Data Reporting Requirements for Kindergarten Through 12th Grade Schools

The bill requires the department of education (department), on or before June 30, 2026, to conduct an audit on data reporting requirements for schools of school districts, school districts, district charter schools, institute charter schools, and the state charter school institute (local education providers). The audit must include:

• Data that local education providers are required to report to comply with state and federal laws;
• The methods by which data is reported to the department;
• Whether the current data requirements meet the information needs of the state;
• How much time local education providers spend reporting to the department;
• Whether there are more efficient ways to report data to the department, including, but not limited to, consolidating data report submissions, aligning data report submission timelines to limit the number of reports submitted, and using current data systems that already exist to collect relevant information;
• An evaluation of the reporting protocols for local education providers to comply with training requirements; and
• An evaluation of current training requirements regarding reporting data.

On or before December 1, 2026, the department shall submit the results of the data audit recommendations on how to relieve the administrative data collection and reporting burdens on local education providers, and legislative changes that may be required to the education committees of the house of representatives and the senate, or their successor committees.

For school districts and the state charter school institute (institute), that are on a performance or improvement plan, the bill allows a local school board or the institute to submit the performance or improvement plan using a format or template that best meets the school district's or institute's needs, so long as the included plan addresses statutory requirements the bill requires the department of education (department) to develop a streamlined format for a performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan (plan) that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a school district or the institute to attach a locally developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board of education (state board) rule.

For schools of a school district or district charter schools (district public schools) or institute charter schools, that are on a school performance or improvement plan, the bill allows a local school board, on behalf of a district public school, or the institute, on behalf of an institute charter school, to submit the school performance or improvement plan using a format or template that best meets the district public school's or institute charter school's needs, so long as the included plan addresses statutory requirements the bill requires the department to develop a streamlined format for a plan that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a local school board for the district public school, or the institute if the public school is an institute charter school, to attach a locally developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board rule.

The department shall maintain a centralized system for plan submissions so the department can conduct a statewide analysis in order to determine how to best distribute state resources and supports. On or before August 31, 2025, and regularly thereafter, the department must collect user feedback to assess the extent to which the streamlined format for plans is used, whether it is helpful, and how to use this feedback to improve the centralized system.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)