Amendment #710 to H4000

Establishment of a Health Education Trust Fund

Ms. Howard of Lowell moves to amend Chapter 29 of the General Laws by inserting after Section 2DDDDDD the following section:

Section 2EEEEEE

(a) There shall be established and set up on the books of the commonwealth a separate fund to be known as the Health Education Trust Fund. The fund shall be administered by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The fund shall be credited with:

(i) revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund;

(ii) interest earned on such revenues;

(iii) funds from public and private sources such as gifts, grants and donations to further health education and professional development; and

(iv) fines paid to the General Fund for an annual deposit violation pursuant to section 2 of chapter 94E. Amounts credited to the fund shall not be subject to further appropriation and any money remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.

(b) Amounts credited to the fund may be expended, without further appropriation, by the commissioner for purposes related to the implementation of sections 1 and 2 of chapter 71, including but not limited to:

(i) the development of curricular materials;

(ii) the purchasing or licensing of curricula and instructional materials; and

(iii) professional development training. Instruction shall be performed in a manner consistent with the learning standards developed pursuant to the comprehensive health and physical education curriculum framework adopted by the board of elementary and secondary education pursuant to section 1E of chapter 69.

(c) In expending amounts credited to the fund, the commissioner may prioritize underserved communities across the commonwealth, including but not limited to:

(i) those school districts with high concentrations of economically disadvantaged students;

(ii) municipalities that have teen birth rates higher than the overall teen birth rate for the state; and

(iii) schools that are implementing parts of a comprehensive health education program compliant with the standards set by the department of elementary and secondary education for the first time.

(d) Amounts received from private sources shall be approved by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education and subject to review before being deposited in the fund to ensure that pledged funds are not accompanied by conditions, explicit or implicit, on the implementation of health education programming that may be detrimental to the neutral and rigorous teaching of health education or unduly influence the direction of health education policy. The review shall be made publicly available.

(e) Annually, not later than October 1, the commissioner shall report to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the joint committee on education and the house and senate committees on ways and means on the fund's activity. The report shall include, but not be limited to:

(i) the source and amount of funds received;

(ii) the amounts distributed and the purpose of expenditures from the fund, including but not limited to, funds expended to assist school districts in meeting the requirements in sections 1 and 2 of chapter 71; and

(iii) anticipated revenue and expenditure projections for the next year

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #710 to H4000

Establishment of a Health Education Trust Fund