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HOUSE BILL 26-1299
BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Garcia Sander and Lukens, Barron, Camacho,
Clifford, Duran, Goldstein, Gonzalez R., Jackson, Keltie, Lieder, Lindsay,
Marshall, Nguyen, Phillips, Richardson, Rydin, Smith, Stewart K.,
Weinberg, Woog, McCluskie;
also SENATOR(S) Pelton B. and Bridges, Kipp, Coleman.
CONCERNING REDUCTION OF REGULATORY BURDENS ON LOCAL EDUCATION
PROVIDERS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly
finds and declares that:
(a) Colorado's commitment to public education is rooted in the
belief that every student deserves access to high-quality instruction and the
supports necessary to thrive from preschool through graduation;
(b) Honoring this commitment requires state law to prioritize student
learning and well-being, safeguard student privacy and safety, and promote
accountability and continuous improvement while avoiding administrative
requirements that no longer reflect current educational practice;
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.
( c) Statutory and regulatory reporting, planning assessment, and data
collection obligations have accumulated in ways that are often duplicative,
misaligned, or outdated, resulting in an administrative workload that
reduces the time, flexibility, and capacity educators can devote to direct
instruction and student support;
( d) Feedback collected through surveys and stakeholder engagement
conducted by the education data advisory committee demonstrates that
many local education providers experience data reporting and planning
requirements that lack a straightforward statutory requirement, overlap with
other mandated submissions, or provide limited instructional or
accountability value; and
( e) The general assembly therefore determines that strengthening
transparency, statutory alignment, and modernization of these requirements
will improve the usefulness and integrity of collected data, reduce
unnecessary burden, and better support educators, students, and families
across Colorado.
SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-33.5-415.1, amend
(5) as follows:
24-33.5-415.1. List of missing children.
(5) A timely THE BUREAU SHALL DISTRIBUTE A list of missing
children shall be dist1 ibuted on a regular basis to all school dist1 icts in this
state, except those school dist1 icts which have elected to pt o v ide the names
of all new 01 transfer students to the bureau, and each school district shall
distribute such information to the individual schools within the district in
whatever manner deemed apprnptiate THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION FOR CROSS-REFERENCE AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT'S STUDENT
RECORDS. The list shalt MUST include the names of missing children
together with whatever information the bureau determines would be helpful
in making identification. A school distI ict THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF
EDUCATION SHALL COMPARE THE BUREAU'S MISSING CHILDREN LIST TO THE
DEPARTMENT'S COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN COLORADO
PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND shall either immediately notify the bureau if it comes
in contact with a child whose name appears on the list of missing children
01 send the names of all new 01 transfer students to the bm eau on a I egula1
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basis, ITS COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN COLORADO
PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCLUDES A MISSING STUDENT OR INFORMATION ON THE
LAST-KNOWN SCHOOL OF ENROLLMENT OF A MISSING STUDENT, and, if a
missing child is identified, the bureau shall, in turn, notify the law
enforcement agency that submitted the missing child report. All information
received or transmitted pursuant to this subsection (5) shall be IS
confidential and shall only be used for law enforcement purposes.
SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1013, repeal (6)
as follows:
22-7-1013. Local education provider - preschool through
elementary and secondary education standards -adoption -academic
acceleration -definition.
(6) Each local education provider shall adopt and implement a
w I ittcn policy by w hieh the local education prov idcr will decide w hcthcr the
students cm oiled by the local education prov idcr will use pencil and paper
to complete any portion of a state assessment administer cd put suant to
section 22-7-1006.3 ( 1 )(a) that the students would other wise complete using
a computer. The policy must cnsur c that the local education prov idcr makes
the decision in consultation with par cnts and, if the local education prov idcr
is a school district or board of cooperative set vices, the public schools that
the local education provider operates. The local education provider may
decide that the students in one or mot c of the public schools, or in one or
more of the classrooms of the public schools, operated by the local
education pt o v idcr will use pencil and paper to complete the computer izcd
portions of a state assessment. Each year before the start of fall semester
classes, the local education provider shall distribute copies of the policy to
the parents of students enr oiled in the local education provider and post a
copy of the policy on the local education provider's website.
SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-208, amend
(l)(d) as follows:
22-11-208. Accreditation - annual review - supports and
interventions -rules.
(1) (d) The state board by rule shall establish the time frames in
which the department shall MUST review school district and institute
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performance and determine and report each school district's and the
institute's appropriate accreditation category, and the time frames in which
the school districts and the institute shall MUST adopt their respective plans
and submit them for review and publication on the data portal. A school
district with one thousand TWO HUNDRED students or fewer shall only be
1 equiI ed to MAY submit a single plan to satisfy the school district and school
plan requirements. A CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK WITH ONE THOUSAND TWO
HUNDRED STUDENTS OR FEWER AND AUTHORIZED BY A SINGLE AUTHORIZER
MAY SUBMIT A SINGLE PLAN TO SATISFY THE SCHOOL PLAN REQUIREMENTS
OF ITS SCHOOLS.
SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-2-307, add (4) as
follows:
22-2-307. Data reporting requirements - interpretation of
federal law -suspension -information on required data.
(4) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOT REPRESENT A VOLUNTARY DATA
COLLECTION REQUEST AS MANDATORY TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE STATE
CHARTER SCHOOL INSTITUTE, OR A PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SHALL NOT
CONDITION ANY BENEFIT TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE STATE CHARTER
SCHOOL INSTITUTE, ORA PUBLIC SCHOOL, UNRELATED TO A SPECIFIC GRANT,
ON THE COMPLETION OF A VOLUNTARY DATA COLLECTION REQUEST.
SECTION 6. 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
PAGE 4-HOUSE BILL 26-1299
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.
~
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
v~~
Vanessa Reilly
CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE
OF REPRESENTATIVES
James Rashad Coleman, Sr.
PRESIDENT OF
THE SENATE
Esther van Mourik
SECRETARY OF
THE SENATE
APPROVED c)V} YboYlJt'l (fv-u., l,t 2°~ ~-t-\2-:39~yv,
(Date and Time)
Jared S.
GOVE
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