HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
On Tuesday and Wednesday, January 24 and 25, the Ways and Mean Public Education and Special Schools Subcommittee met to receive budget requests. John de la Howe, SC School for the Deaf and Blind, Wil Lou Gray, Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities and the Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics were the agencies that appeared before the committee.
The House K-12 Education Subcommittee will meet next Wednesday, February 1, at 9:00 in the Blatt Building.
SENATE
The Senate K-12 Education Subcommittee met on Wednesday, January 25th, and reviewed the following bills and regulations:
S.107 (GED testing for Senior Citizens) The bill states that no time limit be imposed on senior citizens taking the GED. The bill was carried over until more information is obtained or verified. While a person with a documented disability can request additional time to take a test, age is not included in the list of what constitutes a disability.
S.511 (Cheerleading Requirements) The bill directs the SC High School League to only allow a student who is enrolled in a SC public or private school in grades nine (9) through twelve (12) to participate in any high school cheerleading program, including a competitive cheer program. After much discussion, the bill was carried over in order to amend some language and allow the Senators to talk with school officials in their home districts. Sen. Wes Hayes chairs the subcommittee. The subcommittee members are Senators Matthews, Rankin, Fair, Peeler, Leventis, Grooms, Malloy, Lourie and Davis.
S.1001 (Equal Access to Interscholastic Activities for Military Children Act) The bill allows a child of an active member of the armed forces who attends school in a school district and lives with a resident of the district other than a parent of a child pursuant to a power of attorney, court order, or military family care plan is entitled to participate in any interscholastic activity offered by the school regardless of whether the child ever resided in the district with a parent of the child. After much discussion, the bill received a favorable report and will be sent to the full education committee.
State Board of Education Regulations (The regulations were reviewed and received a favorable report.)
Document 4199 (Adult Education Program) Replaces regulation 43-237.1 with is the adult education program. The regulation change mirrors proviso 1A.39. that deals with the appropriation of adult education funds in the EIA. The proviso has been in existence for 2-3 years.
Document 4200 (End-of-Course Test) Amends regulation 43-262.4 so that students who take two courses based on the same academic standards for which there is an end-of-course test would take the test for the first course and the score would count as 20% of the final grade. If the student passes the first course, the second course would not be a gateway course for that student. The students would not take an end-of-course test for the second course and the student’s final grade would be calculated without an end-of-course score.
Document 4208 (At-Risk Students) Amends regulation R.43.274.1, At-Risk Students, to change the South Carolina Department of Education’s acronym to SCDE, change the references to the statewide student information system from SASI to PowerSchool, and note the use of the Palmetto Assessment of State Standards (PASS), rather than PACT, as one of several assessments used to diagnose academic difficulties.
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