A.B. 533
- *AB533*
ASSEMBLY BILL NO. 533–COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
MARCH 24, 2025
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Referred to Committee on Education
SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to education.
(BDR 34-756)
FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: May have Fiscal Impact.
Effect on the State: Yes.
CONTAINS UNFUNDED MANDATE (§ 2)
(NOT REQUESTED BY AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT)
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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.
AN ACT relating to education; authorizing a pupil to attend a public
school outside the zone of attendance the pupil is
otherwise required to attend in certain circumstances; and
providing other matters properly relating thereto.
Legislative Counsel’s Digest:
Existing law: (1) authorizes the board of trustees of certain school districts to 1
zone the school district and determine which pupils must attend each school; and 2
(2) allows pupils to attend certain schools despite the zoning decision of the board 3
of trustees of the school district. (NRS 388.040) Section 2 of this bill authorizes a 4
pupil to attend a public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is 5
otherwise required to attend if the public school is not at capacity in the grade level 6
of the pupil and the pupil receives approval to attend the school. Section 2 7
additionally: (1) requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish an 8
application process to enable pupils to request such transfers between public 9
schools; (2) provides certain requirements governing the application process, 10
including, without limitation, various factors that may not be considered when 11
determining whether to approve an application; and (3) sets forth the process for the 12
parent or legal guardian of a pupil who submits an application to appeal certain 13
decisions regarding the application. Section 1 of this bill authorizes the board of 14
trustees of a school district that furnishes transportation to pupils to elect not to 15
provide transportation to a pupil who attends a public school outside of his or her 16
zone of attendance pursuant to section 2. Additionally, section 2 authorizes the 17
board of trustees of a school district to accept gifts and grants to carry out certain 18
provisions of section 2. 19
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THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN
SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. NRS 386.790 is hereby amended to read as follows: 1
386.790 1. As provided in this title, the board of trustees of 2
any school district may furnish transportation for all resident 3
children of school age in the school district attending a public 4
school, including pupils assigned to special schools or programs 5
pursuant to NRS 388.417 to 388.469, inclusive, or 388.5251 to 6
388.5267, inclusive: 7
(a) Who are not excused from school attendance by the 8
provisions of this title; and 9
(b) Who reside within the school district at such a distance from 10
the school as to make transportation necessary and desirable. 11
2. When the board of trustees of a school district whose 12
population is less than 100,000 furnishes transportation for pupils 13
attending public schools pursuant to subsection 1, the board may 14
also provide transportation for all resident children of school age in 15
the school district attending private schools not operated for profit, 16
over bus routes established for pupils attending public schools. If 17
such transportation is provided, the pupils attending such private 18
schools must be transported, if space is available, to and from the 19
points on the established routes nearest to the schools which they 20
attend. 21
3. The board of trustees of any school district may: 22
(a) Establish bus routes. 23
(b) Make regulations governing the conduct of pupils while 24
being transported. 25
(c) For the safety of pupils being transported, govern the 26
conduct of drivers by making and enforcing regulations not 27
inconsistent with regulations of the State Board of Education or with 28
law. 29
4. If the board of trustees of a school district furnishes 30
transportation pursuant to this section, the board of trustees may 31
elect not to provide transportation to pupils who attend a public 32
school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is otherwise 33
required to attend pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection 2 of 34
NRS 388.040. 35
Sec. 2. NRS 388.040 is hereby amended to read as follows: 36
388.040 1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, the 37
board of trustees of a school district that includes more than one 38
school which offers instruction in the same grade or grades may 39
zone the school district and determine which pupils must attend 40
each school. 41
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2. The establishment of zones pursuant to subsection 1 does 1
not preclude a pupil from attending a: 2
(a) Charter school; 3
(b) University school for profoundly gifted pupils; 4
(c) Public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is 5
otherwise required to attend if the pupil is a child in foster care who 6
is remaining in his or her school of origin pursuant to 7
NRS 388E.105; 8
(d) Public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is 9
otherwise required to attend if the pupil has been issued a fictitious 10
address pursuant to NRS 217.462 to 217.471, inclusive, or the 11
parent or legal guardian with whom the pupil resides has been 12
issued a fictitious address pursuant to NRS 217.462 to 217.471, 13
inclusive; [or] 14
(e) Public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is 15
otherwise required to attend if the pupil is an English learner 16
enrolling in the school pursuant to subsection 5 of NRS 388.408 [.] ; 17
or 18
(f) Public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil 19
is otherwise required to attend if the public school is not at 20
capacity in the grade level of the pupil and the pupil is approved to 21
attend the school pursuant to this section. 22
3. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall: 23
(a) Establish an application process through which a pupil 24
may request to attend, pursuant to paragraph (f) of subsection 2, a 25
public school outside the zone of attendance that the pupil is 26
otherwise required to attend. The process must: 27
(1) Include an annual deadline by which a pupil must 28
submit the application to the board of trustees of the school district 29
in which the school the pupil requests to attend is located; and 30
(2) Provide for the notification of a pupil and his or her 31
parent or legal guardian, and the principals of the schools 32
involved in the transfer of the pupil, if an application is approved. 33
(b) On the Internet website maintained by the Department, 34
annually publish data describing, for pupils who transferred 35
between schools located in different zones of attendance pursuant 36
to paragraph (f) of subsection 2: 37
(1) The total number of pupils who transferred between 38
schools located in different zones of attendance during the 39
previous school year; and 40
(2) For each public school, the number of pupils who 41
transferred into and out of the school pursuant to paragraph (f) of 42
subsection 2 during the previous school year. 43
4. The board of trustees of each school district shall: 44
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(a) Establish capacity limits for each grade level within each 1
public school in the school district. 2
(b) Require a public school in the school district to enroll a 3
pupil whose application submitted pursuant to subsection 3 has 4
been approved, so long as the public school has capacity at the 5
grade level of the pupil. 6
(c) Establish a method to determine which pupils to enroll in 7
any grade level within a public school for which applications 8
exceed the capacity limits established pursuant to paragraph (a), 9
which may include, without limitation, a lottery system. 10
(d) Allow a pupil whose application submitted pursuant to 11
subsection 3 has been approved to permanently transfer to that 12
public school without requiring an additional application in any 13
subsequent school year. 14
(e) Prepare and submit an annual report to the Superintendent 15
of Public Instruction describing: 16
(1) The number of applications received pursuant to 17
subsection 3 and the number of such applications that were 18
approved or denied; and 19
(2) For each application that was denied, the reason the 20
board of trustees of the school district denied the application. 21
5. The application process established pursuant to subsection 22
3 must prohibit the consideration of any of the following factors in 23
determining whether to approve an application: 24
(a) The academic, artistic or athletic ability of a pupil; 25
(b) The participation of a pupil in any extracurricular activity 26
or the skill of a pupil in such an activity; 27
(c) Whether a pupil is a pupil with a disability; 28
(d) Whether a pupil is an English learner; 29
(e) The address at which the pupil resides; or 30
(f) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, whether a 31
pupil has previously been subject to any disciplinary action. The 32
board of trustees of a school district may deny the application of a 33
pupil who, in the school year for which the application is 34
submitted or in the immediately preceding school year, was 35
suspended for 10 or more days or expelled. 36
6. If an application to attend a public school outside the zone 37
of attendance that a pupil is otherwise required to attend submitted 38
pursuant to subsection 3 is denied or no action is taken on the 39
application, the parent or legal guardian of the pupil may appeal 40
the denial or lack of action to the superintendent of the school 41
district and, if he or she upholds the decision of the board of 42
trustees of the school district, to the Superintendent of Public 43
Instruction. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall 44
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promptly approve or deny the application, and his or her decision 1
is final. 2
7. The board of trustees of a school district may accept gifts 3
and grants to carry out the provisions of subsections 3 to 6, 4
inclusive. 5
8. As used in this section: 6
(a) “Expelled” has the meaning ascribed to “expel” or 7
“expulsion” in NRS 392.4603. 8
(b) “Suspended” has the meaning ascribed to “suspend” or 9
“suspension” in NRS 392.4607. 10
Sec. 3. The provisions of NRS 354.599 do not apply to any 11
additional expenses of a local government that are related to the 12
provisions of this act. 13
Sec. 4. 1. This section and section 3 of this act become 14
effective upon passage and approval. 15
2. Sections 1 and 2 of this act become effective: 16
(a) Upon passage and approval for the purpose of adopting any 17
regulations and performing any other preparatory administrative 18
tasks that are necessary to carry out the provisions of this act; and 19
(b) On July 1, 2026, for all other purposes. 20
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