Senate Bill 300 Passes Out of the Senate: Senator Patrick's Bill Eliminates Several Unfunded Mandates on School Districts

The inaugural Bill of the Day for the 81st Legislative Session was Senate Bill 300 (SB 300) by Senator Dan Patrick who represents part of Spring Branch.  SB 300 just passed out of the Texas Senate and will now go to the Texas House for consideration.

SB 300 relaxes the restrictions of the 22:1 student teacher ratio for kindergarten through 4th grade by making the 22:1 a campus-wide average rather than individual classroom count. 

During the 80th Legislative Session in 2007, HB 3190 instituted the requirement that school districts conduct school bus evacuation drills twice a year.  No funding was provided to meet this requirement.  SB 300 requires that these bus evacuations only involve students who ride the bus, and allows the training to be by video.  

Finally, SB 300 eliminates the mandate that districts reduce energy cost by 5 percent each year, as well as the requirement to purchase "green" light fixtures.

Comments

[Chris]

Thanks, Mike, for expounding on that.

[Mike Falick]

SBISD favors reduction of unfunded mandates generally.

The bus evacuation drills were one of these mandates.

The class size ratio change provides latitude for the District which is helpful in high mobility situations. Otherwise, we have to place a new teacher on a campus and divide classes when the 23rd student is enrolled in K - 4th, even if the ratios later return to 22:1. It is terribly disruptive for students to move mid-year to a new teacher, and SB300 provides additional latitude to the District in this type of situation.

The energy mandate required a perpetual 5% per year reduction in usage. Spring Branch began reducing consumption well before the requirement was put in place, so achieving these reductions, at some point, would be very difficult. Our energy plan maximizes energy efficiency, and the Board receives quarterly energy reports which I have previously posted on my blog.

[Chris]

Is SBISD in favor of SB300? I understand the bus part but on the face of it the energy and student ratio parts don't sound that helpful...