Reducing Regulatory Burden on Education Providers

HOUSE BILL 26-1299

BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Garcia Sander and Lukens, Barron, Camacho, Clifford, Duran, Goldstein, Gonzalez R., Jackson, Keltie, Lieder, Lindsay, Marshall, Nguyen, Phillips, Richardson, Rydin, Smith, Stewart K., Weinberg, Woog, McCluskie; also SENATOR(S) Pelton B. and Bridges, Kipp, Coleman.

CONCERNING REDUCTION OF REGULATORY BURDENS ON LOCAL EDUCATION PROVIDERS.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:

SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that: (a) Colorado's commitment to public education is rooted in the belief that every student deserves access to high-quality instruction and the supports necessary to thrive from preschool through graduation; (b) Honoring this commitment requires state law to prioritize student learning and well-being, safeguard student privacy and safety, and promote accountability and continuous improvement while avoiding administrative requirements that no longer reflect current educational practice;

Capital letters or bold & italic numbers indicate new material added to existing law; dashes through words or numbers indicate deletions from existing law and such material is not part of the act.

(c) Statutory and regulatory reporting, planning assessment, and data collection obligations have accumulated in ways that are often duplicative, misaligned, or outdated, resulting in an administrative workload that reduces the time, flexibility, and capacity educators can devote to direct instruction and student support; (d) Feedback collected through surveys and stakeholder engagement conducted by the education data advisory committee demonstrates that many local education providers experience data reporting and planning requirements that lack a straightforward statutory requirement, overlap with other mandated submissions, or provide limited instructional or accountability value; and (e) The general assembly therefore determines that strengthening transparency, statutory alignment, and modernization ofthese requirements will improve the usefulness and integrity of collected data, reduce unnecessary burden, and better support educators, students, and families across Colorado. SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 24-33.5-415.1, amend

(5) as follows: 24-33.5-415.1. List of missing children.

(5) A timely THE BUREAU SHALL DISTRIBUTE A list of missing children shall be dist1 ibuted on a regular basis to all school dist1 icts in this state, except those school dist1 icts which have elected to pt o vide the names of all new 01 transfer students to the bureau, and each school district shall distribute such information to the individual schools within the district in whatever manner deemed apprnptiate THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION FOR CROSS-REFERENCE AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT'S STUDENT RECORDS. The list shalt MUST include the names of missing children together with whatever information the bureau determines would be helpful in making identification. A school distI ict THE COLORADO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SHALL COMPARE THE BUREAU'S MISSING CHILDREN LIST TO THE DEPARTMENT'S COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN COLORADO PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND shall either immediately notify the bureau if it comes in contact with a child whose name appears on the list of missing children 01 send the names of all new 01 transfer students to the bm eau on a Iegula1

basis, ITS COMPREHENSIVE LIST OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN COLORADO PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCLUDES A MISSING STUDENT OR INFORMATION ON THE LAST-KNOWN SCHOOL OF ENROLLMENT OF A MISSING STUDENT, and, if a missing child is identified, the bureau shall, in turn, notify the law enforcement agency that submitted the missing child report. All information received or transmitted pursuant to this subsection (5) shall be IS confidential and shall only be used for law enforcement purposes. SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-7-1013, repeal (6) as follows: 22-7-1013. Local education provider - preschool through elementary and secondary education standards - adoption - academic acceleration - definition. (6) Each local education provider shall adopt and implement a wI ittcn policy by whieh the local education prov idcr will decide whcthcr the students cm oiled by the local education prov idcr will use pencil and paper to complete any portion of a state assessment administer cd put suant to section 22-7-1006.3 ( 1)(a) that the students would other wise complete using a computer. The policy must cnsur c that the local education prov idcr makes the decision in consultation with par cnts and, if the local education prov idcr is a school district or board of cooperative set vices, the public schools that the local education provider operates. The local education provider may decide that the students in one or mot c of the public schools, or in one or more of the classrooms of the public schools, operated by the local education pt o vidcr will use pencil and paper to complete the computer izcd portions of a state assessment. Each year before the start of fall semester classes, the local education provider shall distribute copies of the policy to the parents of students enr oiled in the local education provider and post a copy of the policy on the local education provider's website.

SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-208, amend (l)(d) as follows: 22-11-208. Accreditation - annual review - supports and interventions - rules.

(1) (d) The state board by rule shall establish the time frames in which the department shall MUST review school district and institute

performance and determine and report each school district's and the institute's appropriate accreditation category, and the time frames in which the school districts and the institute shall MUST adopt their respective plans and submit them for review and publication on the data portal. A school district with one thousand TWO HUNDRED students or fewer shall only be 1equiI ed to MAY submit a single plan to satisfy the school district and school plan requirements. A CHARTER SCHOOL NETWORK WITH ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED STUDENTS OR FEWER AND AUTHORIZED BY A SINGLE AUTHORIZER MAY SUBMIT A SINGLE PLAN TO SATISFY THE SCHOOL PLAN REQUIREMENTS OF ITS SCHOOLS.

SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-2-307, add (4) as follows: 22-2-307. Data reporting requirements - interpretation of federal law - suspension - information on required data. (4) THE DEPARTMENT SHALL NOT REPRESENT A VOLUNTARY DATA COLLECTION REQUEST AS MANDATORY TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE STATE CHARTER SCHOOL INSTITUTE, OR A PUBLIC SCHOOL AND SHALL NOT CONDITION ANY BENEFIT TO A SCHOOL DISTRICT, THE STATE CHARTER SCHOOL INSTITUTE, ORA PUBLIC SCHOOL, UNRELATED TO A SPECIFIC GRANT, ON THE COMPLETION OF A VOLUNTARY DATA COLLECTION REQUEST.

SECTION 6. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly (August 12, 2026, if adjournment sine die is on May 13, 2026); except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless

approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.

Julie McCluskie SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

James Rashad Coleman, Sr. PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE

Vanessa Reilly CHIEF CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Esther van Mourik SECRETARY OF THE SENATE

APPROVED on Monday June 1st 2026 at 12:30pm (Date and Time)

Jared S. Polis GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF COLORADO