Bills › 90th General Assembly
Requiring school districts to provide the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school district with a printed copy of the student’s report card
Sponsored by the House Education Committee
Topics:K–12 education
Same legislation: HF 2002
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 9, 2024
- Done: SubcommitteeJanuary 17, 2024
- Done: House committeeJanuary 23, 2024
- Stopped: Passes the HouseDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2024 session adjourned on April 19, 2024, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Iowa school districts must give parents or guardians a printed copy of their child's report card every semester or grading period. Schools can mail the report card, hand it to the parent directly, or give it to the student to bring home. This rule applies to all school districts even if the state does not provide extra money to cover the costs.1
Read the official explanation
This bill requires school districts to provide the parent or guardian of each student enrolled in the school district with a printed copy of the student’s report card each semester, or the trimester or quarter equivalent. The bill establishes that school districts may fulfill this requirement either by mailing the report card to the parent or guardian, by providing the report card to the parent or guardian by hand delivery, or by providing the report card to the student and directing the student to take the report card home to the student’s parent or guardian. 3.2, subsection 3, which would relieve a school district from complying with a state mandate if funding for the cost of the state mandate is not provided or specified. Therefore, school districts are required to comply with any state mandate included in the bill.
Fiscal note
Can’t be estimated Compare with other bills
AI summary This bill requires school districts to provide parents or guardians with a printed report card for every enrolled student. It is estimated to cost school districts approximately $10,000 for printing and approximately $681,000 per year for postage and envelopes. These costs would be paid out of each individual school district's general fund, though the bill has no fiscal impact on the state.3
Read the fiscal note
Description
House File 2154 requires school districts to provide the parent or guardian of each enrolled student with a printed report card. The school may provide the printed report card in the following ways:
- Mailing the report card to the parent or guardian.
- Providing the report card to the student during the school day and directing the student to take the report card home to the parent or guardian.
- Hand delivering the report card to the parent or guardian.
Background
Based on enrollment numbers from October 2022, there were approximately 486,000 students enrolled in Iowa public schools.
Assumptions
- There are approximately 486,000 students enrolled in Iowa public schools.
- The number of schools that do not currently provide printed report cards to the parents or guardians of enrolled students is unknown.
- Printing, preparing, and mailing report cards will be handled by existing staff.
- Report cards will be sent out twice each year by the school district.
- The cost to the school districts of printing report cards is estimated at $0.01 per pupil for every enrolled student statewide twice a year and is approximately $10,000.
- The cost of postage and envelopes for school districts to mail printed report cards twice a year is estimated at $0.70 per pupil for every enrolled student statewide and is approximately $681,000 per year.
- School districts that opt to provide the printed report to the parents or guardians by hand delivery or having the student bring the card home will see lower costs compared to school districts who choose to mail report cards.
Fiscal Impact
House File 2154 will have no fiscal impact on the State but may have an impact to local school districts.
The Bill may increase printing and postage costs to individual school districts. The increased costs would be paid out of the individual school district’s general fund; however, the number of school districts that will need to modify the way report cards are provided to parents and guardians is unknown.
House File 2154 may include a State mandate as defined in Iowa Code section 25B.2 and requires that any State mandate in the Bill be paid by a school district from the school district’s currently available resources that are permitted to be used for this purpose.
Sources
- Legislative Services Agency
- Iowa Association of School Boards
- School Administrators of Iowa
- Printed Student Report Cards · February 2, 2024
Family tree
90th General Assembly