A bill for an act authorizing the use of revenues from the district management levy for the employment or retention of school security personnel and including applicability provisions.
Summary
House File 553 would expand the permitted uses of a school district’s district management levy revenues. Under current Iowa law, that levy is certified by a school district board and used for specified district management purposes; this bill adds school security staffing costs to that list. Specifically, districts could use levy revenue to employ or retain a school resource officer, a private security employee who holds a professional permit to carry weapons, a reserve peace officer, or a peace officer.
The bill is prospective only and would apply to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2025. Its practical effect is to give school districts another local funding source for school safety and security personnel, potentially reducing pressure on general fund dollars or allowing districts to maintain security staffing levels more easily.
Impact
HF 553 would amend Iowa Code section 298.4 to authorize district management levy revenues to pay for school security personnel, creating a new allowable expenditure category for school districts. It does not mandate that districts hire security staff, but it gives local boards discretion to use levy proceeds for those costs. The bill would affect school districts, taxpayers within those districts, and the personnel categories named in the bill, including school resource officers, reserve peace officers, peace officers, and certain private security employees.
Sentiment
The available record shows the bill was introduced and referred to the House Education Committee, with no recorded committee debate or votes in the materials provided. Based on the bill’s subject matter and framing, it appears to be a school safety measure intended to support district flexibility in funding security personnel. Because there are no transcripts or votes, there is no documented public sentiment in the provided context beyond the bill’s introduction.
Contention
No specific points of contention are documented in the provided committee materials or vote history. Potential areas of debate, based on the bill text, could include whether district management levy funds should be used for security rather than administrative purposes, whether private security personnel should be included alongside sworn officers, and whether local property taxpayers should bear these costs. However, those concerns are not attributed to any named legislator or stakeholder in the available record.
A bill for an act authorizing the use of revenues from the district management levy to pay costs related to school safety and security and including applicability provisions.(Formerly HSB 311.)
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Relating to the employment of honorably retired peace officers as school district security personnel and the applicability to those officers of certain law governing private security.
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