SB 161

Present law authorizes local boards o f education for each local education agency (LEA) that operates one or more high schools to annually select, prior to commencement of the new school year, up to four high school students to serve as advisory, nonvoting members of the board. The students s erve without compensation but may, at the discretion of the board, be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in board business. This bill requires each board of education for an LEA that operates at least one high school t o select one junior or senior student to serve as a nonvoting student representative on the board, to serve as the voice of the student body. The student must serve without compensation but may, at the discretion of the board, be reimbursed for reasonabl e and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in board business. This bill requires each local board of education to (i) adopt a policy authorizing at least one junior or senior student who is enrolled at a high school operated by the respective LEA to serve as a nonvoting student representative on the board, and (ii) establish the process for selecting the nonvoting student representative and must ensure students enrolled in one high school operated by the LEA have the same opportunity as students enro l led at another high school operated by the LEA to serve as a nonvoting student representative. Each board may establish additional eligibility requirements. This bill provides that all of the following applies to nonvoting student representatives:  A nonvoting student representative must serve at least one one-year term on the board. Each one-year term coincides with the school year for which the nonvoting student representative is selected.  A nonvoting student representative must attend all board meetings unless it is a confidential, nonpublic executive session of the board. If a nonvoting student representative fails to attend more than two board meetings during the student's term on the board, then the board must remove the student from the student's position on the board and select another qualified student to serve as the nonvoting student representative for the remainder of the school year.  A nonvoting student representative may serve an additional one-year term if the student served as the representative during the student's junior year. However, a student is not eligible to serve as a nonvoting student representative on the board if the student withdraws, transfers, or graduates from the high school at which the student was enrolled at the time of selection.  A nonvoting student representative must meet any additional requirements established by the board. ON APRIL 3, 2025, THE SENATE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED SENATE BILL 161, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, ( i) require each board of education for a local education agency (LEA) that operates at least one high school to adopt and implement a policy to authorize a high school student to serve as an advisory, nonvoting representative on the board; (ii) authorize t he board to establish additional eligibility requirements for a student who seeks to serve on the board as an advisory, nonvoting student representative; and (iii) provide that a student serves without compensation but may, at the discretion of the board, be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred while engaged in board business. ON APRIL 16, 2025, THE HOUSE SUBSTITUTED SENATE BILL 161 FOR HOUSE BILL 1199, ADOPTED AMENDMENT #2, AND PASSED SENATE BILL 161, AS AMENDED. AMENDMENT #2 adds an exception to the requirement for adopting a policy to authorize a high school student to serve as an advisory, nonvoting board member for board s of education that created an advisory group before July 1, 2025, that consists of at least one student from each high school operated by the LEA and that meets on a regular basis to advise the board . For boards that remain subject to this bill's requirement, this amendment limits the meetings on which the high school representative must be al lowed to serve to meetings that are open to the public. This amendment removes authorization for a board to allow reimbursement of expenses for a student who serves as the advisory, nonvoting student r epresentative .