Community Schools Program Advances, School Lunch Changes Fail

New education legislation moves forward in the House and Senate Tuesday and the final weeks of committee work are well underway.  

We’re seeing a narrowing list of bills moving step by step toward the governor’s desk.  

We’re in the phase of the process where lawmakers in the House are considering Senate bills, and vice versa.  

Lawmakers voted on several pieces of legislation we’ve been watching.  

Senators passed a bill that authorizes the State Board of Education to help set up community school pilot projects.  

“It's a pilot program that employs staff to coordinate resources between schools and community partners to ensure student needs are being met,” said Sen. Dewayne Pemberton (R-Muskogee.)  

New pilot projects must meet some minimum requirements: have a designated community coordinator that completes a science of hope training program, the district must complete a needs assessment with a variety of stakeholders, have site-based leadership, and an ongoing stakeholder engagement process.  

“I’m supportive of this bill and I’m supportive of the concept in really trying to empower those local school districts to build stronger relationships within their communities,” said Sen. Carri Hicks (D-OKC.) 

The Senate also advanced HB 4388 which is one of a pair of bills that seeks to establish pay incentives for career teachers using Lottery Commission dollars.  

And in the House Common Education committee — a bill that would have given the federal Board of Agriculture the authority to administer Oklahoma's school lunch programs — failed after multiple representatives mentioned their local superintendents had reached out with concerns about how the measure would impact local districts.  

The House committee was split in its vote to pass a bill to allow adjunct teachers to work full-time hours in the classroom. SB 1119. This came with concerns. 

The author of the bill says the effort was requested by rural schools who need more staff now.  

The House committee unanimously passed SB1672 which requires Holocaust education to be taught in to all students in the 6th through 12th grades beginning this fall.  

The Superintendent of Public Instruction issued a statement today in support of the vote, saying ‘Studying the Holocaust provides opportunities to explore and inspire with stories of courage adversity, and resilience.”