One area where lawmakers were extremely busy this year was in the area of education. Of the hundreds of bills passed during the 2021 legislative session, 15 were directed toward the education of our kids. These bills address everything from inequality in language barriers to the lack of instructional time given to online students to compensation for college athletes. Our legislature was in tune with the issues with students from inequality to funding to mental health and made great attempts to address many of these short-falls and problems in our schools. The following are a list of the bills passed during the session regarding education.

Education

Assembly Bill 19: This bill revised the academic subjects that constitute social studies to allow for additional content.  Although for the text is not available, it appears the legislative intent is to allow additional subjects such as civics and financial responsibility to be added to social studies. The bill also exams standards of performance for social studies curriculum.  https://legiscan.com/NV/bill/AB19/2021

Effective immediately.

Assembly Bill 57: It is well known by all of us who have children in the schools that the pandemic has seriously impacted their educations. Online school was not anything remotely comparable to in person learning. Assembly bill 57 suspends teacher evaluations that are based on student growth for two years based on the pandemic’s effects on student learning. I don’t believe this was the proper solution as A further lack of responsibility on the part of educators however this is the bill that was passed by the legislature. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7310/Text

Assembly Bill 105: This bill requires a board formed by the Nevada interscholastic activities association to include at least three parents of students that play a sport. This bill will offer some due process and give voice to parents who are involved with their kids in sporting activities and give the perspective of families to decisions makers within the district. https://legiscan.com/NV/bill/AB105/2021

Effective July 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 109: Assembly bill 109 increases the standards for educators at charter schools. A lot of people don’t know that not every teacher in a charter school is required to have the same level of qualification as teachers in public schools. This bill increases the rate to require that 80% of teachers at charter schools who need to be licensed instead of the previous 70% requirement, although assembly bill 57 reduces teacher accountability for the next two years

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7423/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 194: Nevada existing law establishes the “Nevada Early Childhood Advisory Council” and sets forth the minimum membership of the council that is required. This counsel advises the governor on various educational issues. This bill requires the addition of a member of the counsel who is a representative of the pediatric mental, physical, or behavioral health care system or industry.  This bill is likely in response to the large number of child suicides in Nevada this year.  This is an urgent and important issue that needs to be addressed right away to help the students in our community.  My heart goes out to the parents and loved ones of these students that have taken their own lives at such young ages.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7585/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 195:  This Bill establishes an English language bill of rights to help Nevada students and their family work within the school district system.

https://legiscan.com/NV/drafts/AB195/2021

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 224:  This bill creates a pilot program to provide menstrual products free of charge in lower-income schools.

https://legiscan.com/NV/bill/AB224/2021

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 235:  This bill requires Nevada high schools to add subjects to their curriculum education to include financial planning. This also includes teaching students how to apply for state and federal student aid. This is a welcome change to assist our students to prepare for the future. It is somewhat shocking that this took an active our legislature to require educators to teach our kids these necessary skills.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7681/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Assembly Bill 254:  This bill Allows for college athletes to be compensated for endorsements. This bill is groundbreaking.  This puts into law that student athletes are allowed to be compensated for endorsements. As the parent of a Division, I athlete, it is ridiculous that these kids are basically slaves to the universities. Many people don’t realize that their practice schedules are generally 32 to 40 hours per week in addition to their studies. It is not even possible for most of the students to be able to work and many of them are not on full athletic scholarships, contrary to what the NCAA would lead the public to believe. Unfortunately, the text of this bill is not available currently. However, a future blog will likely be dedicated to this issue that is close to my heart. https://legiscan.com/NV/bill/AB254/2021 Effective January 1, 2022.

Assembly Bill 257: Assembly bill 257 is likely in response to this year’s pandemic. This bill requires school districts to assess their indoor air quality in their buildings to address any issues and make improvements if necessary.  Hopefully, if problems are found there will be emergency relief funds available to make improvements to the ventilation and filtration systems of the schools to protect our children.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7721/Text

Effective July 1, 2021, through June 20, 2023.

Assembly Bill 262:  This bill Waives certain fees charged At Nevada universities for native American students.  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7728/Overview

Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 102: This bill changes date by which students starting school must turn 5 years old before starting kindergarten.   A child must now turn 5 years old before the first day of school instead of the previous requirement of turning 5 before Sept. 30 to start school.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7400/Text

Effective July 1, 2022.

Senate Bill 173:  This bill allocates the funds received from the federal government from the pandemic to provide free enhanced summer school for all Clark County students this past summer to catch up on lost learning. This was of critical importance as so many students are far behind. My own son took summer school this summer due to the lack of instruction during the school year. The bill is unclear whether this will carry over into next summer for students

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7587/Text

Senate Bill 215:  This bill will be welcomed by parents familiar with the lack of instruction by the school district that occurred during the pandemic. This bill requires educators to provide 180 days of education and equal the number of minutes of instruction for all students regardless of whether they are distance-learning or in person.  Parents are likely familiar with classes that were “online” where students logged on for 10 minutes of instruction and logged off. This requirement requires all students to receive the same number of minutes of instruction whether they are online or in person.

https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/NELIS/REL/81st2021/Bill/7684/Text

Effective July 1, 2021.

Senate Bill 444:  The is appropriated $268 million for education for the 2019-21 period to cover a decrease in tax revenue. It is interesting that our legislature was able to find this $268 million during a pandemic year of extreme tax fall shortages. I hope this money came from the federal relief money. In either event, our schools will desperately be in need of these additional funds considering the extraordinary conditions impacting learning during the past year

https://legiscan.com/NV/drafts/SB444/2021

Effective May 21, 2021.

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