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Read. Follow. Verify.Iowa Senate File 168 exempts specific support staff positions from school district weighting caps
Last action · June 16, 2025: Referred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
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What This Bill Would Do
Iowa Senate File 168 excludes s for master social workers, independent social workers, mental health professionals, and school resource officers from the maximum additional weighting limit for school districts starting July 1, 2025.
School districts gain flexibility to share specialized support staff without hitting the statutory cap of 21 additional pupils for .
- Senate File 168 originates as a successor bill to SSB 1022 from the Senate Committee on Education in the Iowa General Assembly. context
Who It Would Affect
Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
School Districts
School districts gain the ability to claim supplementary weighting for specialized support staff beyond the standard twenty-one pupil maximum cap starting July 1, 2025.
Master Social Workers and Mental Health Professionals
Their roles as shared operational functions are explicitly excluded from counting toward the district's maximum additional weighting limit.
Key Facts
- Supplementary weighting for shared operational functions is available to school districts during the period from the budget year beginning July 1, 2014, through the budget year beginning July 1, 2034.
- The maximum amount of additional weighting for which a school district is eligible in a budget year is twenty-one additional pupils.
- For budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2024, supplementary weighting for a shared college and career transition counselor or coordinator does not count toward the maximum weighting amount.
- For budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2025, supplementary weighting for a master social worker, independent social worker, mental health professional with a statement of recognition, or school resource officer does not count toward the maximum weighting amount.
Show all 5 facts
- Criteria for determining the qualification of operational functions for supplementary weighting are determined by the department by rule through consideration of increased student opportunities.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which specific positions are newly exempted from the maximum additional weighting cap under this bill?
What is the general maximum limit for additional weighting for a school district in a budget year?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.
Procedural history
9 actions- Jun 16, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Education. S.J. 1057 .
- Feb 13, 2025Iowa LegislatureFiscal note .
- Jan 30, 2025Iowa LegislatureCommittee report approving bill, renumbered as SF 168 .
- Jan 30, 2025SenateCommittee report, approving bill. S.J. 171 .
- Jan 30, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced, placed on calendar. S.J. 168 .
- Jan 27, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee recommends passage.
Show 3 earlier actions
- Jan 23, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee Meeting: 01/27/2025 2:30PM Room 217 Conference Room.
- Jan 21, 2025Iowa LegislatureSubcommittee: Gruenhagen, Evans, and Staed.
- Jan 21, 2025Iowa LegislatureIntroducedIntroduced, referred to Education.
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Support Staff Weighting Exclusions
The legislation progressively broadens the categories of shared operational staff—adding counselors in 2024 and mental health/social work professionals in 2025—that are exempted from school district supplementary weighting caps.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.legis.iowa.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance50How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy10Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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