorize a multi-district online school to first obtain certification for the multi-district online school from the department. Under the act, if an existing multi-district online school changes authorizers, the new authorizer must obtain a new certification of the multi-district online school. An online school is subject to the same accountability requirements as apply to other public schools. The act states that if an online school is on performance watch and changes authorizers, either in its original form or as a successor school, or if the online school is created as a successor school with the same authorizer, the online school remains on performance watch. If an online school is closed because of actions taken as a result of accountability, the online school must apply for a new certification before it can operate again either as the original online school or as a successor school, regardless of whether the online school changes authorizers. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Distribution of student loan repayment information - public service employees. The act requires the department of personnel to develop and annually facilitate the distribution of informational materials to state employees concerning federal student loan repayment programs and loan forgiveness programs for which state employees may be eligible. The department of personnel may use existing federal informational materials, if available. The informational materials may be distributed by e-mail or through a regular mailing or communication to state employees. The department of personnel shall update the materials at least annually and facilitate the distribution of any updated materials. In addition, the department of personnel shall distribute the informational materials to: The department of education, for distribution to school district, charter school, institute charter school, and boards of cooperative services employees; The department of higher education, for distribution to employees at state institutions of higher education; The secretary of state, for dissemination to nonprofit public service organizations, as defined in the act, with encouragement for these organizations to distribute the informational materials to their employees; and The division of local government in the department of local affairs, for distribution to cities, counties, cities and counties, special districts, and other local government entities, with encouragement for those entities to distribute the informational materials to their employees.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Capital development committee - appointments - chair and vice-chair elections. The act clarifies who makes the appointments of members from the senate and the house of representatives to serve on the capital development committee and clarifies that the chair and vice-chair elections are made at the first December meeting of the capital development committee held after the general election in each even-numbered year.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More

Interdistrict transportation of students. The act restores the statutory language in section 22-32-113 to the language as it existed before the statute was amended by section 7 of House Bill 18-1306, concerning ensuring educational stability for students in out-of-home placement. Section 7 has been declared void by a Colorado court for violating section 21 of article V of the Colorado constitution that requires bills to contain a single subject clearly expressed in the bill's title. The act allows a school district to furnish transportation, or to reimburse parents or others for the cost of transportation, to and from its schools to students who are residents of another school district if the resident school district is adjacent to the school district of attendance and the resident school district consents to the transportation of its students to the adjacent school district. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.) Read More