Senate Education Minutes 1/29/2008 07:45 AM

2008 Legislative Session _ 2008

Committee: Senate Education

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

                                            P - Present
                                            E - Excused
                                            A - Absent

Roll Call
P    Gray
P    Jerstad
P    McNenny
P    Nesselhuf
P    Peterson (Jim)
P    Knudson, Vice-Chair
P    Olson (Ed), Chair

OTHERS PRESENT: See Original Minutes

The meeting was called to order by Senator Ed Olson, Chair.

MOTION:     TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2008

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    McNenny
Action:    Prevailed by voice vote.

         SB 122: provide a legislative deadline for the adoption of the budget for the Department of Education.

MOTION:     RECONSIDER SB 122

Moved by:    Knudson
Second by:    Peterson (Jim)
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (7-0-0-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, Jerstad, McNenny, Nesselhuf, Peterson (Jim), Knudson, Olson (Ed)

MOTION:     DO NOT PASS SB 122

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    McNenny
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (4-3-0-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, McNenny, Knudson, Olson (Ed)

Voting No:    Jerstad, Nesselhuf, Peterson (Jim)

         SB 153: authorize the Governor to enter the Midwestern Regional Higher Education Compact and to provide for the appointment of resident members to the Midwestern Regional Higher Education Commission.

Presented by:    Senator Orville Smidt
Proponents:    Representative Larry Tidemann
        Larry Isaak, self, Minneapolis (Document #1, #2)
        Tad Perry, SD Board of Regents

MOTION:     DO PASS SB 153

Moved by:    Jerstad
Second by:    Knudson
Action:    Failed by roll call vote. (3-3-1-0)

Voting Yes:    Jerstad, Knudson, Olson (Ed)

Voting No:    Gray, McNenny, Peterson (Jim)

Excused:    Nesselhuf

MOTION:     REFER SB 153 TO APPROPRIATIONS

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    Jerstad
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (6-0-1-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, Jerstad, McNenny, Peterson (Jim), Knudson, Olson (Ed)

Excused:    Nesselhuf

         SB 201: revise certain eligibility requirements for the South Dakota opportunity

scholarship.

Presented by:    Dale Bertsch, Governor's Office
Proponents:    Tad Perry, SD Board of Regents

MOTION:     DO PASS SB 201

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    Nesselhuf
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (7-0-0-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, Jerstad, McNenny, Nesselhuf, Peterson (Jim), Knudson, Olson (Ed)

         SB 179: increase general funding for school districts, to impose a temporary limit on the growth of state general fund spending, and to suspend the transfer of moneys from the general fund to the budget reserve fund, and to the property tax reduction fund.

MOTION:     TO TABLE SB 179

Moved by:    Peterson (Jim)
Second by:    Nesselhuf
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (7-0-0-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, Jerstad, McNenny, Nesselhuf, Peterson (Jim), Knudson, Olson (Ed)

         SB 181: create the South Dakota secondary teachers tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness program and to make an appropriation therefor.

Presented by:    Senator Brock Greenfield
Proponents:    John Pedersen, School Administrator of South Dakota
Opponents:    Donna DeKraai, South Dakota Education Association
        Melody Schopp, Department of Education

MOTION:     AMEND SB 181

On the printed bill, delete everything after the enacting clause and insert:

"
Section 1. There is hereby established the South Dakota secondary teacher tuition reimbursement

Section 2. Any secondary teacher who is fully certified pursuant to chapter 13-42 and agrees to teach for a period of at least five academic years in a local school district in an area of critical need as defined by the secretary of education is eligible to participate in the South Dakota secondary teacher tuition reimbursement program.

Section 3. Each participating teacher who fulfills the requirements of the program is entitled to receive tuition reimbursement in an amount equal to the resident tuition which the teacher would have paid if the teacher had attended a state university during the teacher's four most recently completed academic years. The amount of reimbursement does not include any interest incurred by the participating teacher.

Section 4. Any agreement for the reimbursement of tuition pursuant to this Act shall obligate the school district to pay a portion of the reimbursement. When the school district certifies to the secretary of education that it has paid the full amount for which it is obligated, the secretary of the Department of Education shall pay to the teacher the remaining balance of the total tuition reimbursement amount. Reimbursement shall be paid by the department upon the teacher's completion of the five years of teaching as required in this Act. However, the school district may pay its share of tuition reimbursement in installments during the required five-year period.

Section 5. The portion of the tuition reimbursement which the school district shall pay pursuant to this Act is as follows:

(1) For any sparse school district as defined in § 13-13-78 or any school district with a fall enrollment as defined in § 13-13-10.1 of at least one hundred, but not more than two hundred, the school district's share of any tuition reimbursement is twenty-five percent;

(2) For any school district that is not sparse and has a fall enrollment greater than two hundred, but less than six hundred, the school district's share of any tuition reimbursement is fifty percent; and

(3) For any school district that has a fall enrollment of six hundred or greater, the school district's share of any tuition reimbursement is seventy-five percent.

Section 6. Any school district participating in a tuition reimbursement agreement pursuant to this Act is eligible to receive funds, based upon the school district's fall enrollment, from the teacher compensation assistance program established in § 13-3-73 to assist the district in paying its portion of the tuition reimbursement.

Section 7. No tuition reimbursement agreement entered into pursuant to this Act is effective until it is filed with and approved by the secretary of education.

Section 8. No teacher is eligible to participate in the tuition reimbursement program established in this Act if the teacher previously participated in the program or any other federal or state financial assistance program which obligates the teacher to teach in a specific subject area or geographic region.

     Section 9. The Department of Education shall promulgate rules pursuant to chapter 1-26 to define areas of critical need for the purposes of this Act, to establish timelines and criteria for the approval of tuition reimbursement agreements, and to provide for the certification of the tuition reimbursement payments made by a school district."

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    McNenny
Action:    Prevailed by voice vote.

MOTION:     REFER SB 181 TO APPROPRIATIONS AS AMENDED

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    Knudson
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (6-1-0-0)

Voting Yes:    Gray, McNenny, Nesselhuf, Peterson (Jim), Knudson, Olson (Ed)

Voting No:    Jerstad

MOTION:     AMEND TITLE OF SB 181

On page 1, line 2, of the printed bill, delete everything after "reimbursement" and insert "program.".

Moved by:    Gray
Second by:    Nesselhuf
Action:    Prevailed by voice vote.

         SB 169: revise the index factor in the state aid to education formula and to establish a minimum salary schedule for teachers.

Presented by:    Senator Cooper Garnos (Document #3, #4)
Opponents:    Rick Melmer, Department of Education
        Dick Tieszen, Associated School Boards of SD

        Dick Tieszen, Sioux Falls School District

MOTION:     DEFER SB 169 TO THE 36^TH LEGISLATIVE DAY

Moved by:    Knudson
Second by:    McNenny
Action:    Prevailed by roll call vote. (4-2-1-0)

Voting Yes:    Jerstad, McNenny, Knudson, Olson (Ed)

Voting No:    Gray, Nesselhuf

Excused:    Peterson (Jim)

MOTION:     ADJOURN

Moved by:    Nesselhuf
Second by:    Jerstad
Action:    Prevailed by voice vote.

Nancy Bloom

____________________________

Committee Secretary

Ed Olson, Chair

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