PRINTER'S NO. 795 THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE BILL No.773 Session of 2025 INTRODUCED BY WEBSTER, OTTEN, SANCHEZ, MADDEN AND CERRATO, MARCH 3, 2025 REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, MARCH 3, 2025 AN ACT Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An act relating to the public school system, including certain provisions applicable as well to private and parochial schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the laws relating thereto," in the State System of Higher Education, providing for free tuition for school board members. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania hereby enacts as follows: Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a section to read: Section 2023-A. Free Tuition for School Board Members.--(a) Individuals who serve as school board members shall be eligible to enroll in eligible courses. (b) The board shall: (1) Identify and review courses offered within the system that could be deemed eligible courses. (2) Develop a list of eligible courses. (3) Update the list of eligible courses every three (3) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 years. (c) Each institution shall annually report the following to the board: (1) The number of school board members taking eligible courses at the institution. (2) The total number of eligible courses in which each school board member is enrolled at the institution during each academic year. (d) Beginning June 1, 2026, and each June 1 thereafter, the board shall notify the General Assembly of the total number of eligible courses taken by school board members. (e) No later than June 30, 2026, and each June 30 thereafter, the General Assembly shall appropriate sufficient money to reimburse the system for each eligible course taken by a school board member. The reimbursement money shall be distributed to each institution at which a school board member enrolled in an eligible course to cover the charges for tuition that were waived for the eligible course. (f) As used in this section, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings given to them in this subsection unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Eligible course" shall mean a course offered by an institution that is approved by the board to be provided at no charge for tuition for a school board member and that has a connection to the role and responsibilities of a school board member. "School board member" shall mean an individual who serves on a school board of directors for a school entity located in this Commonwealth. Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days. 20250HB0773PN0795 - 2 - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30