Education

Provides that provisions regarding the following apply to charter schools: (1) Child suicide awareness and prevention policy requirements. (2) Staff performance evaluation plan requirements. (3) Curriculum. (4) Student discipline. (5) Criminal organization activity. (6) Student safety reporting. (7) Government funds and accounts. (8) Certain notice requirements regarding convictions of licensed employees. Removes the charter board, state educational institutions, and nonprofit college or university governing boards from the definition of an authorizer. After June 30, 2026, provides that the charter board, state educational institutions, and governing boards may not issue new charters or renew existing charters. After June 30, 2026, establishes a five year moratorium that prohibits an authorizer from granting a charter to an organizer to establish and operate a charter school in Indiana. Requires charter schools to provide transportation services to all students who reside within the public school district within which the charter school is located. Exempts school corporations subject to certain property tax sharing requirements from the dollar law. Changes the maximum charter school contract term to five years. Provides that a charter must contain a provision to appoint certain persons to the governing board of the charter school. Requires any public meeting of a charter school governing board where the annual budget is adopted to be held in the county in which the charter school is located. Prohibits certain charter schools from receiving state funding, or from receiving funding from operation fund property tax levies, operating referendum tax levies, and school safety referendum tax levies. Removes, expires, and repeals provisions that require school corporations to share operation fund property tax levy, operating referendum tax levy, and school safety referendum tax levy funds with charter schools. Makes conforming changes.

HB 1060 exempts state educational institution degree programs focused on emergency medical services (EMS) from a specific elimination provision that would otherwise remove such programs. This bill directly affects public colleges and universities offering EMS training by preventing them from being cut under the referenced rule. The key mechanism is a targeted exemption within the elimination provision, ensuring these critical training programs remain available. The bill aims to maintain educational pathways for future EMS professionals without altering broader state education funding. (Note: The specific elimination provision referenced is not detailed in the provided context.)

Requires each state educational institution that offers a two year graduate degree program in mental or behavioral health to evaluate the graduate degree program to determine the feasibility of providing the program in a specifically structured manner to allow full-time students to complete the program within: (1) one year; or (2) five years if the program is combined with a baccalaureate degree program. Requires certain state educational institutions to offer at least one graduate degree program in one or more certain disciplines that is structured to allow full-time students to complete the program within: (1) one year; or (2) five years if the program is combined with a baccalaureate degree program. Requires certain state educational institutions to report to the commission for higher education (commission) regarding the graduate degree programs. Requires the commission to post the submitted reports on the commission's website.

Requires an intermediary and an employer to enter into an agreement that sets forth the duties and responsibilities of the intermediary and the employer when participating in a work based learning program. Repeals provisions relating to the federal School to Work Opportunities Act under the worker's compensation and worker's occupational diseases compensation laws. Provides that, subject to certain limitations, a student who performs services for an employer as part of a work based learning program is entitled to benefits under the worker's compensation and worker's occupational diseases compensation laws. Provides that any underwriting decision made by an insurer or rating factor applied to a participant must be based on objective risk based criteria that are applied uniformly and without regard to the age of the student to be covered under the policy.

Provides that the commission for higher education may allow a student who does not meet full-time enrollment or credit hour requirements under the twenty-first century scholars program to be eligible or to maintain eligibility for a twenty-first century scholarship award if the student is a student with a disability and meets certain other requirements. Provides that a scholarship may be renewed for the student for the number of academic terms that constitute eight undergraduate academic years. Makes conforming changes.

Requires each school corporation, charter school, and state accredited nonpublic elementary school to include print handwriting, cursive handwriting, and spelling in its curriculum.

Requires the early learning advisory committee to establish and publish kindergarten readiness indicators (indicators). Establishes requirements regarding the indicators, including publication of the indicators on a single and easy to access website page. Requires the department of education, the office of early childhood and out of school learning, and the Indiana department of health to display on certain website pages a link to the indicator web page.

Revises the definition of "bullying". Requires each public school, including a charter school, to track, monitor, and analyze specified aspects of bullying, and provides that a parent of a student or a student, if the student is an emancipated minor, may submit a grievance to the school for a violation of this requirement. Requires each school corporation and charter school to: (1) document and track all acts of bullying and abusive behaviors for analysis; (2) prepare and implement interventions to deter and prevent bullying and abusive behaviors; and (3) compile, prepare, and submit an annual report beginning July 1, 2027, to the department of education, the state board of education, and the legislative council summarizing the information collected. Requires the state board of education to review the report and provide recommendations to certain schools to reduce the frequency of acts of bullying or abusive behaviors. Allows the department of child services to release unredacted reports to a school's designated liaison under certain circumstances.

Establishes the veterinary medicine student loan repayment program (program) and the veterinary medicine student loan repayment fund (fund). Provides that the Indiana state board of animal health shall administer the program and the fund.

Provides that school corporations and charter schools shall require all applicants for employment and school employees who will have direct, ongoing contact with children within the scope of the applicant's or school employee's employment to attend training concerning recognition of the signs and symptoms of seizures and the appropriate steps to be taken to respond to these symptoms.