The Assembly Committee on Education voted unanimously to amend and do pass Senate Bill 81 on a motion and second during a Saturday hearing, assigning the floor statement to Assemblymember DeLong.

SB 81 requires the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) to create and conduct standardized surveys about school climate, working conditions and employee departures “to the extent money is available,” and directs public schools to use survey results to assess and improve staff retention, school climate and working conditions. The bill prohibits the use of survey data for evaluation of certain licensed education personnel and for inclusion in the statewide system of accountability for public schools. It also directs the department to recognize schools that achieve a survey response rate of at least 85% in the statewide accountability system and to submit an annual report of that data to specified entities, including the commission on school funding and the state board of education.

The measure makes additional changes to education statutes: it revises certain terminology (as presented), requires county clerks to publish quarterly expenditure reports for school districts on district websites rather than in newspapers, eliminates a prior requirement that the Commission on Professional Standards in Education prescribe qualifications for administrators through an alternate-route-to-licensure program and instead requires the commission to prescribe qualifications and procedures for licensed teachers and other licensed personnel to become administrators, and removes a prior requirement that NDE recommend a minimum amount districts must spend on textbooks and other instructional items. The bill also contains an amendment, supported by school districts, that reverses a change enacted by AB 54 in 2023 and returns responsibility for payment to hospitals or other facilities that provide residential treatment services for children back to the Department of Education.

Brad Keating, representing the Clark County School District, presented the bill and the proposed amendment. Keating said the standardized surveys will provide comparable data across districts and allow policymakers and districts to better evaluate reasons staff leave and what working-condition issues exist. Keating described the amendment as restoring "what was in the law from 2013 to 2023," returning payment responsibility for residential treatment facility schooling to NDE after AB 54 (2023) shifted that responsibility to local school districts and charter schools.

Dan Musgrove of Strategies360 testified in support on behalf of UHS Delaware, which operates Willow Springs, a residential treatment facility in Reno, and also spoke for Sun Arch Academy in Las Vegas. Musgrove said legislation first enacted in 2013 placed payment responsibility with the Department of Education for schooling provided inside long-term residential behavioral-health programs (treatment stays longer than seven days). He said AB 54 (2023) moved that payment responsibility to individual districts and charter schools, a change Musgrove described as "very unmanageable" for hospitals and facilities that must coordinate payments and school services for children in 30-, 60- or 90-day stays. "We are just asking this legislature to return it the way it was prior to 2023," Musgrove said.

Other supporters who spoke briefly included Austin Daley of the University of Nevada, Reno; Susan Kima of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents, who said the association supports SB 81 and the amendment; and Nathaniel Wall of the Clark County School District, who thanked Keating and expressed CCSD's support.

During the hearing, Assemblymember Lou Hatch asked how the bill ensures that survey results prompt action, saying, "ignoring staff is one thing, but then asking and disregarding their opinion is significantly worse." Keating answered that the bill will provide consistent statewide data where previously districts used different tools, making it easier to compile and report reasons employees leave and enabling transparent reporting to the Legislature and to the commission on school funding and state board of education.

Assemblymember Flanagan asked whether survey information would be made public. Keating said districts could work with the Department of Education to provide regular reports and noted that section 1, subsection 5 of the bill requires submission of collected data to the commission on school funding and the state board, which would create a public reporting pathway. Keating also noted that the surveys would be used for assessment and improvement, not for personnel evaluation or accountability inclusion as restricted in the bill.

After limited public testimony in support and no opposition or neutral testimony on the record at the hearing, Assemblymember Lou (motion) and Assemblymember Da Silva (second) moved the amendment and do-pass recommendation. The committee chair called for voice votes; members voted "aye" and the motion carried unanimously. The committee closed the hearing and moved to other business.

Implementation elements remain contingent on funding and subsequent work by NDE, including the development of standardized survey instruments, the department's reporting procedures, and the logistics of restoring payment processes for residential treatment facilities to the department. The bill text notes multiple items "to the extent money is available."