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HOUSE BILL 26-1294
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Espenoza and Luck, Bacon, Boesenecker,
Duran, Hamrick, Keltie, Phillips;
also SENATOR(S) Ball and Exum, Coleman.
CONCERNING THE CORRECTION OF A CITATION WITHIN THE DEFINITION OF
"ACTIVE DUTY" FOR PURPOSES OF THE "INTERSTATE COMPACT ON
EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN".
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-60-3402, amend
Articles II and III as follows:
24-60-3402. Compact approved and ratified.
The general assembly hereby approves and ratifies and the governor
shall enter into a compact on behalf of the state of Colorado with any of the
United States or other jurisdictions legally joining therein in the form
substantially as follows:
INTERSTATE COMP ACT ON EDUCATIONAL
OPPORTUNITY FOR MILITARY CHILDREN
Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes
through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of
the act.
ARTICLE II -DEFINITIONS
As used in this compact, unless the context clearly reqmres a
different construction:
A. "Active duty" means: full-time duty status in the active uniformed
service of the United States, including members of the National Guard and
Reserve on active duty orders pursuant to IO U.S.C. Section CHAPTERS
1209 and 1211.
B. "Children of military families" means: a school-aged child(ren),
enrolled in Kindergarten through Twelfth (12th) grade, in the household of
an active duty member.
C. "Compact commissioner" means: the voting representative of each
compacting state appointed pursuant to Article VIII of this compact.
D. "Deployment" means: the period one (1) month prior to the
service members' departure from their home station on military orders
through six ( 6) months after return to their home station.
E. "Education(al) records" means: those official records, files, and
data directly related to a student and maintained by the school or local
education agency, including but not limited to records encompassing all the
material kept in the student's cumulative folder such as general identifying
data, records of attendance and of academic work completed, records of
achievement and results of evaluative tests, health data, disciplinary status,
test protocols, and individualized education programs.
F. "Extracurricular activities" means: a voluntary activity sponsored
by the school or local education agency or an organization sanctioned by the
local education agency. Extracurricular activities include, but are not
limited to, preparation for and involvement in public performances,
contests, athletic competitions, demonstrations, displays, and club activities.
G. "Interstate Commission on Educational Opportunity for Military
Children" means: the commission that is created under Article IX of this
compact, which is generally referred to as Interstate Commission.
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H. "Local education agency" means: a public authority legally
constituted by the state as an administrative agency to provide control of
and direction for Kindergarten through Twelfth (12th) grade public
educational institutions.
I. "Member state" means: a state that has enacted this compact.
J. "Military installation" means: a base, camp, post, station, yard,
center, homeport facility for any ship, or other activity under the jurisdiction
of the Department of Defense, including any leased facility, which is
located within any of the several States, the District of Columbia, the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American
Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other U.S. Ten-itory. Such
term does not include any facility used primarily for civil works, rivers and
harbors projects, or flood control projects.
K. "Non-member state" means: a state that has not enacted this
compact.
L. "Receiving state" means: the state to which a child of a military
family is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought.
M. "Rule" means: a written statement by the Interstate Commission
promulgated pursuant to Article XII of this compact that is of general
applicability, implements, interprets or prescribes a policy or provision of
the Compact, or an organizational, procedural, or practice requirement of
the Interstate Commission, and has the force and effect of statutory law in
a member state, and includes the amendment, repeal, or suspension of an
existing rule.
N. "Sending state" means: the state from which a child of a military
family is sent, brought, or caused to be sent or brought.
0. "State" means: a state of the United States, the District of
Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands,
Guam, American Samoa, the Northern Marianas Islands and any other U.S.
Ten-itory.
P. "Student" means: the child of a military family for whom the local
education agency receives public funding and who is formally enrolled in
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Kindergarten through Twelfth (12th) grade.
Q. "Transition" means: 1) the formal and physical process of
transferring from school to school or 2) the period of time in which a
student moves from one school in the sending state to another school in the
receiving state.
R. "Uniformed service(s)" means: the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps, Coast Guard as well as the Commissioned Corps of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Public H ealth
Services.
S. "Veteran" means: a person who served in the uniformed services
and who was discharged or released from there under conditions other than
dishonorable.
ARTICLE III -APPLICABILITY
A. Except as otherwise provided in Section C, this compact shall
apply to the children of:
1. active duty members of the uniformed services as defined in this
compact, including members of the National Guard and Reserve on active
duty orders pursuant to 10 U.S.C. Section CHAPTERS 1209 and 1211;
2. members or veterans of the uniformed services who are severely
injured and medically discharged or retired for a period of one ( 1) year after
medical discharge or retirement; and
3. members of the uniformed services who die on active duty or as
a result of injuries sustained on active duty for a period of one ( 1) year after
death.
B. The provisions of this interstate compact shall only apply to local
education agencies as defined in this compact.
C. The provisions of this compact shall not apply to the children of:
1. inactive members of the national guard and military reserves;
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2. members of the uniformed services now retired, except as
provided in Section A;
3. veterans of the uniformed services, except as provided in Section
A; and
4. other U.S. Dept. of Defense personnel and other federal agency
civilian and contract employees not defined as active duty members of the
uniformed services.
SECTION 2. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act
takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the
ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly (August
12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026); except that, if a
referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state
constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within
such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless
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approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026
and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of
the vote thereon by the governor.
Jul~
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
Vanessa Reilly
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
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James Rashad Coleman, Sr.
PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
WJUu
Esther van Mourik
SECRETARY OF
THE SENATE
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TATE OF COLORADO