Revises provisions relating to education. (BDR 34-97)

Under existing law, the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada shall require employees of the Nevada System of Higher Education to provide to the board of trustees of each school district in this State information regarding the: (1) number of pupils who graduated from a high school in the district in the immediately preceding year and enrolled in certain remedial courses; and (2) costs incurred by the System in providing such remedial instruction. (NRS 396.548) Section 1.3 of this bill requires the Board of Regents to establish and maintain a data dashboard that includes statistical data relating to the number of: (1) students who graduated from a public high school in this State and enroll in a university, state college or community college within the System; (2) students who graduated from a high school in this State and enroll in remedial courses in reading, writing or mathematics at a university, state college or community college within the System or who are identified as not college-ready in such subjects and enrolled in a corequisite support course; (3) years it takes for students, on average, to graduate from a university, state college or community college within the System; and (4) subject to the availability of data, the number of students who graduate from a university, state college or community college within the System and, within 2 years of graduation, have not received wages from an employer in this State and are not enrolled in an institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education or have received unemployment benefits or benefits from a program of public assistance. Section 1.3 also: (1) requires that the data dashboard be posted or accessible on the Internet website of the System by September 1, 2026; and (2) authorizes any state agency or local government, including, without limitation, a school district, to assist the Board of Regents in establishing and maintaining the data dashboard. Section 1.5 of this bill requires the Board of Regents to establish a policy for the use of low-cost course materials and no-cost open educational resources in courses offered at an institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education. Section 1.5 requires the policy to include, without limitation: (1) the definition of “low-cost course materials” and “no-cost open educational resources”; and (2) a uniform system to identify, and mark for identification within the course registration system used at each institution, each course that exclusively uses low-cost course materials and no-cost open educational resources. Section 2 of this bill requires the Board of Regents to conduct an interim study relating to financial and food insecurity issues facing students of the System. The study must include: (1) an examination of the financial and food insecurity issues experienced by students of the System; (2) the identification of factors that contribute to the temporary withdrawal of students from enrollment in academic programs due to financial and food insecurity; (3) an evaluation of potential interventions to the financial and food insecurity experienced by students of the System; and (4) data-driven recommendations for ways to reduce the financial and food insecurity experienced by students of the System.