Education

Pennsylvania House Bill 2743 amends the Public School Code to establish specific rules for when school terms can begin and how daily sessions are structured. The bill prohibits schools from starting the term before the day after Labor Day or on the same day as a local agricultural fair, though exceptions are available with state approval for emergencies like natural disasters or major construction projects. It also sets a default daily schedule of 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM with designated breaks and requires that professional staff receive at least thirty minutes for lunch without supervisory duties. Existing contracts between school entities and employees that dictate school calendars remain in effect despite these new statutory requirements.

Pennsylvania House Bill 2737 amends the state's Public School Code to require annual reporting on student wait lists for career and technical education programs. The bill mandates that area career and technical boards submit data on the number of students waiting for enrollment in specific programs to the Department of Education by July 1 each year. Additionally, it requires the Secretary of Education to report this wait list information, broken down by program, to the state legislature's standing education committees annually.

This Pennsylvania bill requires public and private schools to teach students in grades six through twelve about suicide prevention and violence awareness, while also introducing social isolation education for students from kindergarten through grade twelve. To support these requirements, the state education department must create and publish a list of evidence-based, age-appropriate curricula that schools can use to deliver at least one hour of instruction annually. The materials must cover identifying warning signs, seeking help, and reporting dangerous behavior, with the option for schools to combine these lessons into a single class period. Additionally, the legislation allows for the establishment of student-led violence prevention clubs to further promote safety within school communities.

This bill modifies Pennsylvania's Public School Code to clarify who must prove their case during special education disputes. Specifically, it states that school districts generally bear the burden of proof in due process hearings involving exceptional children, unless the parents unilaterally chose a private school placement, in which case the parents must provide the proof. The law applies to situations concerning a child's identification, evaluation, classification, placement, or disciplinary actions. The changes are designed to streamline legal procedures by explicitly defining these responsibilities rather than leaving them open to interpretation.

This bill requires Pennsylvania school districts that transport students to nonpublic schools to create a Coordinated School Closure Board by August 1, 2026. The board will include the district superintendent, transportation director, a facilities representative, and administrators from each nonpublic school receiving transport services. Its main job is to set clear rules for deciding whether to close schools or cancel bus routes during bad weather, aiming to ensure everyone is informed by 5:30 a.m. The legislation clarifies that while the district makes the final call on transportation, nonpublic schools can still choose to stay open if conditions allow, and it protects the district from liability if a nonpublic school decides to operate while buses are not running.