The Senate Education and Health Committee Passed by Indefinitely House Bill 2305 (Tyler), a bill that would have required the Board of Education to issue guidance on the governance of academic year Governor's Schools, including communication and outreach practices, admissions policies, and guidelines on diversity, equity, and inclusion training. The bill requires such guidance to focus on the importance of increasing access to Governor's Schools for historically underserved students and to include best practices on (i) conducting information sessions about the school and the availability of gifted, advanced, and specialty education program opportunities for feeder public middle schools; (ii) strengthening the student pipeline in feeder public middle schools, prioritizing the most underserved and underrepresented students and public middle schools; and (iii) conducting programs related to and evaluations of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The bill requires the Board of Education, in developing such guidance, to collaborate with relevant stakeholders representing the geographical areas served by the Regional Governor's Schools, including local school boards representing the geographical areas served by the Regional Governor's Schools, Regional Governor's School boards, and Governor's School directors.
The committee voted by a vote of 9-6 to defeat the bill.
