A.B. 531
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ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 531–COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
(ON BEHALF OF THE JOINT INTERIM STANDING
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION)
MARCH 24, 2025
____________
Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education.
(BDR 34-525)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 3)
(NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
~
EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; revising provisions governing the
transmittal of certain reports by the Commission on
School Funding; requiring the Department of Education
to establish a dashboard to track daily attendance data for
pupils; requiring the Superintendent of Public Instruction
to appoint a task force to develop a rubric to compare
certain metrics concerning pupils; requiring the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to appoint a
committee on the use of artificial intelligence in
education; revising provisions governing the date on
which the State Board of Education is required to submit
certain reports; revising the terms of certain appointed
members of the State Board; and providing other matters
properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law creates the Commission on School Funding and establishes the 1
duties of the Commission. Existing law requires: (1) each school district and each 2
charter school to submit a quarterly report to the Commission that contains certain 3
information; and (2) the Commission to review the reports and transmit the 4
reports, along with any commentary or recommendations, to certain entities. 5
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(NRS 387.1246, 387.12463) Section 1 of this bill requires the Commission to make 6
such a transmittal on or before the Friday of the second full week of November. 7
Section 3 of this bill requires the Department of Education to establish a 8
dashboard, or use an existing platform that is appropriate for such services, for: (1) 9
tracking attendance data for pupils in each school district; and (2) displaying the 10
data to the Department and the board of trustees of each school district in real time. 11
Section 3 additionally requires: (1) the board of trustees of each school district to 12
use the dashboard to report and monitor daily attendance data; (2) the Department 13
to publish on its Internet website any trends or rates related to absenteeism based on 14
data reported to the dashboard; and (3) the Department to ensure that the dashboard 15
complies with any privacy policies or procedures adopted by the Department. 16
Section 4 of this bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 17
appoint a task force to develop a rubric to compare the academic performance of 18
pupils in this State to the academic performance of pupils in other states. Section 4 19
additionally sets forth: (1) the metrics that must be included in developing the 20
rubric; and (2) requirements for the Department concerning the use of the rubric. 21
Section 5 of this bill requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to 22
appoint a committee to review, study and make recommendations concerning the 23
use of artificial intelligence in education in this State. Section 5 additionally 24
requires the committee to: (1) make certain considerations in performing its duties; 25
and (2) submit recommendations for legislation related to the use of artificial 26
intelligence in education to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education. 27
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to appoint a subcommittee 28
to review and make recommendations on the manner in which to provide age-29
appropriate and historically accurate instruction relating to the Holocaust and other 30
genocides, such as the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, Guatemalan and Rwandan 31
genocides, in certain courses of study. (NRS 388.887) Section 6 of this bill 32
provides that the State Board is required to report its findings and any 33
recommendations, including, without limitation, any recommendations made by the 34
subcommittee, to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education on or before 35
August 1 of each even-numbered year instead of October 1 of each even-numbered 36
year. 37
Under existing law, the State Board consists of four elected members and 38
several appointed members, including: (1) one member appointed by the Governor; 39
(2) one member appointed by the Governor who is nominated by the Majority 40
Leader of the Senate; and (3) one member appointed by the Governor who is 41
nominated by the Speaker of the Assembly. Existing law provides that these 42
members serve a term of 2 years, except that each member continues to serve until 43
a successor is appointed. (NRS 385.021) Section 7 of this bill staggers the terms of 44
those members and revises the length of the initial term of a member appointed by 45
the Governor. 46
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 387.12463 is hereby amended to read as 1
follows: 2
387.12463 1. The Commission shall: 3
(a) Provide guidance to school districts and the Department on 4
the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 5
(b) Monitor the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding 6
Plan and make any recommendations to the Joint Interim Standing 7
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Committee on Education that the Commission determines would, 1
within the limits of appropriated funding, improve the 2
implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan or correct any 3
deficiencies of the Department or any school district or public 4
school in carrying out the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 5
(c) Review the statewide base per pupil funding amount, the 6
adjusted base per pupil funding for each school district and the 7
multiplier for weighted funding for each category of pupils 8
appropriated by law pursuant to NRS 387.1214 for each biennium 9
and recommend any revisions the Commission determines to be 10
appropriate to create an optimal level of funding for the public 11
schools in this State, including, without limitation, by 12
recommending the creation or elimination of one or more categories 13
of pupils to receive additional weighted funding. If the Commission 14
makes a recommendation pursuant to this paragraph which would 15
require more money to implement than was appropriated from the 16
State Education Fund in the immediately preceding biennium, 17
the Commission shall also identify a method to fully fund the 18
recommendation within 10 years after the date of the 19
recommendation. 20
(d) Review the laws and regulations of this State relating to 21
education, make recommendations to the Joint Interim Standing 22
Committee on Education for any revision of such laws and 23
regulations that the Commission determines would improve the 24
efficiency or effectiveness of public education in this State and 25
notify each school district of each such recommendation. 26
(e) Review and recommend to the Department revisions of the 27
cost adjustment factors for each county established pursuant to NRS 28
387.1215 and the method for calculating the attendance area 29
adjustment established pursuant to NRS 387.1218. 30
(f) Review the academic progress made by pupils in each public 31
school since the implementation of the Pupil-Centered Funding 32
Plan, including, without limitation, any changes to the academic 33
progress of such pupils as the result of any additional money 34
provided to each such school by the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan. 35
In performing such a review, the Commission shall: 36
(1) Use metrics to measure the academic achievement of 37
pupils which include, without limitation: 38
(I) The rate of graduation of pupils from high school by 39
type of diploma; 40
(II) The performance of pupils on standardized 41
examinations in math, reading and science; 42
(III) The number of credentials or other certifications in 43
fields of career and technical education earned by pupils; 44
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(IV) The number of pupils who earn a passing score on an 1
advanced placement examination; 2
(V) The number of pupils who earn a passing score on an 3
international baccalaureate examination; 4
(VI) The percentage of pupils in each school who lack a 5
sufficient number of credits to graduate by the end of their 12th 6
grade year; 7
(VII) The percentage of pupils in each school who drop 8
out; 9
(VIII) The number of pupils who enroll in higher 10
education upon graduation; 11
(IX) The number of pupils who enroll in a vocational or 12
technical school or apprenticeship training program; 13
(X) The attendance rate for pupils; 14
(XI) The number of violent acts by pupils and 15
disciplinary actions against pupils; and 16
(XII) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 17
(2) Use metrics to measure the improvement of pupils 18
enrolled in elementary school in literacy which include, without 19
limitation: 20
(I) The literacy rate for pupils in the first, third and fifth 21
grades; 22
(II) The number of pupils in elementary school who were 23
promoted to the next grade after testing below proficient in reading 24
in the immediately preceding school year, separated by grade level 25
and by level of performance on the relevant test; 26
(III) The number of schools that employ a licensed 27
teacher designated to serve as a literacy specialist pursuant to NRS 28
388.159 and the number of schools that fail to employ and designate 29
such a licensed teacher; and 30
(IV) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 31
(3) Use metrics to measure the ability of public schools to 32
hire and retain sufficient staff to meet the needs of the public 33
schools which include, without limitation: 34
(I) The rate of vacancies in positions for teachers, support 35
staff and administrators; 36
(II) The attendance rate for teachers; 37
(III) The retention rate for teachers; 38
(IV) The number of schools and classrooms within each 39
school in which the number of pupils in attendance exceeds the 40
designed capacity for the school or classroom; 41
(V) The number of classes taught by a substitute teacher 42
for more than 25 percent of the school year; and 43
(VI) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 44
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(4) Use metrics to measure the extent to which schools meet 1
the needs and expectations of pupils, parents or legal guardians of 2
pupils, teachers and administrators which include, without 3
limitation: 4
(I) The results of an annual survey of satisfaction of 5
school employees; 6
(II) The results of an annual survey of satisfaction of 7
pupils, parents or legal guardians of pupils and graduates; and 8
(III) Any other metric prescribed by the Commission; 9
(5) Identify the progress made by each school, school district 10
and charter school on improving the literacy of pupils enrolled in 11
elementary school; 12
(6) Make recommendations for strategies to increase the 13
efficacy, efficiency, transparency and accountability of public 14
schools; and 15
(7) Make recommendations to the Department, school 16
districts and charter schools to improve the reporting, tracking, 17
monitoring, analyzing and dissemination of data relating to pupil 18
achievement and financial accountability, including, without 19
limitation, revisions to the metrics identified in subparagraphs (1) to 20
(4), inclusive. 21
(g) Review and consider strategies to improve the accessibility 22
and ensure the equitability of existing and new programs for pupils 23
within and between public schools, including, without limitation, 24
open zoning. 25
2. Each school district and each charter school shall submit a 26
quarterly report to the Commission that identifies how funding from 27
the Pupil-Centered Funding Plan is being used to improve the 28
academic performance and progress of pupils and includes, without 29
limitation, all data or metrics collected by the school district or 30
charter school to demonstrate such improvement. The Commission 31
shall review the reports submitted pursuant to this subsection and 32
transmit the reports, along with any commentary or 33
recommendations relating to the reports, to the Governor, the 34
Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, the Joint Interim 35
Standing Committee on Education and the Interim Finance 36
Committee [.] on or before the Friday of the second full week of 37
November. 38
3. After receiving the reports submitted to the Commission 39
pursuant to subsection 2, the Governor may, with the approval of the 40
Legislature or Interim Finance Committee if the Legislature is not in 41
session, direct a school district or charter school to take such 42
remedial actions as the Governor determines to be necessary and 43
appropriate to address any deficiency identified in the reports 44
submitted pursuant to subsection 2. 45
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4. The Commission shall: 1
(a) Present any recommendations pursuant to paragraphs (a) to 2
(g), inclusive, of subsection 1 at a meeting of the Joint Interim 3
Standing Committee on Education for consideration and 4
recommendations by the Committee; and 5
(b) After consideration of the recommendations of the Joint 6
Interim Standing Committee on Education, transmit the 7
recommendations or a revised version of the recommendations to 8
the Governor and the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 9
distribution to the Legislature. 10
Sec. 2. Chapter 388 of NRS is hereby amended by adding 11
thereto the provisions set forth as sections 3, 4 and 5 of this act. 12
Sec. 3. 1. The Department shall establish a dashboard, or 13
use an existing platform that is appropriate for such services, for 14
tracking attendance data for pupils and displaying the data to the 15
Department and the board of trustees of each school district in 16
real time. 17
2. The board of trustees of each school district shall: 18
(a) Use the dashboard established pursuant to subsection 1 to, 19
each day, report attendance data from each school in the school 20
district; and 21
(b) Monitor the data reported to the dashboard pursuant to 22
paragraph (a) to, without limitation: 23
(1) Identify potential issues with the attendance of pupils; 24
and 25
(2) Notify the principal of a school if a pupil enrolled in the 26
school to which the principal is assigned is on track to be absent 27
for at least 10 percent of the school year. 28
3. The Department shall: 29
(a) On the Internet website maintained by the Department, 30
publish any trends or rates related to absenteeism in school 31
districts and schools that are based on the data reported to the 32
dashboard pursuant to paragraph (a) of subsection 2; and 33
(b) Ensure that the use of a dashboard pursuant to this section 34
complies with any policies and procedures adopted pursuant to 35
NRS 388.267. 36
Sec. 4. 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall 37
appoint a task force to develop a rubric used to compare the 38
academic performance of pupils in this State to the academic 39
performance of pupils in other states. 40
2. The task force must consist of any members the 41
Superintendent of Public Instruction deems appropriate. 42
3. The task force shall, in developing a rubric pursuant to 43
subsection 1, include, without limitation, the metrics set forth in 44
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subparagraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of paragraph (f) of subsection 1
1 of NRS 387.12463. 2
4. The Department shall: 3
(a) Regularly use the rubric to compare the performance of 4
pupils in this State to the performance of pupils in other states; 5
and 6
(b) Publish, on the Internet website maintained by the 7
Department, the results of the comparison made pursuant to 8
paragraph (a). 9
Sec. 5. 1. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall 10
appoint a committee on the use of artificial intelligence in 11
education within the Department. 12
2. The committee must consist of any members the 13
Superintendent of Public Instruction deems appropriate, provided 14
that such members include persons who possess expertise in 15
artificial intelligence and methods of instruction that are evidence-16
based and effective. 17
3. The committee shall review, study and make 18
recommendations concerning the use of artificial intelligence in 19
education in this State. In performing its duties, the committee 20
shall consider, without limitation: 21
(a) The uses and applications of artificial intelligence in 22
education, including, without limitation, for the purposes of 23
instruction; and 24
(b) The concerns regarding the use of artificial intelligence in 25
education, including, without limitation, any potential for artificial 26
intelligence to affect bullying, cyberbullying, the collection of data 27
concerning pupils, the development of curricula and academic 28
honesty. 29
4. The committee shall, not later than August 1 of each even-30
numbered year, submit to the Joint Interim Standing Committee 31
on Education any recommendations for legislation relating to the 32
subjects reviewed and studied by the committee pursuant to 33
subsection 3. 34
5. As used in this section, “academic honesty” means the 35
academic performance of pupils that is not influenced by 36
plagiarism or cheating. 37
Sec. 6. NRS 388.887 is hereby amended to read as follows: 38
388.887 1. The State Board shall create a subcommittee to 39
review and make recommendations on the manner in which to 40
provide age-appropriate and historically accurate instruction about 41
the Holocaust and other genocides, such as the Armenian, 42
Cambodian, Darfur, Guatemalan and Rwandan genocides, in social 43
studies and language arts courses of study. 44
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2. The review conducted and any recommendations made by 1
the subcommittee pursuant to this section must include, without 2
limitation: 3
(a) The manner in which to modify the curricula of relevant 4
courses in social studies and language arts to include the instruction 5
described in this section; 6
(b) An inventory of available classroom resources for educators 7
to meet the requirements of this section; 8
(c) The professional development that may be necessary or 9
appropriate for a teacher who provides the instruction described in 10
this section; and 11
(d) Consideration of any similar instruction provided in another 12
state or school district. 13
3. The subcommittee shall link current standards with 14
community resources that may assist in the implementation of the 15
instruction described in subsection 1. The subcommittee shall 16
review the manner in which the current standards support 17
comprehensive education regarding the Holocaust and other 18
genocides, such as the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, Guatemalan 19
and Rwandan genocides, including, without limitation, by: 20
(a) Preparing pupils to confront the immorality of the Holocaust, 21
other genocides, such as the Armenian, Cambodian, Darfur, 22
Guatemalan and Rwandan genocides, and other acts of mass 23
violence and to reflect on the causes of related historical events; 24
(b) Addressing the breadth of the history of the Holocaust, 25
including, without limitation, the dictatorship of the Third Reich, the 26
system of concentration camps, the persecution of both Jewish and 27
non-Jewish people, the resistance to the Third Reich and the 28
Holocaust by both Jewish and non-Jewish people and the various 29
trials that occurred after the end of World War II; 30
(c) Developing the respect of pupils for cultural diversity and 31
helping pupils to gain insight into the importance of international 32
human rights for all people; 33
(d) Promoting the understanding of pupils of how the Holocaust 34
contributed to the need for the term “genocide” and led to 35
international legislation that recognized genocide as a crime; 36
(e) Communicating the impact of personal responsibility, civic 37
engagement and societal responsiveness; 38
(f) Stimulating the reflection of pupils on the role and 39
responsibility of citizens in democratic societies to combat 40
misinformation, indifference and discrimination through the 41
development of critical thinking skills and through tools of 42
resistance such as protest, reform and celebration; 43
(g) Providing pupils with opportunities to contextualize and 44
analyze patterns of human behavior by persons and groups who 45
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belong in one or more categories, including, without limitation, 1
perpetrator, collaborator, bystander, victim and rescuer; 2
(h) Enabling pupils to understand the ramifications of prejudice, 3
racism and stereotyping; 4
(i) Preserving the memories of survivors of genocide and 5
providing opportunities for pupils to discuss and honor the cultural 6
legacies of survivors; 7
(j) Providing pupils with a foundation for examining the history 8
of discrimination in this State; 9
(k) Including in curricula the use of personal narratives and 10
multimedia primary source materials, which may include, without 11
limitation, video testimony, photographs, artwork, diary entries, 12
letters, government documents, maps and poems; and 13
(l) Exploring the various mechanisms of transitional and 14
restorative justice that help humanity move forward in the aftermath 15
of genocide. 16
4. The subcommittee must be composed of the Superintendent 17
of Public Instruction, or his or her designee, and the following 18
members appointed by the Superintendent: 19
(a) Three members representing the Governor’s Advisory 20
Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust created by 21
NRS 233G.020; 22
(b) Three members representing nonprofit organizations that 23
have developed curricula regarding the Holocaust for use in public 24
schools; 25
(c) At least one member representing a school district in which 26
60,000 or more pupils are enrolled; 27
(d) At least one member representing a school district in which 28
fewer than 60,000 pupils are enrolled; 29
(e) At least one member representing a charter school located in 30
this State; 31
(f) At least one member representing nonprofit organizations 32
that have developed curricula for use in public schools regarding the 33
Armenian genocide; and 34
(g) At least one member representing nonprofit organizations 35
that have developed curricula for use in public schools regarding 36
genocides other than the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. 37
5. On or before [October] August 1 of each even-numbered 38
year, the State Board shall report its findings and any 39
recommendations to the Joint Interim Standing Committee on 40
Education, including, without limitation, any recommendations 41
made by the subcommittee pursuant to subsection 1, as well as any 42
actions the State Board has taken or intends to take to include the 43
instruction in the relevant courses pursuant to subsection 2. 44
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6. On or before February 1 of each odd-numbered year, the 1
Joint Interim Standing Committee on Education shall consider the 2
report submitted by the State Board and prepare and submit a 3
written report to the Director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau for 4
transmittal to the Legislature concerning the Committee’s 5
consideration of the matters described in this section and any 6
recommendations for legislation to ensure the instruction described 7
in this section is included in the curricula for the relevant courses. 8
7. As used in this section: 9
(a) “Genocide” means any of the following acts committed with 10
intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or 11
religious group and includes, without limitation, genocides and 12
other acts of mass atrocities identified by the United States 13
Holocaust Memorial Museum: 14
(1) Killing members of the group; 15
(2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the 16
group; 17
(3) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life 18
calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; 19
(4) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the 20
group; and 21
(5) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another 22
group. 23
(b) “Holocaust” means the systematic, bureaucratic, state-24
sponsored persecution and murder of approximately 6,000,000 25
Jewish persons and 5,000,000 other persons by the Nazi regime and 26
its collaborators. 27
Sec. 7. 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of NRS 385.021, 28
the terms of the members of the State Board of Education appointed 29
pursuant to paragraphs (b), (c) and (d) of subsection 1 of that section 30
who are incumbent on June 30, 2026, expire on that date. 31
2. On or before July 1, 2026, the Governor shall appoint a 32
member of the State Board pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1 33
of NRS 385.021, and the member must take office on July 1, 2026. 34
The term of a member appointed pursuant to this subsection expires 35
on July 1, 2027. 36
3. On or before July 1, 2026, the Governor shall appoint a 37
member of the State Board pursuant to paragraphs (c) and (d) of 38
subsection 1 of NRS 385.021, and the members must take office on 39
July 1, 2026. The terms of members appointed pursuant to this 40
subsection expire on July 1, 2028. 41
Sec. 8. The provisions of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any 42
additional expenses of a local government that are related to the 43
provisions of this act. 44
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Sec. 9. 1. This section and section 8 of this act become 1
effective upon passage and approval. 2
2. Sections 1 to 7, inclusive, of this act become effective: 3
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 4
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 5
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 6
(b) On July 1, 2026, for all other purposes. 7
H