HB 1629: Financial Accountability in Publicly Funded Education

• Amends private school requirements for participation in educational scholarship programs by requiring compliance with antidiscrimination provisions, background screening for employees and owners, and financial accountability measures including surety bonds and independent audits for schools receiving over $250,000 in scholarship funds.

• Prohibits schools from enrolling new scholarship students and requires fund suspension for schools that disenroll more than 25 percent of scholarship students without parental consent in a single school year or knowingly fail to comply with requirements.

• Establishes new disclosure requirements for private schools including policies on religious compliance, dress codes, sexual orientation and gender identity, and requires schools to report vacant seats and student disenrollments to the department.

• Creates the K-12 Education Funding Task Force within the Department of Education with 16 members to examine nontraditional schools receiving state funds, recommend universal standards for public education funding, and develop accountability measures for schools lacking transparency and failing to meet specified requirements.

• Task force must provide annual reports beginning October 1, 2024, to state leadership and the public including recommendations for statutory or rule changes and proposed accountability measures such as bond requirements and liens.