2024 Bill Summaries

2024 Legislative Session Bill Summaries

These are summaries of bills that are moving through the legislative process. Because there are a large number of education bills introduced each legislative session, we only provide summaries of bills that have a passed a committee in the House or Senate.

If you have further questions on any of these bills or any that have been introduced, please contact IASB Lobbyist Emily Piper or IASB Government Relations Director Michelle Johnson.

HF 2465—Agriculture Classes as Science Credit: This bill would allow agriculture classes to count toward the five required units of science, with a limit of two units of agriculture that can count toward the science requirements. It also adds additional math course options related to applied sciences, technology, engineering or manufacturing.

IASB is registered in support of the bill because it allows more flexibility for students to fulfill science requirements but puts good limits on it. The bill passed the House by a vote of 95-0 and passed the Senate by a vote of 48-0. It has been sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

SF 2411—Work-Based Learning Programs: This bill proposed by the governor allows for work-based learning to be provided when school isn’t in session, including over the summer. A division to change student teaching requirements will allow between 1-10 weeks of experience as a paraeducator or substitute teacher to count toward the required 14 weeks of student teaching experience. The student must be in a classroom at the grade level in which they are earning an endorsement and must be responsible for planning and instruction in the classroom.

IASB is registered for the bill. We support work-based learning programs and the change in student teaching requirements for those with prior work experience. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 33-13 and passed the House by a vote of 72-21. The bill has been sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

HF 2539—Open Meetings Violations Fines: The bill increases the fines for violating open meetings laws, from not more than $500 to not more than $5,000. Additionally, it adds that a meeting does not include a gathering hosted by a political party, political candidate, or civic organization.

IASB is registered opposed to the bill. We agree there should be fines for violations, but these fines are very steep for unpaid school board members; however, the exceptions for what constitutes a meeting are helpful for board members. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 46-0 and passed the House by a vote of 87-6. The bill has been sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

HF 2545—Graduation Requirements, Standards and Curriculum Review: The House proposed and passed a strike after amendment, which replaces an entire bill. It includes several sections:

Comprehensive review of Iowa’s core content standards and graduation requirements .
The review will include a statewide literacy plan to encourage using the Science of Reading principles. Additionally, teacher prep programs will teach these strategies and will be prohibited from teaching the three-cueing method.
There will be an opportunity for public comment on the review.
Initial policy change recommendations will be submitted to the legislature by Dec. 31, 2024. Final recommendations will be submitted by July 1, 2025.
A review of social studies standards, to ensure they include, for grades 1-12:

U.S. government and comparing alternative forms of government
Rights and responsibilities of citizens
U.S. history
Founding of Iowa and famous Iowans
Important figures and events in western civilization
Important historical and founding documents of the U.S.

Revised social studies standards will be presented by Dec. 31, 2025
Social studies standards for grades 7-8 will include civics instruction

IASB is registered opposed to the bill because the new social studies standards are prescriptive. Additionally, we want to ensure the overall standards and graduation requirements review includes all relevant stakeholders, including those with specific content knowledge. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 33-14 and passed the House by a vote of 57-36. The bill has been sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

SF 2391—Purchasing Meat Products: The bill includes a section that requires school districts to have a policy that prevents them from purchasing food products that are misbranded as meat or egg products or cultivated protein food products.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill because cultivated-protein food products are not available on the general market, so this shouldn’t impact districts’ current buying practices; however, we do have concerns about which specific products districts will be prevented from buying. The bill passed the House by a vote of 60-34 and passed the Senate by a vote of 33-12. It will now be sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

SF 2441—Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations: This budget bill has one line item of interest to school districts. There is $200,000 appropriated for a Choose Iowa Food Purchasing Pilot Project. This allows a school district not already participating in a farm-to-school program to be reimbursed for purchases of food products originating from a farm source.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 33-14 and passed the House by a vote of 79-12. The bill has been sent to Governor Reynolds for her signature.

Confirmation of McKenzie Snow: McKenzie Snow has been confirmed to her position as Director of the Department of Education. Senate confirmations require approval by two-thirds of senators, and her appointment was confirmed by a vote of 34-15. IASB does not take a position on gubernatorial appointments.

Advocacy Center

Signed by the Governor

SF 2385—Boards and Commissions: This bill is a continuation of the governor’s government reorganization plan from last year. It details which boards and commissions will remain, what will be combined and what will be eliminated. It eliminates the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), and instead there will be an Employment Appeals Board. This board will have the same duties as PERB. It eliminates the Telecommunications Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations on the use of telecommunications as an instructional tool.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. It passed the House by a vote of 54-42 and passed the Senate by a vote of 32-14. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 17, 2024.

SF 2368 – Open Enrollment Funding and Building Sales: This bill changed significantly from its original form. The bill does the following:

Requires two categorical funds, professional development and early intervention, to follow open enrolled students to their receiving district and students who attend a charter school. The state cost per pupil will be sent to the receiving district.
Requires school districts to sell property to another educational institution, like a charter or nonpublic school, if they are the highest bidder. Additionally, schools cannot have a deed restriction on selling to charter or nonpublic schools.
Allows online charter school students to participate in up to two extracurricular activities in their resident district. The district can charge up to $200 per activity.
School districts can enter into sharing agreements with charter schools on activities that a charter school doesn’t offer.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. We would prefer no restrictions on districts when selling property, but this version still allows for a competitive bidding process. The bill passed the House by a vote of 52-38 and passed the Senate by a vote of 31-15. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 17, 2024.

HF 2652—School Security and Safety: This bill is the legislature’s comprehensive school security and safety proposal. The bill includes sections to address several issues related to school security:

Mobile Panic Alert Systems: Districts can purchase and use a system that coordinates with law enforcement and integrates with local public safety infrastructure to transmit 911 calls.
School buildings must comply with building codes before issuing bonds for athletic facilities. The building codes will increase required school safety measures for new infrastructure.
Each district will be required to do a school safety review, if they have not already.
Each attendance center will be required to have at least one handheld radio that can access first responders.
School Safety and Security Infrastructure Standards Task Force: The Departments of Public Safety, Education, and Homeland Security and Emergency Management will convene a task force with the goal of making recommendations on security standards for schools on things like doors, windows, cameras, and locks. Their recommendations will be used to modify the state building code that will apply to new school construction.
Expanded use of SAVE funds: School districts will be able to use SAVE funds to purchase firearm detection software or technology and pay the ongoing subscription and monitoring fees with SAVE funds. Personnel costs cannot be paid for using SAVE funds.
Use of Professional Development dollars: These funds can be used for trainings required for a school employee to be armed.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. We are supportive of many parts of this bill to help school districts ensure their buildings are safe and secure. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 34-13 and passed the House by a vote of 55-35. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 17, 2024.

HF 255—Teacher Intern Program & Alternative Licensure: This bill establishes the requirements for attaining a teacher intern license and a license through an alternative program.

To obtain a teacher intern license, candidates must:

Have a bachelor’s degree that meets requirements of an endorsement area
Have an offer of employment from a school district
Complete pedagogy training
Work under the supervision of a teacher leader

To obtain a license from an alternative program, the requirements are:

Have a bachelor’s degree
60 hours in a classroom, 30 of which are teaching under the supervision of a licensed teacher
Complete an alternative teacher certification program approved by the State Board of Education

The alternative program must include:

Content area training
Instruction and an assessment on: Pedagogy training, classroom management and organization, instructional design, and professional learning
Administration of the Foundations of Reading assessment from Massachusetts

Programs are approved for seven years by the State Board of Education, unless they decide a shorter term is necessary. The programs will submit a report to the state including information on students participating, students who completed the program, student retention, and licensing and employment in Iowa.

Students who complete an alternative teaching program will not be allowed to teach special education until they complete a practicum.

The extra requirements of alternative programs added to the bill caused IASB to switch our registration to undecided. We are supportive of a more robust teacher intern program, and we like the addition of required time in the classroom before receiving a license through an alternative program. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 33-14 and passed the House by a vote of 56-38. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 17, 2024.

SF 2443—Standing Appropriations: This bill encompasses several areas, but there are a few items of interest to school districts and public education:

Appropriates $14.0 million to supplement non-salaried education staff for FY 2025 only. These funds will be considered miscellaneous income and not calculated into a district’s combined district cost. Funds will be distributed on a per-capita basis based on budget enrollment after reporting salary and other information to be determined by the DE. It is unknown if this appropriation will be ongoing in future budget years.
Still no state funding for Instructional Support. This was last funded by state aid in FY 2011.
The additional AEA cuts were increased by another $2.9 million this year, bringing the total cut to the AEAs to $32.5 million ($7.5 statutory, $15.0 million usual cut, $10.0 million corresponding with DE increase for Special Education Division).
Clarifying language on years of experience as it relates to minimum salary requirements. Teachers with 12 years of experience as of July 1, 2024 will have a minimum salary of $60,000 and those with 12 years of experience as of July 1, 2025 will have a minimum salary of $62,000.

IASB is registered as undecided on the bill. We appreciate the education support personnel funding but would prefer it be an ongoing appropriation, so districts can increase those salaries permanently. The additional AEA cuts cause more uncertainty about their ability to provide all the services they currently do. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 31-14 and passed the House by a vote of 56-36. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 9, 2024.

SF 2435—Education Appropriations: The bill provides a total general fund appropriation of $1.018 billion for FY 2025. It is an overall Increase of $35.4 million (3.6%) compared to FY 2024. Additionally, the bill provides overall FY 2025 General Fund appropriations to the Department of Education (including K-12 programs and Community Colleges) totaling $442.2 million, an increase of $23.0 million (5.5%). Major changes include:

An increase of $1.0 million (17.5%) for the Department of Education Administration.
An increase of $123,600 (20.7%) for Career Technical Education Administration.
An increase of $500,00 (5.5%) for Jobs for America’s Grads (IJAG).
An increase of $7.0 million (3.1%) for Community College General Aid.
An increase of $2,865,500 (2.5%) for the Iowa School for the Deaf.
An increase of $119,900 (2.5%) for Education Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
An increase of $150,000 (54.5%) for Future Ready Iowa Skilled Workforce Grant Program.
An increase of $1.3 million (2.5%) to the standing appropriation of the Tuition Grant Program.
An increase of $2,700 (2.5%) to the For-profit Tuition Grant Program.
A new appropriation of $10.0 million for the Department of Education’s Special Education Division. This appropriation amount corresponds to an additional $10.0 million reduction to the AEAs in SF 2443 (Standings Appropriation Act).
A new appropriation of $2.2 million for Professional Development. This appropriation amount corresponds to the elimination of $2.2 million in professional development to the AEAs in HF 2612 (Area Education Agencies).
Several other line items have an impact on K-12 schools:
Within the University of Northern Iowa’s budget, Educators for Iowa: $1.5 million appropriation. This money could be used to pay stipends or provide tuition reimbursement for teacher prep students who are student teaching.
Therapeutic Classroom Incentive Fund: $2.3 million appropriation
Therapeutic Classroom Transportation Claims Reimbursement: $500,000
Teach Iowa Scholar: $650,000 appropriation. This money is used to provide student loan repayment to teachers.

The budget bill also contains some policy provisions:

Addressing chronic absenteeism: The bill requires board policy on absenteeism and truancy, including:

How the board determines chronic absenteeism
Different interventions that can be used when a student is chronically absent
Penalties that can be used when a student is chronically absent

Defines chronic absenteeism as missing 10% of school days or hours in a grading period
Defines truancy as missing 20% of school days or hours in a grading period
When a student becomes chronically absent, the school district must notify the county attorney and send a notice to parents on their child’s absences and the policies associated with more absences.
When a student is absent for 15% of school days, a school engagement meeting is required. The meeting will identify barriers to attendance and interventions to improve the student’s attendance. The student, parent, and a school official will participate in the meeting.
An absenteeism prevention plan will be created that will lay out the responsibilities of everybody involved to improve attendance. A school official will monitor compliance and contact participants at least once a week.
If the plan is violated, the county attorney may get involved.

Open Enrollment: The bill reinstates the March 1 deadline for open enrollment requests. There are still good cause exceptions. If an open enrolled student is deemed truant, the receiving district can prohibit the student from remaining enrolled and prohibit them from enrolling in the future.

Modified Supplemental Amount for Large Open Enrollment Districts: Districts with more than 45% of students open enrolled in can go to the School Budget Review Committee (SBRC) for a modified supplemental amount (MSA) to grant them more spending authority.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. We are supportive of things like therapeutic classroom funding and reinstating the open enrollment request deadline but have concerns about the new requirements on districts related to addressing chronic absenteeism. It passed the Senate by a vote of 32-14 and passed the House by a vote of 52-43. The bill was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on May 9, 2024.

HF 2691—Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund (RIIF) Appropriations: This budget includes money for administrative projects at many state departments, including $600,000 from the Technology Reinvestment Fund (TRF) for continued development and implementation of an educational data warehouse that teachers, administrators, parents, and AEA staff can use.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 47-0 and passed the House by a vote of 57-35. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 9, 2024.

HF 2618—Governor’s Literacy Bill: The bill contains two main sections to address early literacy and improve proficiency in young students:

Foundations of Reading assessment for teacher prep candidates: Teacher prep programs will be required to administer the Foundations of Reading assessment and report the percentage of students above, at, or below a passing score to the Department of Education. Students and current teachers will not be required to pass the test for licensure.
Ensuring students are proficient in reading: School districts will provide written notice to parents of a student in grades K-6 who is not grade-level proficient in reading. Parents will have the option to retain their student in the same grade in the next school year. School districts must provide a personalized reading plan for students in grades K-6 who are not reading proficiently until they reach proficiency, through sixth grade if needed.

IASB is registered in support of this bill because we want to improve reading proficiency in young readers. We hope we can continue to do more to ensure all students are proficient in reading by the end of third grade. The bill passed the House by a vote of 92-3 and passed the Senate by a vote of 46-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 7, 2024.

SF 2442—Tax Bill: This bill makes changes and corrections to last year’s tax bill, including some provisions that impact school districts:

Section 26: Requires all political subdivisions (including schools) to file their tax rate information with Department of Management by March 5. There is language that explicitly says that if a county or city are late in filing, they are limited to the prior year tax levies.
Section 27: The county auditor is required to mail statements to taxpayers by March 15
Section 28: Expands the example of what each political subdivision must provide
Section 29: New language that requires us to post a link to the Department of Management website where this example information is contained.
Section 30: Requires that the public hearing date is on or after March 20
Section 31: Sets out some protections if newspapers fail to file the notice in a timely manner if the political subdivision can prove they provided that information to taxpayers in another manner and that they filed it in a timely manner with the newspaper.
Section 32: Eliminates the requirement that all statements sent to taxpayers be maintained on the district’s website and requires that the proposed budget year information is posted to the website no later than the date the statement was mailed.
Section 42: New language that allows a municipality to extend a TIF enacted prior to January 1, 2018 with the approval of all other taxing entities.
The bill changes the certification date for the Instructional Support Levy (ISL) to April 30.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill because the bill offers some needed clarifications but still does not specifically extend deadlines for providing information for budget transparency statements if SSA is not set on time. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 39-7 and passed the House by a vote of 68-24. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 1, 2024.

HF 2615—Providing College Debt Information: This bill requires schools to provide 11th and 12th grade students who have expressed an interest in postsecondary education with information compiled by colleges and universities on student loan debt and income of graduates. Additionally, the supplemental weighting for a shared career and college transition counselor or coordinator will be exempt from a district’s maximum allowed weighting. Districts only have to provide a link to the student debt and income information.

IASB is registered in support of the bill. We support the operational sharing exemption for the career and college transition counselor role and want to ensure it’s not an extra burden for districts to get the information that must be provided to students on loan debt and income. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 48-0 and passed the House by a vote of 95-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 1, 2024.

HF 2602—Grooming as a Criminal Offense: The bill adds grooming of a minor as a criminal offense and defines what constitutes grooming. This is one of two bills this session addressing grooming and providing definitions, but this bill adds it as a class D felony whereas HF 2487 makes it a mandatory reporting topic.

IASB is registered undecided because this bill’s definition is different than what was in HF 2487, so there are now two definitions of grooming in code. The bill passed the House by a vote of 94-0 and passed the Senate by a vote of 46-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 1, 2024.

HF 2278—Open Enrollment Transportation: This bill allows a receiving district of an open enrolled student to send school vehicles into the district of residence to pick up students. This is limited to districts with an enrollment of less than 2,000 students, vehicles can’t go more than two miles into the district of residence, and the student must live closer to their school in the receiving district than the school they would attend in their district of residence. If the school board in both the sending and receiving districts agree to it, transportation can be provided by the receiving district in any circumstance. The bill clarifies that sending districts are not responsible for the cost of transportation for low-income students if they take advantage of transportation outlined in this bill.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill because it doesn’t require approval by the board in both districts, but there are good limitations on it. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 49-0 and passed the House by a vote of 91-6. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on May 1, 2024.

HF 2152—Teacher Leadership and Compensation (TLC) Commission Reports: This bill is a code clean-up bill because of legislation passed last session. It removes the requirement for a report on the TLC program that was removed in last year’s ESA bill, which gave added flexibility to the TLC program.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill, but we have no concerns with making conforming code changes. The bill passed the House by a vote of 95-0 and the Senate by a vote of 48-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on April 10, 2024.

SF 2331—Public Notice Requirements: The bill requires a public notice website to be operated by a statewide association of newspapers. The website must contain all public notices required by law, be searchable, allow for the public to subscribe to email notifications for certain notices and provide access to the notifications for at least one year after publication. An amendment by the House allows the public notice website to charge a fee to subscribe to the notifications. The fee will not exceed the cost of providing the subscription service.

Additionally, if a newspaper has a website, they are required to post public notices online without requiring a subscription to see them. Newspaper websites will also publish the link to the statewide website of all public notices.

IASB is registered in support of the bill, although we preferred an earlier version of the bill that allowed public notice requirements to be met simply by publishing them on the statewide website. The bill passed the House by a vote of 95-2 and the Senate concurred with their amendment and passed it by a vote of 47-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on April 10, 2024.

HF 2393—Dental Screenings: This bill adds dental screenings, in addition to vision and hearing, as allowed in schools without receiving parental consent. An amendment on the House floor specifically added the word 'screening' to clarify the intent.

IASB is registered for the bill, as this is an important service schools provide students. The bill passed the House by a vote of 95-0 and passed the Senate 48-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill into law on April 10, 2024.

HF 2398—Bond and Insurance Policies for Board Members: The bill allows a public officer to purchase an insurance policy in lieu of posting a bond and requires the policy to substantially meet the bond requirements. It allows for the reasonable expenses of the insurance policy to be paid for by the government to the extent the expenses of the bond would be covered.

IASB is registered in support of the bill because it reflects the current practice of districts. The bill passed the House by a vote of 97-0 and the Senate by a vote of 46-0. The bill was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on April 19, 2024.

HF 2487—Board of Educational Examiners (BOEE) Requirements: This bill includes several policies related to BOEE procedures:

Moves the process established for investigating complaints against school employees under the authority of the BOEE. This process was established in legislation (HF 430) last year, but under the authority of the Department of Education.
Adds mandatory reporting of grooming behavior to the BOEE and will result in a teacher’s license being revoked.
Adds definitions of grooming behavior, inappropriate relationships, and misconduct.
BOEE will report any evidence of a crime to law enforcement that they find during an investigation of a licensed or non licensed school employee.
Removes the statute of limitations to file a complaint against a school employee for engaging in an inappropriate relationship.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. We like the addition of a definition of grooming; however, we have concerns about removing the statute of limitations because it could put districts in a difficult position of defending a claim from years prior without sufficient witnesses or evidence. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 49-0 and passed the House by a vote of 89-0. The bill was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on April 19, 2024.

HF 2586—School Security Grant Program and Arming School Staff: The bill requires school districts with a total enrollment over 8,000 students to employ private security or a school resource officer (SRO) at each 9-12 attendance center. Districts below an enrollment of 8,000 are simply encouraged to employ school security. School boards can vote not to employ school security.

Additionally, school employees can be issued a permit to carry weapons if they complete a comprehensive firearm safety training course, legal training, emergency medical training and communication training provided by the Department of Public Safety (DPS). DPS will be required to implement annual live scenario training and quarterly live firearm training for school employees that have opted in to carrying a firearm. The bill provides qualified immunity for the employee and the school district from liability for damages due to using reasonable force. It’s important to note that nothing in state or federal law precludes a school board from voting to allow school staff with a valid permit to carry a gun on school premises. The main impediment is the availability of affordable property/casualty insurance to cover those boards who make that decision.

A Senate amendment removed the school security personnel grant program that would have provided a matching grant for districts employing an SRO or private security. The House concurred with the amendment, so the matching grant is removed.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill. Although the bill does not change the current procedure that allows a school board to vote to allow armed staff, we would prefer clear language that authorizes a school board to vote to arm staff in the manner outlined in the bill. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 30-14 and passed the House by a vote of 62-36. The bill was signed into law by Governor Reynolds on April 19, 2024.

HF 2612—AEAs, Teacher Salaries, and SSA: This bill, having been amended and passed from House to Senate several times, has finally been agreed to and signed by the governor. The final bill includes three components: AEA reform, new minimum teacher salary requirements, and supplemental state aid (SSA).

IASB has several resources to help you understand the impacts of this bill:

Full summary of the bill.
More information on how much your district will receive in new Teacher Salary Supplement money to meet the new minimum teacher salary requirements.
The impact of setting SSA at 2.5% for the upcoming school year, including how much new money your district will receive.

IASB is registered undecided on the bill because we have concerns about what its implementation will mean for future services provided by the AEAs, specifically in professional development, education and media services. We appreciate that the bill guarantees special education services from the AEAs. Additionally, we’re supportive of providing funding to increase teacher salaries. The bill was passed by the House by a vote of 51-43, passed by the Senate 30-18, and signed by Governor Reynolds on March 27, 2024.

HF 2653—Perry School District Waivers: This bill provides waivers for hours and graduation requirements for the Perry School District because of the tragic shooting earlier this year. Also, the district can use its management fund to pay a one-time retention bonus to employees. The state Department of Education will work with the U.S. Department of Education to ensure other waivers are granted for federal requirements.

IASB is registered in support of the bill because it helps Perry get through a difficult school year without worrying about these requirements. The bill passed the House by a vote of 94-1 and passed the Senate by a vote of 49-0. Governor Reynolds signed the bill on April 5, 2024.

Bills Vetoed by the Governor

HF 2539 – Open Meetings Violations Fines: The bill increases the fines for violating open meetings laws, from not more than $500 to not more than $5,000. Additionally, it adds that a meeting does not include a gathering hosted by a political party, political candidate, or civic organization.

IASB is registered opposed to the bill. We agree there should be fines for violations, but these fines are very steep for unpaid school board members; however, the exceptions for what constitutes a meeting are helpful for board members. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 46-0 and passed the House by a vote of 87-6. Governor Reynolds vetoed the bill, saying she didn’t like the new definition of a “meeting” but hopes to work on making open meetings laws stronger in the future.