Option enrollment measure scaled back, exception for suspension of young students added

A bill aimed at expanding option enrollment for students with Individualized Education Programs received first-round approval Jan. 23 after being significantly scaled back and amended to restore schools’ ability to suspend pre-K through second grade students in certain circumstances.

Under LB653, sponsored by Glenvil Sen. Dave Murman, option school districts not in a learning community would be required to automatically accept siblings of currently enrolled students.
As introduced last session, the bill also would require districts to:

● notify parents when a requested school is full but another building has space;
● alert applicants within 10 business days if an application is incomplete and subject to rejection;
● cap denied option enrollment applications from students with IEPs at 16% per school year; and
● allow districts to apply by Oct. 15 for Education Future Fund reimbursement if they accept a high-cost IEP option enrollment student.

An Education Committee amendment would have added provisions of five additional bills.

Murman said many original LB653 provisions already were enacted or no longer needed. As a result, he offered an amendment that would replace the committee amendment and remove all option enrollment rules except the sibling acceptance requirement for districts not in a learning community.

“Parents shouldn’t have to worry that their next child can’t attend the same school as their siblings,” Murman said. “We should keep siblings and families together [and] I think this is a reasonable ask of our schools.”

The amendment also includes provisions from Murman’s LB430, which would revise a 2023 law banning suspension or expulsion of pre-K through second grade students by allowing an exception for students who engage in physical violence that harms others.

Additionally, schools would be required to provide parents written notice when a child is suspended outlining available resources, steps taken to address the behavior and strategies to keep the student in school.

Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward supported LB653 and the Murman amendment, saying students are becoming increasingly violent at younger ages, creating challenges for small school districts with limited staff and resources.

Additionally, she said, the proposal is a better alternative than a bill introduced by the Education Committee this year, LB1053, which would outright repeal the suspension ban without the additional requirements included in Murman’s amendment.

“I think it’s better for the kids, family, the schools — all the way around — versus just a straight up repeal,” Hughes said.

Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney, who sponsored the 2023 suspension ban, offered a motion to indefinitely postpone LB653. He said the ban was intended to address racial disparities and reduce the school-to-prison pipeline, particularly for Black, Latino and Native American students.

Districts have failed to implement alternatives to suspension allowed under current law, he said, and instead are pushing to reinstate punitive measures.

Sen. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha supported McKinney’s motion, saying lawmakers should prioritize additional services and address underlying issues, such as student trauma, before resorting to suspension.

“We have to ensure that we are not passing more punitive policy consequences that don’t address those core root issues,” she said.

Also supporting the motion was Lincoln Sen. George Dungan, who said removing the suspension ban could disproportionately affect young students with developmental disabilities who may be perceived as violent.

McKinney later withdrew his motion and said he would work with Murman to attempt to find a compromise on the suspension portion of the bill before the next round of debate.

Plymouth Sen. Tom Brandt said that while he supports reinstating the suspension provisions, he opposes requiring districts to automatically accept siblings of option enrollment students, citing capacity and staffing concerns.

After voting 33-8 to adopt Murman’s amendment, lawmakers adopted the committee amendment 34-3.

Senators then advanced LB653 to select file on a 30-6 vote.