The Committee on Education proposes the following amendment (SEDU-70.DB0001S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, by striking Section 59-19-720 and inserting:

 Section 59-19-720. For the purposes of this article, "board member" means a person holding membership, whether by election or appointment, on a board of education, including a charter school board, charter school authorizer board or the South Carolina Charter School District board, other than the State Board of Education.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 1, by striking Section 59-19-730(B)(4) and inserting:

  (4) A local school board may not adopt or follow a code of ethics that prevents its members from freely discussing the policies and actions of the board outside of a board meeting except for matters discussed in executive session. This does not preclude a local school board from adopting a policy in a regularly scheduled meeting that prohibits certain disclosures allowed by law.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, by striking Section 59-19-45(A)(1) and (2) and inserting:

(1) The State Board of EducationDepartment shall adopt a model required training program for training local school board members delivered by the Department or the Department's designee(s). Every three years, the State Board of EducationDepartment or the Department's designee(s) shall review the training program as it considers necessary and adopt any necessary revisions.
  (2)(a) A local school board shall adopt a local training program applicable to that board within three months after adoption of the model training program by the State Board of Education. A training program must include, at a minimum, the model training program adopted by the State Board of Education.
  (b) If the State Board of Education adopts a revision to its training program, then local school boards shall adopt and incorporate the revision into their local training programs within three months of the adoption of the revision by the State Board of Education.
  (c) A local school board may only adopt its local training program or any changes to that local training program at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, by striking Section 59-19-45(B) and inserting:

 (B) Within one yearsix months of taking office, all persons elected, re-elected, or appointed or reappointed as members of a school district board of trustees after July 1, 1997 regardless of the date of their election, re-election, appointment or reappointment, shall complete successfully the required an orientationa training program in the powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board member including, but not limited to, topics on policy development, personnel, superintendent and board relations, instructional programs, district finance, school law, ethics, nepotism, conflicts of interest, and community relations. This program must be offered by a districtthe Department or its designee designee(s) and completed by each board member within one year six months after his election, re-election, appointment, or reappointment. The State Board of Education must keep a record of the school board trustees who complete the training program within the required time. The State Board of Education shall issue a letter of caution informing any school board trustee who fails to comply with the requirements of this section providing a time in which to cure the noncompliance. If the school board trustee fails to cure his noncompliance, the State Board of Education shall submit the name of the school board trustee to the Governor for removal under Section 59-19-60.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 2, by striking Section 59-19-45(D) and inserting:

 (D)(C) The provisions of this section also apply to members of county boards of education appointed or elected after July 1, 1997, in the same manner the provisions of this section apply to members of school district boards of trustees.At the beginning of each calendar year, a local school board shall certify compliance with the provisions of subsection (B) and (C) by all board members and publish this certification in the minutes of the next regularly scheduled school board meeting.

Amend the bill further, SECTION 3, by striking Section and inserting:

SECTION 3. Section 59-19-730(A) and Section 59-19-45(A)(1) takes effect upon approval by the Governor but must be completed by December 31, 20252026. The training program pursuant to Section 59-19-45(B) must be offered by a districtthe Department or its designee designee(s) and completed by each board member within one year after the effective date of this act.

Renumber sections to conform.

Amend title to conform.