The Senate Committee on Human Resources and Facilities was called to order by Vice Chairman Washington, at 1:45 p.m., on Wednesday, March 10, 1999, in Room 2135 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster. All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

Senator Raymond D. Rawson, Chairman

Senator Maurice Washington, Vice Chairman

Senator Randolph J. Townsend

Senator Mark Amodei

Senator Bernice Mathews

Senator Michael Schneider

Senator Valerie Wiener

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

Senator Ann O’Connell, Clark County Senatorial District No. 5

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

Cynthia Cook, Committee Secretary

OTHERS PRESENT:

Harvey Whittemore, Lobbyist, Concerned Citizen

Natalie Whittemore, Concerned Citizen

Carole A. Vilardo, Lobbyist, Nevada Taxpayers Association

Al Bellister, Lobbyist, Nevada State Education Association

Charles (Steve) Williams, Lobbyist, Washoe County School District

Barbara Clark, Lobbyist, Nevada Parent Teacher Association

Richard Harjo, Chairman, Nevada Indian Commission

Lezlie Porter, Concerned Citizen

Merritt K. (Ike) Yochum, Lobbyist

Vice Chairman Washington presented Bill Draft Request (BDR) 38-1496.

Senator Ann O’Connell, Clark County Senatorial District No. 5, explained S.B. 213 will address services for children who are not enrolled in the public school system. Nevada, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania are the five states that deny those services, yet parents of children in private schools, charter schools, and home schools, support public schools through their tax payments. Senator O’Connell said although there is a fiscal note associated with S.B. 213, testimony to be heard today will demonstrate there will be no fiscal impact. Language on page 3, line 6 stating the services may be offered at the home of a child will be removed.

Harvey Whittemore, Lobbyist, Concerned Citizen, introduced his 15-year-old daughter Natalie Whittemore. Ms. Whittemore testified that in order to graduate early, she is required to complete two supplementary credits. The credits can be earned through summer school, correspondence class, or voluntary service. Ms. Whittemore continued that as a sophomore attending Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, she recently tried to enroll in a correspondence course and was denied since she attends a private school. Ms. Whittemore concluded students should not be punished and denied services merely because they attend public school.

Mr. Whittemore addressed the funding concerns. If the committee passes S.B. 213, Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 387.123 subsection 1, paragraph (c) will be amended to include the students defined in the bill. Each county would track participation during the current year and receive funds in the following year on a retroactive basis. The history established would allow the counties to develop a formula for a full-time equivalency (FTE) based on average daily attendance. Mr. Whittemore continued opponents have expressed concerns that students attending private school or home school would be included in all sports programs. The genesis of the bill is for educational programs, not necessarily athletic programs. Mr. Whittemore emphasized the decision of his daughter to attend private school is not to be construed as a view the schools in Washoe County are inadequate. The family has been involved in the public school system for many years.

Vice Chairman Washington pointed out the bill could be a financial advantage to the school districts. He requested Mr. Whittemore provide a copy of a federal district court decision that opened the California Interscholastic Federation to all private students.

Vice Chairman Washington closed the hearing on S.B. 213 and opened the hearing on Senate Joint Resolution (S.J.R.) 8.

Senator O’Connell asserted S.J.R. 8 is not intended to affect Nevada’s fiscal rating. If anything were to go wrong the counties would reflect the fiscal impact. Currently, there are 11 states with general education equity cases pending. In at least three cases plaintiffs maintain inequities in facilities are grounds for declaring the schools funding unconstitutional.

Vice Chairman Washington thought this problem had been addressed in the sixty-ninth session. Senator O’Connell said she had a bill during the sixty-ninth session but did not introduce it because she was led to believe the subject was covered in an Assembly bill.

Senator Mathews inquired if the primary borrower would be the county. Senator O’Connell responded the bill allows the county to be the borrower, but to use the state’s bonding ability. The State of Nevada is not held financially responsible.

Carole A. Vilardo, Lobbyist, Nevada Taxpayers Association, spoke in favor of the concept of S.J.R. 8 and read a proposed amendment to the bill (Exhibit C).

Senator O’Connell stated she is aware of three rural schools in need of renovation. They are located in White Pine, Churchill, and Storey counties.

Vice Chairman Washington closed the hearing on S.J.R. 8 and reopened the hearing on S.B. 213.

Al Bellister, Lobbyist, Nevada State Education Association, testified in opposition of S.B. 213 stating page 2, lines 34 through 37 may be unconstitutional. He said Nevada Attorney General Opinion (AGO) 278 (Exhibit D) states, "The enrollment of a private or parochial school pupil in public schools, because classes are available in the public schools which are not offered in the private or parochial schools, would violate Section 10 of Article XI of the Nevada Constitution." Section 10 of Article XI of the Nevada Constitution states, "No public money to be used for sectarian purposes. No public funds of any kind or character whatever, State, County or Municipal, shall be used for sectarian purpose." Mr. Belister told the committee he was not aware of the federal district court decision that opened the California Interscholastic School Federation to all private students.

Charles (Steve) Williams, Lobbyist, Washoe County School District, reported the district opposes S.B. 213 because of no funding reference, and to allow private school, charter school, and home school student participation in extracurricular activities would be unfair to students enrolled in the public school. Public school students must maintain standards concerning grade point average, attendance, and behavior, in order to participate. According to Mr. Williams, the district would not know if the private, charter, and home school, students fulfilled these standards. Washoe County School District would support a bill that is fully funded for some curricular activities.

Senator Amodei pointed out to Mr. Williams the bill on page 2, lines 40 through 42, states "The parent or legal guardian demonstrates to the satisfaction of the board of trustees that the child is qualified to participate in the class or extracurricular activity." There is nothing in S.B. 213 to prohibit the school from establishing what that satisfaction is through regulation. Senator Amodei continued he has confidence in the ability of Washoe County School District to establish standards.

Senator Townsend added he failed to see the logic behind the reluctance of the district to allow students to benefit from programs, even though the parents, through the payment of taxes, have already paid for the student.

Mr. Williams stated the district does not want to deny students access to programs, particularly since the funding issues are being addressed today. However, the board has a philosophical problem with the inclusion of extracurricular activities.

Chairman Rawson said some of the concern is all taxpayers are being taxed for public schools, but schools are not getting enough operating money necessary to hire additional teachers.

Senator Wiener stated a student should not be denied a correspondence or independent study course, when the student would not be using the physical facility. Mr. Williams concurred.

Barbara Clark, Lobbyist, Nevada Parent Teacher Association (PTA), summarized concerns of the 32,000 Nevada PTA members stating the lack of immediate funding upon enrollment of a student in a program; what would happen if a class was full, and additional public school children moved into the district; and would the private, charter, and home students attend the public schools for which they are zoned. At the request of Vice Chairman Washington, Ms. Clark will provide a membership list of the Nevada PTA. Vice Chairman Washington would like to poll the members.

Vice Chairman Washington closed the hearing S.B. 213 and opened the work session on S.B. 10

Richard Harjo, Chairman, Nevada Indian Commission, testified the proposed amendments to the bill (Exhibit E) would save money and the bill could actually do without a fiscal note.

THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

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Vice Chairman Washington reopened the hearing on S.B. 213.

Senator Schneider asked Mr. Whittemore if the State of Nevada could be sued by those saying space or availability must be offered. Mr. Whittemore said the intent of the legislation is, in order to enroll, room must be available in the existing classroom, or an instructor for a correspondence class has not exceeded the number of students which are eligible for that particular class.

Lezlie Porter, Concerned Citizen, read prepared testimony (Exhibit F) in support of S.B. 213. Merritt K. (Ike) Yochum, Lobbyist, voiced support for the bill.

Mary L. Peterson, Superintendent of Public Instruction, State Department of Education, stated page 2, lines 16 through 23 of S.B. 213 would need clarification to assure there is no conflict with federal requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The department would like to work with legislative staff on the suggested funding mechanisms for reimbursing the schools. Ms. Peterson distributed statistics showing private school enrollment for Nevada (Exhibit G).

In response to Chairman Rawson, Ms. Peterson said she would provide the committee enrollment figures for home school students.

Ms. Porter interjected there are approximately 50,000 students in Washoe County, and 599 home school students.

Janine Hansen, Lobbyist, Nevada Eagle Forum, testified about the success she has had as a home school parent, and she encouraged the committee to contact Utah, where all students have been allowed participation in classes for many years.

Larry Spitler, Lobbyist, Clark County School District, affirmed Clark County has been successful in allowing home school students to petition the school board and be placed when there is space available. Mr. Spitler asserted the Clark County home school enrollment was 661 students for the 1992-1993 school year, and had increased to approximately 2,700 students for the 1997-1998 school year.

Carolyn A. Nelson, Lobbyist, Nevada Families Eagle Forum; Lynn Chapman, Lobbyist; and Glenn Zeiss, Concerned Citizen; as home school parents, spoke in support of S.B. 213.

Ruth Johnson, President, Clark County School District, Board of Trustees, testified in favor of S.B. 213, and supported the testimony of Mr. Spitler. Robbie Grant, Concerned Citizen, said passage of S.B. 213 would be helpful to home school parents living in rural areas.

Steven C. Balkenbush, Concerned Citizen, distributed testimony prepared by J. Michael Smith, Vice President, Home School Legal Defense Association (Exhibit H). Mr. Balkenbush stated because of an anomaly in the current law, special education services are available to private school children, but home school children are not included.

Frank Schnorbus and Robin Schnorbus, Concerned Citizens, related to the committee the experience they encountered with their 7-year-old son. When he was diagnosed with a speech problem, Douglas County School District provided the necessary testing, but not the therapy because he was a home school student. Insurance did eventually cover the services, but the parents are responsible for a co-payment. The Schnorbuses pointed out for those parents with limited resources and no insurance there would be nothing available.

Lucille Lusk, Lobbyist, Nevada Concerned Citizens, called attention to the fact that with the space available provision in S.B. 213, there should be no conflict with participation in extracurricular activities.

Nat Lommori, Superintendent, Lyon County School District, acknowledged the district would be in favor of the curricular aspects of the bill, and would like to have further clarification on the extracurricular guidelines.

Henry Etchemendy, Lobbyist, Nevada Association of School Boards, testified the association would support the bill.

Jerry Hughes, Concerned Citizen, stated he represents the Nevada Interscholastic Activity Association. The association would like clarification of the term "space available". He used for an example if a 6-foot 8-inch home school student were to contact a school, "space" might be made "available". A survey of the states that have bills similar to S.B. 213 (California, Utah, Oregon, and Idaho) resulted in the conclusion that strong academic regulations are extremely important.

Senator Amodei requested the Nevada Interscholastic Activity Association propose regulations to define "space available". Mr. Hughes assured the committee the association could accomplish that in a fair manner.

Barbara K. Dragon, Concerned Citizen, read prepared testimony (Exhibit I).

Bob Thomas, Concerned Citizen, suggested the Legislature look at alternative methods of funding education, and expressed his support of S.B. 213.

Kim Hodge, Concerned Citizen, testified in support of S.B. 213.

Senator Amodei closed the hearing on S.B. 213, and reopened the hearing on S.J.R. 8.

Henry Etchemendy, Lobbyist, Nevada Association of School Boards, confirmed that the association is in favor of S.J.R. 8, and alerted the committee to potential problems. Some of the districts are at the $3.64 tax cap and could not issue a bond. (Nevada Revised Statutes [NRS] 361.453 Limitation on total ad valorem tax levy. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 354.705, the total ad valorem tax levy for all public purposes must not exceed $3.64 on each $100 of assessed valuation, or a lesser or greater amount fixed by the state board of examiners if the state board of examiners is directed by law to fix a lesser or greater amount for that fiscal year.) The assessed valuation in some of the rural counties is so low, even if a bond were to be passed, the counties could not pay for it.

Douglas C. Thunder, Deputy Superintendent for Administrative and Fiscal Services, State Department of Education, supported the testimony of Mr. Etchemendy, and cited the school districts in need of outside help are Esmeralda, Lincoln, White Pine, Lander, and Mineral.

Jane N. Moyle, Lobbyist, Nevada Rural School District Alliance, stated support for S.J.R. 8.

Chairman Rawson closed the hearing on S.J.R. 8, and requested a motion on S.B. 213.

Senator Mathews commended Ms. Whittemore for her testimony.

SENATOR TOWNSEND MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS S.B. 213.

SENATOR SCHNEIDER SECONDED THE MOTION.

THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

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The meeting was adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Cynthia Cook,

Committee Secretary

APPROVED BY:

Senator Raymond D. Rawson, Chairman

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