House File 731 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 731
BY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 254)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to and making appropriations to the education
2 system, including the funding and operation of the
3 department for the blind, the department of education, and
4 the state board of regents; requiring the state board of
5 regents to conduct a study and prepare a report related
6 to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and efforts;
7 providing for responsibilities of the workforce development
8 board; establishing the Iowa workforce grant and incentive
9 program; requiring the department of education to convene
10 a task force on at-risk students and dropout prevention
11 programs; modifying provisions related to the future
12 ready Iowa skilled workforce grant program, the all Iowa
13 opportunity scholarship program, the education savings
14 account program, the gap tuition assistance program,
15 the Iowa educational services for the blind and visually
16 impaired program, career and technical education programs,
17 the fine arts beginning teacher mentoring program, the
18 equipment replacement and program-sharing property tax levy,
19 and the posting of education-related job openings; and
20 including effective date, applicability, and retroactive
21 applicability provisions.
22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 DIVISION I
2 FY 2023-2024 APPROPRIATIONS —— DEPARTMENT FOR THE BLIND
3 Section 1. GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATIONS ——
4 ADMINISTRATION. There is appropriated from the general
5 fund of the state to the department for the blind for the
6 fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024,
7 the following amount, or so much thereof as is necessary, to be
8 used for the purposes designated:
9 For salaries, support, maintenance, and miscellaneous
10 purposes, and for not more than the following full-time
11 equivalent positions:
12 .................................................. $ 3,043,503
13 ............................................... FTEs 88.98
14 DIVISION II
15 FY 2023-2024 APPROPRIATIONS —— DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
16 Sec. 2. GENERAL FUND APPROPRIATIONS. There is appropriated
17 from the general fund of the state to the department of
18 education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and
19 ending June 30, 2024, the following amounts, or so much thereof
20 as is necessary, to be used for the purposes designated:
21 1. GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
22 a. For salaries, support, maintenance, and miscellaneous
23 purposes, and for not more than the following full-time
24 equivalent positions:
25 .................................................. $ 5,893,672
26 ............................................... FTEs 63.93
27 b. By January 15, 2024, the department shall submit
28 a written report to the general assembly detailing the
29 department’s antibullying programming and current and projected
30 expenditures for such programming for the fiscal year beginning
31 July 1, 2023.
32 2. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION ADMINISTRATION
33 For salaries, support, maintenance, and miscellaneous
34 purposes, and for not more than the following full-time
35 equivalent positions:
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1 .................................................. $ 598,197
2 ............................................... FTEs 9.12
3 3. PUBLIC BROADCASTING DIVISION
4 For salaries, support, maintenance, capital expenditures,
5 and miscellaneous purposes, and for not more than the following
6 full-time equivalent positions:
7 .................................................. $ 7,943,538
8 ............................................... FTEs 58.38
9 4. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION
10 For reimbursement for career and technical education
11 expenditures made by regional career and technical education
12 planning partnerships in accordance with section 258.14, as
13 amended by 2023 Iowa Acts, Senate File 514:
14 .................................................. $ 2,952,459
15 5. SCHOOL FOOD SERVICE
16 For use as state matching moneys for federal programs that
17 shall be disbursed according to federal regulations, including
18 salaries, support, maintenance, and miscellaneous purposes, and
19 for not more than the following full-time equivalent positions:
20 .................................................. $ 2,176,797
21 ............................................... FTEs 25.40
22 6. BIRTH TO AGE THREE SERVICES
23 a. For expansion of the federal Individuals with
24 Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Pub. L. No.
25 108-446, as amended to January 1, 2018, birth through age three
26 services due to increased numbers of children qualifying for
27 those services:
28 .................................................. $ 1,721,400
29 b. From the moneys appropriated in this subsection,
30 $383,769 shall be allocated to the child health specialty
31 clinics administered by the state university of Iowa in order
32 to provide additional support for infants and toddlers who are
33 born prematurely, drug-exposed, or medically fragile.
34 7. EARLY HEAD START PROJECTS
35 a. For early head start projects:
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1 .................................................. $ 574,500
2 b. The moneys appropriated in this subsection shall be
3 used for implementation and expansion of early head start
4 pilot projects addressing the comprehensive cognitive, social,
5 emotional, and developmental needs of children from birth to
6 age three, including prenatal support for qualified families.
7 The projects shall promote healthy prenatal outcomes and
8 healthy family functioning, and strengthen the development of
9 infants and toddlers in low-income families. Priority shall be
10 given to those organizations that have previously qualified for
11 and received state funding to administer an early head start
12 project.
13 8. STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND TEACHER QUALITY PROGRAM
14 For purposes of the student achievement and teacher quality
15 program established pursuant to chapter 284, and for not more
16 than the following full-time equivalent positions:
17 .................................................. $ 2,990,467
18 ............................................... FTEs 6.02
19 9. STATEWIDE STUDENT ASSESSMENT
20 a. For distribution to the Iowa testing program by the
21 department of education on behalf of school districts and
22 accredited nonpublic schools to offset the costs associated
23 with a statewide student assessment administered in accordance
24 with section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph “b”:
25 .................................................. $ 3,000,000
26 b. From the moneys appropriated in this subsection, not more
27 than $300,000 shall be distributed to the Iowa testing programs
28 within the university of Iowa college of education to offset
29 the costs of administering the statewide student assessment at
30 accredited nonpublic schools.
31 10. STATEWIDE CLEARINGHOUSE TO EXPAND WORK-BASED LEARNING
32 For support costs associated with the creation of a
33 statewide clearinghouse to expand work-based learning as a part
34 of the future ready Iowa initiative:
35 .................................................. $ 300,000
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1 11. POSTSECONDARY SUMMER CLASSES FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
2 PROGRAM
3 For support costs associated with the creation of a program
4 to provide additional moneys for resident high school pupils
5 enrolled in grades 9 through 12 to attend a community college
6 for college-level classes or attend a class taught by a
7 community college-employed instructor during the summer and
8 outside of the regular school year through a contractual
9 agreement between a community college and a school district
10 under the future ready Iowa initiative:
11 .................................................. $ 600,000
12 Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys received by the
13 department pursuant to this subsection that remain unencumbered
14 or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
15 but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes
16 specified in this subsection until the close of the succeeding
17 fiscal year.
18 12. JOBS FOR AMERICA’S GRADUATES
19 For school districts to reinforce combined efforts and
20 regional initiatives that accelerate paraeducator and teacher
21 credential attainment and to provide direct services to the
22 most at-risk middle school or high school students enrolled
23 in school districts through direct intervention by a jobs for
24 America’s graduates specialist:
25 .................................................. $ 9,146,450
26 13. ATTENDANCE CENTER PERFORMANCE/GENERAL INTERNET SITE AND
27 DATA SYSTEM SUPPORT
28 For administration of a process for school districts to
29 establish specific performance goals and to evaluate the
30 performance of each attendance center operated by the district
31 in order to arrive at an overall school performance grade and
32 report card for each attendance center, for internet site
33 and data system support, and for not more than the following
34 full-time equivalent positions:
35 .................................................. $ 250,000
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1 ............................................... FTEs 1.83
2 14. SUCCESSFUL PROGRESSION FOR EARLY READERS
3 For distribution to school districts for implementation
4 of section 279.68, subsection 2, relating to successful
5 progression for early readers:
6 .................................................. $ 7,824,782
7 15. EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR LITERACY
8 a. For purposes of purchasing a statewide license for an
9 early warning assessment and administering the early warning
10 system for literacy established in accordance with section
11 279.68 and rules adopted in accordance with section 256.7,
12 subsection 31:
13 .................................................. $ 1,915,000
14 b. The department shall administer and distribute to school
15 districts and accredited nonpublic schools the early warning
16 assessment system that allows teachers to screen and monitor
17 student literacy skills from prekindergarten through grade
18 six. The department may charge school districts and accredited
19 nonpublic schools a fee for the system not to exceed the actual
20 costs to purchase a statewide license for the early warning
21 assessment minus the moneys received by the department under
22 this subsection. The fee shall be determined by dividing the
23 actual remaining costs to purchase the statewide license for
24 the school year by the number of pupils assessed under the
25 system in the current fiscal year. School districts may use
26 moneys received pursuant to section 257.10, subsection 11, and
27 moneys received for purposes of implementing section 279.68,
28 subsection 2, to pay the early warning assessment system fee.
29 16. IOWA READING RESEARCH CENTER
30 a. For purposes of the Iowa reading research center in
31 order to implement, in collaboration with the area education
32 agencies, the provisions of section 256.9, subsection 49,
33 paragraph “c”:
34 .................................................. $ 1,500,000
35 b. From moneys appropriated in this subsection, not more
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1 than $250,000 shall be used for collaborations with the state
2 board of education relating to the approval of practitioner
3 preparation programs pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 3,
4 paragraph “c”, and with the board of educational examiners for
5 the establishment and continuing oversight of the advanced
6 dyslexia specialist endorsement pursuant to section 272.2,
7 subsection 22, as amended by 2023 Iowa Acts, Senate File 514.
8 For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30,
9 2024, the center shall submit a report to the general assembly
10 detailing the expenditures of moneys used for purposes of this
11 paragraph “b”.
12 c. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys received by the
13 department pursuant to this subsection that remain unencumbered
14 or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
15 but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes
16 specified in this subsection until the close of the succeeding
17 fiscal year.
18 17. COMPUTER SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT INCENTIVE
19 FUND
20 For deposit in the computer science professional development
21 incentive fund established under section 284.6A:
22 .................................................. $ 500,000
23 18. CHILDREN’S MENTAL HEALTH SCHOOL-BASED TRAINING AND
24 SUPPORT
25 a. For distribution to area education agencies for
26 school-based children’s mental health services, including
27 mental health awareness training for educators:
28 .................................................. $ 3,383,936
29 b. Of the moneys appropriated in this subsection for
30 distribution to area education agencies, $200,000 shall be
31 used for purposes of implementing a children’s grief and loss
32 rural pilot program to serve Iowa children in rural school
33 districts or accredited nonpublic schools. The pilot program
34 shall be administered by, and the moneys allocated pursuant to
35 this paragraph shall be distributed to, an existing statewide
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1 not-for-profit health care organization that currently provides
2 grief and loss services to children. For the fiscal year
3 beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024, the health
4 care organization receiving moneys pursuant to this paragraph
5 shall prepare a report, in collaboration with the department
6 of education, detailing the expenditures of moneys used for
7 the purposes of this program and its outcomes, which shall be
8 submitted to the general assembly by September 30, 2024.
9 19. BEST BUDDIES IOWA
10 a. For school districts to create opportunities for
11 one-to-one friendships, integrated employment, and leadership
12 development for students with intellectual and developmental
13 disabilities:
14 .................................................. $ 35,000
15 b. The department of education shall establish criteria for
16 the distribution of moneys appropriated under this subsection
17 and shall require an organization receiving moneys under this
18 subsection to annually report student identifying data for
19 students participating in the program to the department in the
20 manner prescribed by the department as a condition of receiving
21 such moneys.
22 20. MIDWESTERN HIGHER EDUCATION COMPACT
23 a. For distribution to the midwestern higher education
24 compact to pay Iowa’s member state annual obligation:
25 .................................................. $ 115,000
26 b. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys appropriated
27 pursuant to this subsection that remain unencumbered or
28 unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
29 but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes
30 designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year.
31 21. NONPUBLIC SCHOOL CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT PAYMENTS TO
32 COMMUNITY COLLEGES
33 For payments to community colleges for the concurrent
34 enrollment of accredited nonpublic school students under
35 section 261E.8, subsection 2, paragraph “b”:
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1 .................................................. $ 1,000,000
2 Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys received by the
3 department pursuant to this subsection that remain unencumbered
4 or unobligated at the close of the fiscal year shall not revert
5 but shall remain available for expenditure for the purposes
6 designated until the close of the succeeding fiscal year.
7 22. COMMUNITY COLLEGES
8 For general state financial aid to merged areas, as defined
9 in section 260C.2, in accordance with chapter 258, as amended
10 by 2023 Iowa Acts, Senate File 514, and chapter 260C:
11 ...............