School Health and Wellness: State and Federal Legislation and Policy | Page 5

School Health and Wellness: State and Federal Legislation and Policy

STATE EDUCATION LEGISLATION
House Bill 14-1294: Student Data Privacy Act. Under this legislation, the privacy of students’
personal information is protected during data collection. The law requires the Colorado State Board
of Education to publish an inventory and dictionary of current and proposed student-level data in the
student data system that is used to report data required by state and federal education mandates. CDE
must not provide individual student data to other organizations or agencies outside the state except
under specified circumstances. The department may use only aggregate data in public reports and must
develop a detailed data security plan (C.R.S. 22-2-309).

House Bill 13-1021: Improving School Attendance Act. Each school district must monitor student
attendance and identify each student who is chronically absent (10 percent or more of one school
year), has a significant number of unexcused absences, and is habitually truant (four unexcused
absences in one month or 10 unexcused absences in one school year) (C.R.S. 22-33-104 et seq.).

House Bill 12-1345, Section 21: Fair Discipline in Schools Act. This law gives schools discretion
over suspensions and eliminates mandatory expulsions (except in cases involving firearms). It
allows schools to set up graduated discipline systems that assign punishments commensurate with
offenses. It also ensures more training for school officials to better deal with discipline issues and
streamlines the reporting of disaggregated data to better understand how discipline policies are
applied and to whom (C.R.S. 22-32-109.1 et seq.).
• Instituting fair discipline practices in schools improves student engagement and is a crucial
component to ensuring all students have an equal opportunity to learn.

Senate Bill 10-191: Ensuring Quality Instruction Through Educator Effectiveness Act. This
law changes the way Colorado principals and teachers are evaluated. The ultimate goal is to
continuously support educators’ professional growth and, in turn, accelerate student achievement.
The new evaluation requirements include opportunities for reflection, review, professional
development, and growth (C.R.S. 22-9-102 et seq.):
• Evaluations are based on statewide quality standards that define what it means to be an
effective teacher or principal. This includes establishing a safe, inclusive, and respectful
learning environment for a diverse population of students and demonstrating school culture
and equity leadership.
• Specialized Service Professionals (SSPs), including school nurses, occupational therapists,
physical therapists, audiologists, counselors, psychologists, social workers, and speechlanguage pathologists, are incorporated into the new evaluation system, elevating their
contribution to improving student achievement.

Senate Bill 09-163: Education Accountability Act of 2009. School and district accountability
systems are aligned into a single system under this legislation. The law modernizes the reporting
of state, district, and school performance information and establishes a new system of support and
intervention that includes schools and districts with turnaround plans (C.R.S. 22-11-101 et seq.).
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