The House Education K-12 Subcommittee met on January 18, 2022 and heard the following pieces of legislation. The actions taken by the committee can be found at the conclusion of each piece of legislation's description.
HB 8 (Anderson) School security officers; scope of employment; certain veterans. Provides that each school security officer, in addition to performing each enumerated duty, is responsible for carrying out any other duty assigned to him by the local school board. The bill permits any local school board or private or religious school to employ as a school security officer any veteran who has served a minimum of 10 years as an active duty member in the Armed Forces of the United States, received an honorable discharge or general discharge under honorable conditions from such service, and meets the Department of Criminal Justice Services' minimum certification and training requirements for school security officers. The bill was referred to the House Education Committee as amended by a vote of 5-3.
HB 9 (Ware) Public school teachers; probationary term of service, grounds for dismissal, and dismissal hearings. Permits each school board to extend for up to two additional years the three-year probationary term of service that is required for each teacher in the school division before the issuance of a continuing contract and prohibits each school board from reemploying a teacher whose performance evaluation during such probationary period is not satisfactory. The bill provides that, for the purpose of the dismissal of a teacher for cause, the term "incompetency" may be construed to include consistent failure to meet the endorsement requirements for the position or one or more unsatisfactory performance evaluations. The bill also eliminates the option for a school board to conduct a teacher dismissal hearing before a three-member fact-finding panel, requires each such hearing to be set no later than 15 days after the request for the hearing, and reduces from 10 days to five days the minimum period of advance written notice to the teacher of the time and place of such hearing. The bill was referred to the House Education Committee by a vote of 5-3.
HB 12 (Anderson) Public school buildings; entry points; limits; screening. Requires each local school board to (i) limit to the lowest feasible number the entry points in each public school building in the local school division, (ii) ensure that each individual who seeks to enter any school building in the local school division is screened with a handheld metal detector wand by a school security officer or another appropriate school board employee who is appropriately trained in such method of screening, (iii) require each such school security officer or other appropriate school board employee to implement further screening according to a protocol that it deems appropriate in any case in which the school board employee who conducts the initial screening has reason to believe that the individual who seeks to enter the school building is in possession of a weapon, and (iv) prohibit any individual from entering any school building in the local school division if the individual fails or refuses to submit to the screening required in clauses (ii) and (iii). The bill was Tabled by the Subcommittee by a vote of 8-0.
