Following a very active session of the Iowa Legislature, school districts across the state are working to implement new mandates and take advantage of new opportunities — all the while not missing a beat in welcoming students to another year of school.

The Iowa Department of Education tracked 231 items of interest during the 2007 legislative session. When the gavel hit for the last time, only 27 of those went to the desk of Gov. Chet Culver. Each of the 27 affects Iowa schools, students, staff or administrators. Three, in particular, have had far-reaching affects throughout the state either by bill content or media coverage.

HF 611 — Research-Based Health Curriculum

The Committee on Education first introduced House File 611 in late February, although it would not be sent to Culver for signing until late April. Floor managers were Sen. Joe Bolkcom, D-Iowa City, and Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City.

The bill makes changes to sections 256 and 279 of the Iowa Code and calls upon all school districts to provide “age-appropriate and research-based” curriculum in the area of human growth and development that is “free of racial, ethnic, sexual orientation and gender biases.”

The Iowa Department of Education is charged with development of examples and resources that the school districts will compare their existing programs against. According to a source within the Department of Education, there is currently a staff vacancy which must be filled before the guidelines can be developed.

“At this time — without having the new guidelines — we just don’t know if our health curriculum will need to be adjusted,” said Diane Ostrowski, supervisor of community services for Council Bluffs Community School District.

Elaine Watkins-Miller, communications director for the Iowa Department of Education, said she anticipates those guidelines being passed to the school districts “later this fall.”

The bill was specifically designed not to interfere with abstinence-only sexual education and there is a provision within the bill that explicitly states “to the extent not inconsistent… an accredited nonpublic school may also choose curriculum in accordance with doctrinal teachings” and “nothing in this section… shall be construed to prohibit a school or school district from developing and making available abstinence-based or abstinence-only material.”

Rhonda Chittenden, executive director of FutureNet, an Iowa network for adolescent pregnancy prevention, parenting and sexual health, says the law, while not banning abstinence-only education, will create some concerns for that curriculum as outlined by the Federal government.

“It depends on how you are using the term,” she said. “If you are saying ‘abstinence only’ without a dash in between the words — in other words, if they are only going to teach about the topic of abstinence and they are only going to do so in a medically accurate way then, yes, they could do that. If a school is going to use the Federal mandates outlined in the abstinence-only funding — some of those points have been identified as not being medically accurate. There is a difference in saying ‘The only topic we’re going to teach about is abstinence’ or ‘We receive abstinence-only funding and we’re going to teach according to those standards.’”

HF 877 — Voluntary Preschool Program

If there was one piece of legislation that created a mad shuffle of activity in education circles, this bill mandating and funding voluntary preschool for 4-year-olds across the state was it.

The bill, placed on the appropriations calendar in late March, creates a statewide voluntary preschool program for any Iowa child who is age 4 by Sept. 15 of the given year. There are also special allowances for younger children to be included in the program if space allows.

While the legislature created the program and appropriated $15 million for the 2007-2008 school year, details such as class size, teacher-to-child ratios and learning standards were left to the Department of Education. The bill was signed on May 10. That same day, the State Board of Education held a meeting to discuss the process and content of the program. On June 1, applications and directions were available to school districts with letters of intent due back to the state on June 15. Full applications were due to the state on July 2. Nearly 150 applications were read by the state and, of those, 52 were selected to receive awards.

Council Bluffs Community and Iowa City Community school districts, both with existing preschool programs, were among the recipients.

“We were very excited,” said Ostrowski. “We had been providing a preschool as a part of a five-year pilot program that utilized a generous private donor and Federal funding. The new initiative through the state is going to allow us to continue what we’ve started.”

Using funding through the state that Ostrowski described as “significant,” the western Iowa district will establish two additional preschool classrooms.

Dr. Lane Plugge, superintendent for Iowa City Community School District, is also optimistic about what the preschool program will help his district provide to residents.

“We’re hoping to serve 44 preschool students,” he said, indicating the district partners with two community organizations: HandiCare and Neighborhood Center of Johnson County.

“It is a challenge — especially with timing being so tight,” he added. “Since preschool isn’t a full-day program, it is necessary to find wrap-around programs for families.”

The fast turnaround for applications coupled with a desire to best serve residents is what led Mount Pleasant Community School District to take a pass — for this year.

“We decided to take a year and plan so that we could be sure we are serving the needs of our community,” said Director of Instruction Dave Christensen. “We need hard data — who’s not going and why.”

The Mount Pleasant district has a group of four individuals who will be mining the community for preschool data. Once they’ve developed figures and information, a task force will be convened to determine if the preschool program is needed or if residents are being adequately served by existing Head Start, private providers and the district’s existing developmental preschool for special needs students.

Despite approaching the program from different angles, all the administrators agree that preschool is something that can benefit students longterm.

“This program is just exceptionally critical,” said Ostrowski. “Since we’ve been providing preschool, we’ve been able to see the positive impact as students progress in the school system.”

SF 61 — Antiharassment and Antibullying Policies

The changes to school antibullying policies when combined with changes to the Iowa Civil Rights Act to include sexual orientation and gender identity provided some of the most heated exchanges in Des Moines during the past legislative session.

Accredited nonpublic schools and public school districts were directed by the bill to adopt policies by Sept. 1 that state “harassment and bullying in schools, on school property, and at any school function, or school-sponsored activity regardless of location… as against state and school policy.” In addition, the schools are required to develop and maintain a system to collect harassment and bullying incidence data.

Most Iowa schools already had similar policies in place. For Des Moines, the legislation codified some of the polices that were already implemented.

“In many ways, we’ve been in front on this issue,” said Phillip Roeder, director of community relations and legislative liaison for Des Moines Public Schools. “We have had teachers and administrators working on this issue for the past several years to raise awareness among staff, parents and students about the ramifications of bullying. This has included everything from holding workshops to visibility within the schools to creation of our initial policy.”

For Iowa City, the process involved taking separate policies for staff and students and rolling them into a single policy with new language. Staff training will occur throughout the year.

“Having a policy is only one part,” said Plugge. “Implementation is what actually makes for safer schools.”

Christensen at Mount Pleasant agrees.

“We have a group in our community that is primarily concerned about diversity,” he said. “We are bringing in a program called ‘Rachel’s Challenge,’ and while we understand that one event won’t change things, we hope this will prompt discussion and conversation within the community.”

Rachel’s Challenge is a tribute to Rachel Scott, the first person killed at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. The program includes video and audio footage of her life and of the Columbine tragedy followed by an interactive 45-minute training session.

In Mount Pleasant — only one district among many in the area that will be employing the Rachel’s Challenge group — meetings will be held with high school students, middle school students, student leaders and, in the evening, with parents.

“It will be one big day,” Christensen said. “We are optimistic about having the program here, especially since our student leadership will be involved. We’ve had great success when we incorporate student leaders.”

Additional Legislation

As school districts throughout Iowa work on the three mandates outlined above, they along with parents, partners and students must also react to the 24 other items passed by the legislature in the spring — and keep an eye on what might be headed their way during the next session. Some of the other items passed during the past legislative session include:

  • HF 158 — Requires that children receive a blood lead test by age six or prior to enrollment in an elementary school.
  • HF 317 — Permits the school budget review committee to recommend that the Department of Education send an accreditation team into a school district for an on-site fiscal review if a school district exceeds its authorized budget or carries a negative unspent balance for two or more years.
  • HF 154 — Requires the Department of Education to conduct a study regarding the student information systems that are currently in use throughout the state.
  • HF 618 — Allows elections commissioners to appoint certain high school students to serve as precinct election board members.
  • HF 808 — Provides accountability for entities and boards (28E agreements) created for joint exercise of governmental powers.
  • HF 906 — Requires children enrolling in elementary or high school to have a dental screening.
  • SF 277 — Related to educational standards for teacher librarians, teachers, administrators and qualified guidance counselors. (Teacher Quality Program)
  • SF 358 — Established prelicensing and continuing education requirements for used motor vehicle dealers.
  • SF 447 — Changed incentives for school district reorganization and dissolution and shared operational functions between school districts and political subdivisions.