By SCOTT JORGENSEN

SALEM, Ore.- A bill to relieve school districts of certain data collecting and reporting mandates was met with opposition during the House Education Committee’s Tuesday meeting.

A public hearing was held on House Bill 4014, which would remove the requirement that districts collect data related to physical education. Districts also would be relieved of their current requirement to determine whether they are in compliance with food standards.

Cindy Hunt from the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) testified that one provision of HB 4014 would provide savings of over $800,000 to the state per biennium.

“I would say it’s at least that,” Hunt said.

That figure did not include the amount that districts would save, Hunt said. Money saved at the state level would be passed on to school districts, she added.

Hunt said removal of the physical education mandate would save the state at least $50,000 annually. She also testified that the department generally supports mandate relief.

Laurie Wimmer from the Oregon Education Association, which represents teachers throughout the state, said the group supports the bill and a set of amendments that have been offered to it.

Rep. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, said legislators do not want reports made just for the sake of reporting. He asked if the reports that have been generated have any value.

Fellow committee member Rep. Betty Komp, D-Woodburn, said that when she was a school administrator, she and her staff spent countless hours over a ten-year period working on a school improvement plan. Komp said she was later told that the school district didn’t read the document, and neither did the ODE.

“I think it’s a travesty that these reports are put in a file and not even read,” Komp said.

Kasandra Griffin from Upstream Public Health testified in opposition to the bill. She emphasized the importance of student health and nutrition and added that annual reporting is critical.

Griffin said that HB 4014 does more harm than good and would eliminate the only accountability presently in place for school physical education and nutrition programs.

Nutritionist Nancy Becker and Mary Lou Hennrich from the Physical Education for All Kids Coalition joined Griffin in testifying against HB 4014.

Committee members also heard testimony on House Bill 4013. That bill would assist school districts and high schools in increasing availability of advanced placement courses and would take affect on July 1.

Andrea Morgan from ODE testified in favor of the bill. She said that a program that pays for advanced placement tests for students has experienced “phenomenal” growth in recent years.

Morgan stated that only 400 students participated in the program a few years ago, but that number has increased to 10,000.

The testing was aided by a $30,000 federal grant, Morgan said, adding that the state was looking to apply for a larger grant in the near future.

Also touted by Morgan was a dual credit program, in which high school students are able to earn community college credits. Around 15,000 students throughout the state were able to earn 129,000 credits in the 2010-11 school year due to the program, Morgan said.

Additional testimony was offered in opposition to House Bill 4016, which expands the state’s mandatory child abuse reporting requirements to include coaches, employees or volunteers of organizations providing child-related services.

House Bills 4013, 4014 and 4016 are all scheduled for possible work sessions during the committee’s next meeting, which is set for Thursday at 8 a.m.