House File 658 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE 658
BY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
(SUCCESSOR TO HF 437)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act authorizing the boards of directors of school districts
2 to appoint student liaisons to the boards.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 279.3, Code 2023, is amended to read as
2 follows:
3 279.3 Appointment of secretary and treasurer —— student
4 liaison.
5 1. a. The board shall appoint a secretary who shall not be
6 a teacher employed by the board but may be another employee of
7 the board. The board shall also appoint a treasurer who may be
8 another employee of the board. However, the board may appoint
9 one person to serve as the secretary and the treasurer.
10 2. b. These officers shall be appointed from outside the
11 membership of the board and the appointment and qualification
12 shall be entered of record in the minutes of the secretary.
13 They shall qualify within ten days following appointment by
14 taking the oath of office in the manner required by section
15 277.28 and filing a bond as required by section 291.2 and shall
16 hold office until their successors are appointed and qualified.
17 2. a. The board shall develop and implement an application
18 and selection process for the position of student liaison,
19 who shall act as a liaison between the board, administrators,
20 teachers, the student council, and the general student
21 population. If an applicant for student liaison satisfies the
22 board’s application and selection process, the board shall
23 select at least one applicant to act as a student liaison.
24 b. The student liaison shall have a seat at the table
25 of all regular meetings of the board and board subcommittee
26 meetings in a nonvoting capacity, and shall have access to all
27 nonconfidential board meeting materials. The student liaison
28 may advocate for student interests in regular meetings of the
29 board, provide school administrators and board members with
30 student viewpoints, assist in developing and monitoring the
31 implementation of education policy, and volunteer to perform
32 other functions of benefit to the students and the district
33 that the board deems appropriate for a student to carry out.
34 c. The student liaison shall not do any of the following:
35 (1) Participate in special meetings of the board.
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1 (2) Be involved in board meetings related to the discipline
2 of employees of the school district or students enrolled in the
3 school district.
4 (3) Have access to documents involving the discipline of
5 employees of the school district or students enrolled in the
6 school district.
7 EXPLANATION
8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
9 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
10 This bill authorizes the boards of directors of school
11 districts to select students to act as liaisons between
12 the board, administrators, teachers, the student council,
13 and the general student population. The board must develop
14 and implement an application and selection process. If an
15 applicant satisfies the application and selection process,
16 the board is required to select at least one applicant to act
17 as a student liaison. The student liaison must have a seat
18 at the table of all regular meetings of the board and board
19 subcommittee meetings in a nonvoting capacity and must also
20 have access to all nonconfidential board meeting materials.
21 The student liaison may perform functions of benefit to the
22 students and the district that the board deems appropriate for
23 a student to carry out.
24 The bill prohibits the student liaison from participating in
25 special meetings of the board, being involved in board meetings
26 related to employee or student discipline, or having access to
27 documents involving employee or student discipline.
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 279.3