Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to: (1) establish certain metrics of performance for public schools for each grade; and (2) on or before October 1 of each year, report data relating to each metric to the Governor, the State Board of Education and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for transmission to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education. (NRS 385A.080) In addition, existing law requires: (1) the Commission on School Funding to review the academic progress made by pupils in each public school since the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan and use certain metrics in performing that review; and (2) each school district and charter school to submit to the Commission a quarterly report of data and metrics collected by the school district or charter school to identify areas of improvement in academic performance and the progress of pupils. (NRS 387.12463) Section 5 of this bill removes the requirement for each school district and charter school to submit to the Commission a quarterly report of such data and metrics and, instead, requires the Commission to conduct an annual review of data and metrics to identify how funding from the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan is being used to improve the academic performance and progress of pupils. Under section 5: (1) the annual review may include, without limitation, a review of data and metrics submitted to the Commission by school districts and charter schools and data and metrics previously reported to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department of Education; and (2) data and metrics previously reported by school districts and charter schools to the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Department are not required to also be submitted to the Commission. Finally, section 1 of this bill similarly requires that, to the greatest extent possible, the Superintendent of Public Instruction use information previously submitted to the Superintendent or the Department to prepare reports of data concerning metrics of performance for public schools and to avoid duplicative requests for information. Existing law requires the Department to establish and maintain an automated system of accountability information for Nevada that has the capacity to provide and report certain information concerning pupils in this State. (NRS 385A.800) To carry out the automated system of accountability, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to prescribe a uniform program throughout this State for the collection, maintenance and transfer of data, which must include standardized software, and each school district is required to adopt and maintain that uniform program, including, without limitation, by providing electronic data concerning pupils as required by the Superintendent. (NRS 385A.810, 385A.820) Sections 2 and 3 of this bill clarify that this uniform program must include the collection, validation and maintenance of electronic records concerning pupils and the transfer of data to the Department from electronic records maintained by each school district, sponsor of a charter school and university school for profoundly gifted pupils in this State. Section 3 authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to deduct money from certain apportionments from the State Education Fund otherwise owed to a school district, charter school or university school for profoundly gifted pupils to compensate the Department for costs to collect, validate and maintain electronic records concerning pupils and financial accountability information as necessary to report on pupil achievement and financial accountability on behalf of the school district, charter school or university school for profoundly gifted pupils. Existing law requires the Commission on Innovation and Excellence in Education to develop a statewide vision and implementation plan to improve the public education system in this State. (NRS 385.920) Section 4 of this bill additionally requires the Commission to: (1) review the reporting, tracking, monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil achievement to identify and recommend the elimination of reporting requirements that are redundant or do not effectively provide measurable and informative data with which to assess and improve educational programs and priorities in this State; and (2) present any recommendations made by the Commission to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education and annually transmit such recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature. Section 4 also requires the Commission to: (1) collaborate with the Department of Education to gather input on the reporting, tracking, monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil achievement and financial accountability; (2) collaborate with the Department to establish a centralized repository of all reports of data relating to pupil achievement and financial accountability and make the repository easily accessible on the Internet website of the Department; and (3) develop a framework for the reporting of data relating to pupil achievement and financial accountability that ensures that data reported to the Department identifies areas of proficiency and growth of pupils in this State, identifies gaps in achievement among groups of pupils in this State and provides clear, actionable data to enable the development of policies and practices to improve educational outcomes in this State. Section 6 this bill: (1) repeals the requirement for the board of trustees of a county school district to publish a quarterly expenditure report for the school district in a newspaper that meets certain requirements; and (2) instead requires the board of trustees of a county school district to publish the quarterly expenditure report on the Internet website of the county school district. (NRS 387.320) Existing law prohibits the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher in certain classes from exceeding certain ratios during each school quarter of a school year. (NRS 388.700) Existing law requires the board of trustees of each school district to report to the Department, on a quarterly basis, the average daily enrollment of pupils and the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher for certain grade levels. (NRS 388.725) If the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher at one or more elementary schools in a school district exceeds the ratio prescribed by statute during any quarter of a school year, existing law requires the school district to request a variance from the State Board for each such school for the subsequent quarter. (NRS 388.700) Section 7 of this bill provides that: (1) the prohibition against exceeding the prescribed ratio of pupils per licensed teacher in certain classes is measured for the entire school year rather than each school quarter of a school year; and (2) a school district is required to request a variance only if the ratio measured for one or more elementary schools for the entire school year exceeds the prescribed ratio. Section 9 of this bill requires annual reports, rather than quarterly reports, regarding the average daily enrollment of pupils and the ratio of pupils per licensed teacher for certain grade levels. Section 8 of this bill makes a conforming change to remove references to such quarterly reports. Existing law requires the governing body of each local government to: (1) submit a fiscal report of the local government to the Department of Taxation in accordance with the requirements prescribed by the Committee on Local Government Finance; and (2) publish a summary of the fiscal report in a newspaper that meets certain requirements. Under existing regulations, the summary of the fiscal report published in a newspaper is: (1) required to contain certain information concerning the revenues and expenditures of the general fund of the local government and any proprietary fund of the local government; and (2) authorized to contain such information for any other fund of the local government. Section 10 of this bill eliminates the requirement for the board of trustees of a county school district to prepare and publish a summary of the fiscal report of the county school district. Section 11 of this bill repeals the requirement for the Department, in consultation with the Budget Division of the Office of Finance and the Fiscal Analysis Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, to: (1) recommend a minimum amount of money to be spent during each fiscal year of the biennium on textbooks, instructional supplies, instructional software and instructional hardware by school districts, charter schools and university schools for profoundly gifted pupils; and (2) publish a report concerning school districts, charter schools and university schools for profoundly gifted pupils that did not spend the recommended minimum amount. (NRS 387.206, 387.2062)

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 385A.080, 385A.810, 385A.820, 387.12463, 387.320, 388.700, 388.723, 388.725, 354.6015
Reprint 1: 385A.080, 385A.810, 385A.820, 387.12463, 387.320, 388.700, 388.723, 388.725, 354.6015
BDR: 385A.080, 385A.810, 385A.820, 387.12463, 387.320, 388.700, 388.723, 388.725, 354.6015