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Lawmakers set new policy for schools in areas ranging from eating disorders to cyberbullying under the new School Code enacted Sunday.
The School Code (House Bill 1505) drives out hundreds of millions of dollars of state funding to school districts for big ticket items like the Basic Education Subsidy, adequacy funding, special education, early education, Career and Technical Education and school safety.
But it has an impact on policy affecting students, teachers and parents as well.
HB1505 guards access to early childhood education.
"The legislation amends the Public School Code to expand Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts eligibility to intermediate units, ensuring they remain eligible for funding even if federal changes affect Head Start programs," said Rep Liz Hanbidge, D-Montgomery, the bill sponsor.
Other policy changes include:
Standardized tests
HB1505 directs the Legislative Budget and Finance Committee to report by June 9, 2027, on the use of standardized tests in Pennsylvania, higher education assessments and federal accountability requirements.
Facility Inventory
The bill requires the Department of Education to collect school facility information from each school district, intermediate unit, area career and technical center, cyber charter, and charter schools by Dec. 31, 2027, and each five years after.
Rep. Elizabeth Fielder, D-Philadelphia, said this inventory will help allocate state funding to school districts that need it the most for building repairs and renovation.
Truancy
Requires a school to inform a parent or guardian of a habitually truant student of their right to petition the court for an educational best interest hearing within 10 days by a magisterial district judge.
The hearing will consider the health and well-being of the child, attendance, grades, school enrollment history, safety concerns, academic access to programs, disciplinary actions, family support and any other relevant factors.
Cyberbullying
Requires each school to adopt a policy or amend an existing policy relating to cyberbullying, including disciplinary consequences and a procedure for investigating a report of bullying or cyber bullying and immediately notifying the parents or legal guardians of any student involved in the incident.
It also requires school officials to include in their annual report the total number of bullying and cyberbullying incidents, including those suspected to involve AI-generated media and criminal offenses including sexual abuse of children and unlawful dissemination of intimate images, and digital forgery.
Body mass index
Allows school nurses and other trained health care practitioners to collect a student's height and weight information for growth pattern tracking, calculation of body mass index, and reporting.
It prohibits a school from sharing the body mass index with the student, their parent or legal guardian unless requested in writing. A parent or legal guardian can request in writing that their student be exempt from height and weight measurement at school.
Recess
Requires at least 30 minutes of recess, in addition to lunch time, for full-day kindergarten through fifth grade students and 15 minutes of recess for half-day kindergarten students. It requires recess to be offered outside when possible and without access to electronic devices.
Social media literacy education
Requires State Board of Education standards to include social media safety and the impacts of social media and mobile device use.
Eating disorder awareness and education
Requires school entities to provide information on their website regarding eating disorder awareness for students in grades 6-12.
It requires the Departments of Health and Education to develop and update eating disorder awareness information and materials every five years using the recommendations of the committee.
Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Bucks, and Rep. Jason Ortitay, R-Allegheny, said this provision will give parents tools to help prevent eating disorders, recognize the signs earlier and get help for their children.