S0751B1055A04875 NAD:CMD 03/24/20 #90 A04875
AMENDMENTS TO SENATE BILL NO. 751
Sponsor: REPRESENTATIVE TOPPER
Printer's No. 1055
Amend Bill, page 1, line 7, by inserting after "system"
; and, in terms and courses of study, providing for pandemic of
2020
Amend Bill, page 28, by inserting between lines 12 and 13
Section 4. The act is amended by adding a section to read:
Section 1501.8. Pandemic of 2020.--(a) This section applies
only to the school year 2019-2020 as a result of the global
pandemic declared by the World Health Organization on March 11,
2020.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
the following shall apply:
(1) The requirement under section 1501 requiring all school
entities to be kept open each school year for at least one
hundred eighty (180) instructional days is waived immediately.
(2) The secretary may do any or all of the following:
(i) Order the closure of all school entities until the
threat to health and safety caused by the pandemic of 2020 has
ended.
(ii) Increase the number of flexible instructional days that
school entities may institute under section 1506 to a number of
flexible instructional days determined by the secretary during
the 2019-2020 school year and waive the application deadline
under section 1506(c)(1).
(iii) Waive the minimum total number of hours required for a
career and technical education program under 22 Pa. Code ยง
339.22(9)(i) (relating to program content).
(iv) Waive the requirement to include performance data
otherwise required under section 1123(b)(1)(ii) in a
professional employe's performance rating under section 1123.
(v) Waive the minimum number of days of prekindergarten
instruction required under 22 Pa. Code ยง 405.41 (relating to
school term).
(vi) Waive the twelve-week student teacher requirement under
22 Pa. Code ยง 354.25(f) (relating to preparation program
curriculum) for educator preparation programs that are unable to
meet the regulatory requirement due to the pandemic of 2020.
(vii) Waive the NIMS assessment and the NOCTI exam.
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(c) Notwithstanding the provisions under subsection (b), the
following shall apply:
(1) No employe of any school entity who was employed as of
March 13, 2020, shall receive more or less compensation than the
employe would otherwise have been entitled to receive from the
school entity had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred, had the
minimum instructional day requirement not been waived under
subsection (b)(1) or had the secretary not taken action under
subsection (b)(2).
(2) No employe of any school entity who was employed as of
March 13, 2020, shall receive more or less credit or contribute
more or less than the employe would otherwise have contributed
pursuant to the Public School Employees' Retirement Code under
24 Pa.C.S. Pt. IV (relating to retirement for school employees)
had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred, had the minimum
instructional day requirement not been waived under subsection
(b)(1) or had the secretary not taken action under subsection
(b)(2).
(3) Each school entity shall provide any employe who is
responsible for cleaning school facilities as a result of, or
during the threat to health and safety caused by, the pandemic
of 2020, with appropriate cleaning materials and protective
clothing and gear as recommended by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention.
(4) Each school entity shall provide written notice to the
parent or guardian of each student who receives services under
an Individualized Education Program under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (P ublic Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. ยง 1400
et seq.) (IDEA) of the school entity's plans for ensuring the
student receives a free and appropriate public education as
required under IDEA.
(5) Each school entity shall make a good faith effort to
plan to offer continuity of education to students using
alternative means during the period of closure. The Department
of Education shall provide guidance to school entities and
intermediate units may provide technical assistance. A school
entity shall submit the plan to the Department of Education. The
school entity shall post the plan on its publicly accessible
Internet website.
(d) A school entity which was closed as a result of the
pandemic of 2020 may not receive less subsidy payments,
reimbursements, allocations, tuition or other payments from the
Department of Education or another school entity than the school
entity would otherwise be entitled to receive for the school
year 2019-2020 had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred, had the
minimum instructional day requirement not been waived under
subsection (b)(1) or had the secretary not taken action under
subsection (b)(2). For the time period a charter school,
regional charter school or cyber charter school is closed due to
the 2020 pandemic, the charter school, regional charter school
or cyber charter school shall receive tuition payments based
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upon the enrollment as of March 13, 2020.
(e) The secretary shall apply to the United States
Department of Education for a waiver of the testing and
accountability requirements of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (Public Law 89-10, 20 U.S.C. ยง 6301 et
seq.), as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (Public Law
114-95, 129 Stat. 1802), to allow the cancellation of testing
for the 2019-2020 school year.
(f) The governing body of a school entity may apply to the
secretary for a waiver, in the form and manner prescribed by the
secretary, of any provision of this act, the regulation of the
State Board of Education or the standards of the Department of
Education, excluding sections 528, 1124 and 1125.1, if the
waiver is directly related to the school entity ' s staffing needs
or impacts the school entity ' s instructional program or
operations as a result of the pandemic of 2020. The secretary
shall have 30 days from the receipt of the application to
approve or disapprove the request. The secretary ' s determination
related to a waiver request under this subsection shall not be
appealable under 2 Pa.C.S. (relating to administrative law and
procedure).
(g) Beginning on the effective date of this subsection and
notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, each
professional educator ' s current continuing professional
education compliance period under section 1205.2 or 1205.5 shall
be extended by one year. This subsection shall apply only to
professional educators with an active certification as of the
effective date of this subsection and shall expire one year from
the effective date of this subsection.
(h) Any waiver of Federal requirements sought as a result of
the pandemic of 2020 shall not be subject to the requirements of
section 126.
(i) The following shall apply to nonpublic schools for the
2019-2020 school year:
(1) The governing body of a nonpublic school may close the
nonpublic school due to the threat to health and safety caused
by the pandemic of 2020.
(2) The minimum instructional time requirements of section
1327(b) shall not apply.
(j) The following shall apply:
(1) The minimum instructional time requirements of section
1327.1 shall not apply.
(2) The requirements to administer a nationally normed
standardized achievement test or Statewide test under section
1327.1(e)(1) and conduct the annual evaluations under section
1327.1(e)(2) and (h.1) shall not apply.
(k) A private or nonpublic school which was closed because
of the 2020 pandemic may not receive more or less payment from
school entities for any student placed by a school entity and
enrolled as of March 13, 2020, as long as the private or
nonpublic school is offering continuity of education during the
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period of closure.
(l) The following shall apply:
(1) Each school entity may renegotiate a contract for
school bus transportation services to ensure contracted
personnel and fixed costs, including administrative and
equipment, are maintained during the period of school
closure. During the period of school closure, the school bus
transportation contractor shall submit weekly documentation
to the school entity that its complement levels remain at or
above the level on March 13, 2020, in order to continue being
paid.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, if
a school entity continues to pay a school bus transportation
contractor or operates its own school bus transportation, the
school entity shall be eligible for reimbursement from the
Department of Education at a rate the school entity would
have received had the pandemic of 2020 not occurred, had the
minimum instruction days requirement not been waived under
subsection (b)(1) or had the secretary not taken action under
subsection (b)(2).
(m) A private residential rehabilitative institution that
was closed because of the 2020 pandemic may not receive less
payment from school entities or the Commonwealth for any student
enrolled as of March 13, 2020.
(n) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"NIMS assessment." An assessment based on the National
Institute for Metalworking Skills standards.
"NOCTI exam." A National Occupational Competency Testing
Institute exam.
"School entity." Any school district, intermediate unit,
area career and technical school, charter school, cyber charter
school or regional charter school a child attends in order to
fulfill the compulsory attendance requirements of this act.
Amend Bill, page 28, line 13, by striking out "4" and
inserting
5
Amend Bill, page 28, line 15, by striking out "5" and
inserting
6
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