HF36 Summary

• Strategic Planning & Diversity: School districts must adopt comprehensive strategic plans that include goals for equitable access to effective and diverse teachers, culturally relevant curriculum, and strategies to address structural inequities in schools.

• Disciplinary & Exclusionary Practices: Replaces traditional dismissal approaches with "nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices" including behavioral interventions, mental health services, and academic support; limits suspensions and expulsions, particularly for young children in preschool and prekindergarten.

• Teacher Diversity & Evaluation: Establishes state goal to increase teachers of color and American Indian teachers by at least 2 percentage points annually by 2040; requires teacher evaluations to include culturally responsive methodologies.

• School Meals & Dignity: Requires school meal policies prohibiting "lunch shaming," ensures students eligible for free/reduced meals are always served regardless of debt, and prohibits meal withdrawal after service.

• Early Childhood Protections: Prohibits disciplinary dismissals for preschool and prekindergarten students; allows expulsions only after exhausting support resources and only when serious ongoing safety threats exist.