Last week the Michigan House and Senate met to approve a plan and rules for remote instruction in most Michigan schools this fall, described in this report. The next scheduled sessions are for Sept. 1.

House Bill 5913, Authorize Remote Public School Instruction Only in 2020-21: Passed 23 to 15 in the Senate

To only require school districts to provide instruction “…online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format” in the 2020-21 school year, with some exceptions.

Along with House Bill 5912 this would waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled in a district must be present for the district to get state aid on any given day. Instead, schools would get state funding if they “ensure” that at least 75% of the students who are enrolled for non-classroom instruction get at least one “two-way interaction” per month with one of his or her teachers. Under the bill this could be an email, phone call, text message or an actual face-to-face conversation. In October and February, when normally students are counted for purposes of allocating per-pupil state funding, the number of required student interactions with a teacher would be four.

Also, to require school districts to administer a test during the first nine weeks of the 2020-21 school year to all K-8 students that assesses their progress on reading and math, and do so once again before the end of the school year.

Sen. Ed McBroom, R – Vulcan, No

House Bill 5913, Authorize Remote Public School Instruction Only: Passed 73 to 33 in the House

The House vote on the bill described above.

Rep. Beau LaFave, R – Iron Mountain, Yes

House Bill 5912, Funding Details for Remote Public School Instruction Only: Passed 23 to 15 in the Senate

To waive the requirement that schools provide 1,098 hours of instruction in the 2021-22 school year, and waive the requirement that at least 75% of the students enrolled must be present a on a school day for the district to get state aid for that day. Among other things the bill specifies administrative procedures to accommodate this.

School districts would only be required to “provide pupil instruction…online, digitally, by other remote means, in a synchronous or asynchronous format” that will “deliver the educational or course content that would have been delivered in 180 days and 1,098 hours.”

Sen. Ed McBroom, R – Vulcan, No

House Bill 5912, Funding Details for Remote Public School Instruction: Passed 77 to 29 in the House

The House vote on the bill described above.

Rep. Beau LaFave, R – Iron Mountain, Yes

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Source: MichiganVotes.org, a free, non-partisan website created by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, providing concise, non-partisan, plain-English descriptions of every bill and vote in the Michigan House and Senate. Please visit www.MichiganVotes.org.