Current law requires a private college or university operating in the state to be institutionally accredited on the basis of an on-site review by a regional or national accrediting body recognized by the United States department of education (DOE). The act allows private colleges and universities and private occupational schools to be accredited by:Institutional or programmatic accrediting bodies recognized by the DOE; or Programmatic accrediting bodies that are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) as having the ability to accredit freestanding, single-purpose institutions of construction education. The act states it is a deceptive trade or sales practice for a private occupational school to advertise or otherwise represent that it is accredited unless the school is accredited by an accrediting body that is recognized by the DOE or is accredited by a programmatic accrediting body that is recognized by the CHEA as having the ability to accredit a freestanding, single-purpose institution of construction education.The act allows an educational institution or educational service that is exempt from the requirements of the "Private Occupational Education Act of 1981" to waive its exempt status in order to apply for authorization to operate a private occupational school, subject to certain conditions.For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, the act appropriates $98,796 to the department of higher education from the private occupational schools fund, $45,626 of which is for use by the division of private occupational schools for program costs and $53,170 of which is reappropriated to the department of law to use to provide legal services to the department of higher education.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Sponsored bills
The act directs the state board of education (state board) to review, during a recurring interval specified in the act, standards relating to the knowledge and skills that a student should acquire in school to ensure that the financial literacy standards for ninth through twelfth grade include an understanding of the costs associated with obtaining a postsecondary degree or credential and how to budget for and manage the payment for those costs, including managing student loan debt and accessing student aid through completion of the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA) and the Colorado application for state financial aid (CASFA); understanding credit cards and credit card debt; understanding homeownership and mortgages; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits.The act adds to the resources contained in the existing financial literacy resource bank created and maintained by the state board specific references relating to assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt; understanding the purpose of and how to access and complete the FAFSA or CASFA; understanding credit cards and credit card debt; understanding the home buying process, including home loans and managing mortgage debt; and understanding retirement plans, including investments and retirement benefits.The act adds assessing the affordability of higher education and how to budget and pay for higher education, as well as how to manage student loan debt to the suggested financial literacy curriculum that a school district is encouraged to adopt. Further, the act requires school districts and charter schools, as part of the process of establishing the individual career and academic plan for a student in grades 9 through 12, to inform the student and the student's parents of the importance of completing the FAFSA and CASFA and to provide help in completing the forms, if requested.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act extends the renewal period for professional teacher, special services educator, principal, and administrator licenses from 5 to 7 years. The act allows for a professional teacher, special services educator, principal, or administrator who is partially through the current 5-year licensing cycle to have that extended to 7 years for that particular cycle.The act makes the following appropriations through adjustments to the long bill:The cash funds appropriation from the educator licensure cash fund made in the annual general appropriation act for the 2021-22 state fiscal year to the department of education for the office of professional services is decreased by $292,532, and the related FTE is decreased by 4.0 FTE. For the 2021-22 state fiscal year, $2,922,976 is appropriated to the department of education. This appropriation is from the general fund. To implement this act, the department may use this appropriation for the office of professional services. Any money appropriated not expended prior to July 1, 2022, is further appropriated to the department for the 2022-23 state fiscal year for the same purpose.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act transfers $10 million from the general fund to the public school capital construction assistance fund (assistance fund) for the purpose of providing "Building Excellent Schools Today Act" (BEST) grants to fund public school air quality improvement projects. The public school capital construction assistance board (board) is authorized to make the grants and is required to prioritize grant awards based on grant applicants' existing calculated local match requirements for BEST grants, with applicants with the lowest matching money requirements having the highest priority and applicants with the highest matching money requirements having the lowest priority. The board is also required to submit a report about the grants to the general assembly during the department of education's 2022 "State Measurement for Accountable, Responsive, and Transparent (SMART) Government Act" presentation to legislative committees of reference. Notwithstanding the use of existing calculated local match requirements for grant prioritization purposes, the grants are exempted from existing matching money requirements for BEST grants. $10 million is appropriated from the assistance fund to the board for state fiscal year 2020-21, and any of the money not expended before July 1, 2021, is further appropriated to the board for state fiscal year 2021-22 for the same purpose.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act makes changes to the "Public school finance act of 1994" (school funding formula) increasing the statewide base per pupil funding for the 2021-22 budget year by $141.67 to account for inflation of 2% for a new statewide base per pupil funding amount of $7,225.28, and sets the minimum statewide district total program funding amount for the 2021-22 budget year and requires the dollar amount of the budget stabilization factor to remain the same for the 2022-23 budget year.The act authorizes the state board of education (state board) to take action against an educator license, certificate, endorsement, or authorization if the educator is convicted of an offense under the laws of another state, the United States, or any territory subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, the elements of which are substantially similar to a felony drug offense described in part 4 of article 18 of title 18, Colorado Revised Statutes.The act extends to 18 months the length of the accreditation contract entered into between the state board and each school district board of education (local school board) and the state charter school institute for the 2021-22 school year.The act extend by one month the deadline for a local school board to certify to the state board mileage for reimbursement from the public school transportation fund and for the state board to certify to the state treasurer the amount of reimbursements from the public school transportation fund.The act changes the period of time in which the department of education (department) may establish an alternative pupil count day to within 45 school days after the first school day.The act allows local education providers to carry forward more than 15% of the per-pupil intervention money received pursuant to the "Colorado READ Act" for the 2020-21 budget year for use in the 2021-22 budget year.The act adjusts the amount of additional funding authorized in Senate Bill 21-053 that is available to school districts that fully fund total program with local revenue.The act authorizes a school district that operated a district preschool program pursuant to the "Colorado Preschool Program Act" in the 2019-20 school year with a waiver to serve children under 3 years of age to continue in subsequent school years to use the same number of preschool positions to serve children under 3 years of age who have multiple significant family risk factors.The act extends the budget deadlines for the 2021-22 budget year for school districts and local college districts.The act makes permanent statutory provisions that allow school district charter schools that convert to institute charter schools or institute charter schools that convert to school district charter schools to continue to receive funding for at-risk students using the funding formulas that applied to the charter schools prior to the conversion.For the 2021-22 school year, the act prohibits a local school board from reviewing or making revisions to an existing innovation school plan, innovation school zone, or a public school included in an innovation school zone, pursuant to the innovation school and zone review and revision process. Further, the local school board shall not make any revisions to an existing innovation school or innovation school zone plan that have not been approved before the effective date of this act.The act removes the $10 million annual cap on appropriations for the school counselor corps grant program.The act requires a board of cooperative services (BOCES) that intends to locate or operate a authorize a full-time BOCES school or an additional location of an existing school that is physically located within the geographic boundaries of a school district that is not a member of the BOCES during the 2021-22 school year to obtain written permission from the school district in which the school will be operated or located. The requirement for written consent does not apply to a BOCES school that is authorized or operating prior to the effective date of the act.The act requires school districts and institute charter schools to address chronic absenteeism and disproportionate disciplinary practices in order to provide support to students who are identified as at risk of chronic absenteeism and disciplinary actions, including classroom removal, suspension, and expulsion. The act amends the expelled and at-risk student services grant program to focus on services for students identified as at risk of dropping out of school due to chronic absenteeism and disciplinary actions.The act amends the Colorado imagination library program to align the public relations campaign with "Colorado READ Act" campaigns and requires the contractor administering the program to provide a high-quality independent evaluation of the impact of the program on child and family outcomes and to establish a distressed affiliate fund for county-based affiliate programs. The act establishes the intent of the general assembly to provide full funding for free books for eligible children by 2026. The act amends the definition of "local public body" in the public open meetings statute to refer to school districts, which are the local public bodies, rather than school boards. The act declares that the use of federal funding under the "American Rescue Plan Act of 2021" to provide programs, services, and other assistance to populations disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 public health emergency to mitigate the impacts of the public health emergency through the concurrent enrollment and innovation grant program and the career development success program are allowable uses of the federal funding.The act declares the general assembly's intention in making changes to the school finance formula commencing with the 2021-22 budget year, as follows:Modifies at-risk funding by adding pupils who are eligible for reduced-price lunch under the federal school lunch program, in addition to the free-lunch pupils in the existing definition, and removes the subset of English language learners who are currently included in the at-risk pupil count from the definition of "at-risk pupils"; Adds a new English language learner funding factor to the school finance formula for all English language learners included in the prior year's pupil enrollment. The factor is 8% of per pupil funding multiplied by the English language learner enrollment. as defined in the act. Makes corresponding changes to the calculation of district total program funding, minimum per pupil funding, and the minimum per pupil funding base to reflect the school finance formula changes relating to English language learner factor funding; and Makes a corresponding change to the statutory district total program amount to reflect the changes to the at-risk funding factor and the addition of the English language learner funding factor. The act authorizes the use of appropriations for the accelerating students through concurrent enrollment (ASCENT) program for the 2021-22 budget year.The act removes the $27 million appropriation in the 2021 long bill from the state education fund to the English language learners professional development and student support program.The act appropriates:$505,743,696 to the department from the general fund for the state share of districts' total program funding; $400,000 from the state public school fund for school finance audit payments; $2,000,000 from the state education fund for the school counselor corps grant program; $2,200,444 from the general fund to the department to restore funding to the following grant programs that had appropriations reduced or eliminated for the 2020-21 fiscal year: $800,000 and 0.6 FTE for the ninth grade success program; $375,807 for the school leadership program; $280,730 for the accelerated college opportunity exam fee grant program; $250,000 and 0.3 FTE for the John W. Buckner automatic enrollment in advanced placement courses grant program; and $493,907 and 0.4 FTE for the local accountability systems grant program. $2,500,000 from the marijuana cash tax fund and 1.0 FTE for the K-5 social and emotional health pilot program; $3,000,000 from the marijuana cash tax fund for the behavioral health care professional matching grant program; $2,000,000 for mill levy equalization for institute charter schools; $1,750,000 to the concurrent enrollment expansion and innovation grant program and $1,750,000 for the career development success program from federal money in the workers, employers, and workforce centers cash fund; and $410,221 to the department from the general fund for the Colorado imagination library program.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The Colorado constitution allows a qualifying senior or a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim a property tax exemption for 50% of the first $200,000 of actual value of the qualifying senior's or veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The concurrent resolution extends eligibility for the exemption to the gold star spouse of a veteran. Gold star spouse is defined as the spouse of a deceased member of the United States armed forces who qualifies for a gold star lapel button due to the death of the member of the United States armed forces under applicable federal law and regulations prescribed by the federal secretary of defense.(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this concurrent resolution as introduced in the second house.)
The act requires the office of information technology (office) in partnership with each principal department of the state to file a report by October 15, 2021, with the joint technology committee (committee) concerning the department's electronic filing capacity. The report must include information on the proportion of documents that can currently be filed electronically with the department, the actions required to allow at least 80% of documents filed with the department to be filed electronically, and any obstacles or barriers the department or the office would face in implementing electronic filing for at least 80% of documents filed with the department.The governing body of each county and city and county is also required to file a report with the committee by October 15, 2021, concerning the county's electronic filing capacity. The report must include information on the proportion of documents that can currently be filed electronically with the county, the actions required to allow at least 80% of documents filed with the county to be filed electronically, and any obstacles or barriers the county would face in implementing electronic filing for at least 80% of documents filed with the county.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
If a school district, board of cooperative services, or charter school (local education provider) provides educational programming via online instruction to a student (online student), the act prohibits the local education provider from:Prohibiting the online student's parent from being in the same room while the student participates in online instruction, but the person leading the instruction may require a disruptive parent to leave the area of online instruction; Requiring an online student to use a camera while participating in online instruction if the student's technology does not allow for use of a camera; and Suspending or expelling an online student based on an item observed in the student's physical environment or the student's behavior while participating in online instruction, unless the behavior constitutes one of the statutory grounds for suspension or expulsion. The act specifies that the limitation on suspending or expelling an online student applies to suspensions and expulsions that occur on or after March 23, 2020.The act specifies that the premises, facilities, and buildings of an educational institution do not include an online student's private residence for purposes of the crime of interference with staff, faculty, or students of educational institutions.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
The act requires a school district, district charter school, and institute charter school (public school) to accept the school liaison address for the military installation for purposes of demonstrating residency for inbound active duty military members (inbound military member) participating in open enrollment. Further, the act requires a public school that enrolls the child of an inbound military member through open enrollment to grant guaranteed automatic matriculation, as specified in the act, in the same manner guaranteed automatic matriculation is provided to resident students, and shall grant priority preference for younger siblings of the child for enrolling in subsequent school years.The act defines "inbound active duty military member" as an active duty military member who receives new orders, or a command letter issued in lieu of orders, for a permanent change of station to a department of defense military installation in Colorado.The act requires a public school to allow an inbound military member to submit applications for enrollment or open enrollment by electronic means and to register a child remotely, without requiring the child, parent, legal guardian, or another person to appear physically within the state for registration. If required, the inbound military member must also be allowed to provide proof of residency and other records within 10 days after the child's attendance in public school. Further, a public school shall allow the child of an inbound military member the same opportunity to request school assignments, register for courses, or apply for the same courses offered to students who are already present in the state.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)
Under current law, the general assembly is authorized to annually appropriate money from the Colorado telephone users with disabilities fund (fund) to support talking book library services for persons who are blind or physically disabled.The act requires an annual appropriation from the fund for the talking book library services and appropriates $250,000 for that purpose.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)