An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, in preliminary provisions, providing for mandate waiver program.

PRINTER'S NO. 2691
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No. 2095
Session of
2025
INTRODUCED BY GROVE, PICKETT, KAUFFMAN AND MENTZER,
DECEMBER 9, 2025
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, DECEMBER 9, 2025
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," in preliminary provisions, providing
for mandate waiver program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
section to read:
Section 135. Mandate Waiver Program.--(a) (1) Except as
otherwise provided in this section, a board of school directors
may adopt a resolution to apply to the Department of Education
for a waiver of any provision of this act, the regulations of
the State Board of Education or the standards of the Secretary
of Education if the waiver will enable the school district to
improve its instructional program or operate in a more
effective, efficient or economical manner.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (1), and
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except as otherwise provided in this section, a board of school
directors may contact the intermediate unit of which it is a
member to propose that the intermediate unit apply to the
Department of Education for a waiver of any provision of this
act, the regulations of the State Board of Education or the
standards of the Secretary of Education on behalf of all of the
intermediate unit's member school districts if the waiver will
enable the member school districts to improve their
instructional programs or operate in a more effective, efficient
or economical manner. Upon the receipt of such a proposal the
intermediate unit shall circulate a notice to its member school
districts outlining a proposed waiver application and requesting
a response. The intermediate unit shall submit a waiver
application to the Department of Education on behalf of its
member school districts upon receiving a copy of a resolution
from each of its member school districts signifying approval of
the proposed waiver application. An application may not be
submitted by an intermediate unit under this subsection unless
the boards of school directors of each of its member school
districts have adopted a resolution signifying approval of the
proposed waiver application and transmitted copies of their
resolutions to the intermediate unit.
(b) (1) The application for a waiver shall be in a manner
and on a form developed by the Department of Education and
shall:
(i) Specify the need for the waiver.
(ii) Provide supporting data and information to explain the
benefits to be obtained by the waiver and, when applicable, to
explain the instructional program that will operate under the
waiver.
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(iii) Include an evaluation procedure to determine the
effectiveness of an innovative program or programs; the
effectiveness of a revised instructional program, which shall
include measures of student performance; and the effectiveness
of changes in the operations of the school district.
(2) In developing the application process and form provided
for in paragraph (1) the Department of Education shall:
(i) Create a uniform application form which provides
applicants with the ability to apply for waivers to single or
multiple provisions of this act, the regulations of the State
Board of Education or the standards of the Secretary of
Education through a single application.
(ii) Create a uniform application form which intermediate
units must use when applying for waivers on behalf of their
member school districts.
(3) The Department of Education may not impose any
additional requirements on waiver applicants beyond those
provided for in this section and any additional requirements
relating to the submission or resubmission of a waiver
application.
(c) The application for a waiver shall be adopted by a
resolution of the board of school directors at a regularly
scheduled meeting of the board or, in the case of an application
submitted by an intermediate unit on behalf of its member school
districts, by the submission of resolutions to the intermediate
unit from the board of each intermediate unit member school
district signifying approval of the proposed waiver application.
Resolutions submitted by school districts to an intermediate
unit under this section must be adopted at a regularly scheduled
meeting of the board. Prior to implementing the policies or
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procedures contained in the application, approval by the
Department of Education shall be required.
(d) The Department of Education shall have sixty (60) days
from receipt of the application to approve, disapprove or
request modifications to the application. If the Department of
Education fails to act within that time period, the waiver shall
be deemed to be approved.
(e) (1) If the Department of Education disapproves the
application for waiver, the Department of Education shall
transmit notice to the waiver applicant of the basis for the
disapproval . The waiver applicant may submit a revised
application for a waiver.
(2) A waiver applicant may appeal any disapproval of a
waiver application to the Secretary of Education in accordance
with 2 Pa.C.S. Chs. 5 (relating to practice and procedure) and 7
(relating to judicial review).
(f) Five (5) years from the implementation of the waiver,
the waiver applicant shall submit to the Department of Education
the evaluation specified in subsection (b)(1)(iii) . When the
evaluation of a waiver indicates an improvement in student
performance, instructional program or school operations, the
waiver shall be renewed by the Department of Education and shall
remain in effect, unless a board of school directors opts out of
the waiver. In the case of a waiver renewed by the Department of
Education for all the member school districts of an intermediate
unit, the waiver shall remain in effect for any school district
which has not opted out of the waiver.
(g) The following provisions of this act shall not be
subject to waiver pursuant to this section: sections 108, 110,
111, 321, 322, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 431, 436, 437, 440.1,
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443, 510, 513, 518, 527, 688, 691, 696, 701.1, 708, 740, 741,
752, 753, 771, 776, 777, 785, 808, 809, 810, 1073, 1073.1, 1076,
1077, 1080, 1302, 1303, 1310, 1317, 1317.2, 1318, 1327, 1327.1,
1330, 1332, 1361, 1366, 1501, 1502, 1513, 1517, 1518, 1521,
1523, 1546, 1547 and 2104; provisions prohibiting
discrimination; Articles VI, VI-A, XI, XI-A, XII, XIII-A, XIV
and XVII-A; and this section .
(h) The following provisions of 22 Pa. Code (relating to
education) shall not be subject to waiver pursuant to this
section:
Chapter 4 (relating to academic standards and assessment).
Chapter 11 (relating to student attendance).
Chapter 12 (relating to students and student services).
Chapter 14 (relating to special education services and
programs).
Chapter 15 (relating to protected handicapped students).
Chapter 16 (relating to special education for gifted
students).
Section 32.3 (relating to assurances).
Section 121.3 (relating to discrimination prohibited).
(i) The board of school directors may not seek a waiver of
any Federal law or State law applicable to a public school that
is not within the provisions of this act.
(j) The Department of Education shall post all waiver
requests and Department of Education approvals and disapprovals
under this section on its publicly accessible Internet website.
(k) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede
or preempt any provisions of a collective bargaining agreement
in effect on the effective date of this section.
(l) Intermediate unit boards of directors and area career
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and technical boards shall be eligible to apply for mandate
waivers under this section except for those in subsections (g),
(h) and (n).
(m) Charter school and cyber charter school boards of
trustees shall be eligible to apply for mandate waivers under
this section except those in subsections (g) and (h).
(n) The following provisions of this act shall not be
subject to waiver for intermediate units and area career and
technical schools under this section: Articles IX-A and XVIII.
(o) The provisions of section 751 shall be subject to
waiver, provided that the waiver applicant shall bid all
construction-related projects under separate contracts in
accordance with the provisions of section 751(a.2). All other
provisions of section 751, including base amounts, shall be
subject to waiver.
Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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