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3/16/2026
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MEDIA ADVISORY: House Education Committee to hear legislation related to student safety
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STATE HOUSE — The House Education Committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to hear testimony on several bills, including those related to student safety.
The committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday, March 7, at the rise of the House (about 5 p.m.) in Room 101 on the first floor of the State House.
The committee will hear testimony on several pieces of legislation, including:
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(2026-H 7480) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Lauren H. Carson (D-Dist. 75, Newport), would establish The Children’s Cardiac Safety Act, and provide for childhood cardiac screening based on modules that incorporate current best practices.
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(2026-H 7481) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Kathleen A. Fogarty (D-Dist. 35, South Kingstown), would require the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Department of Health to adopt policies, rules and regulations for the administration of seizure rescue medications for children who have been medically identified as having epilepsy/seizure disorder.
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(2026-H 7482) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Brandon T. Voas (D-Dist. 57 Cumberland, Central Falls), would provide that the school year for all public schools, including traditional public and public charter schools, independent charter schools, and mayoral academies, would start on the same date of each calendar year.
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(2026-H 7526) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Earl A Read III (D-Dist. 26, Coventry, West Warwick, Warwick), would establish provisions for student and teacher classroom safety and provide the authority to remove students from classrooms. This act provides for student and educator protections from said removals.
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(2026-H 7529) — this bill, introduced by Rep. William W. O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence), would broaden the definition of “teacher” and create a comprehensive bill of rights for school teachers.
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(2026-H 7614) — this bill, introduced by Rep. William W. O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence), would provide that for the period up until July 1, 2027, an applicant for a teaching certificate in Rhode Island would not be required to complete a standardized teacher’s examination as a prerequisite to obtaining a teaching certificate.
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(2026-H 7617) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Susan R. Donovan (D-Dist. 69, Bristol, Portsmouth), would provide that where the administration, use or maintenance of epinephrine within schools and on buses is authorized, this use would include epinephrine auto-injectors and epinephrine nasal sprays.
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(2026-H 7728) — this bill, introduced by Rep. William W. O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence), would allow emergency preliminary certificates for teaching to be issued for up to a total of five school years.
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(2026-H 7729) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Rebecca Kislak, (D-Dist. 4, Providence), would create a prohibition on the unlawful use of seclusion rooms within any public pre-k program, elementary or secondary school in the state.
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(2026-H 7731) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Earl A Read III (D-Dist. 26, Coventry, West Warwick, Warwick), would strengthen school security measures, including the establishment of a Rhode Island school emergency response committee to develop additional recommendations for school security measures and requiring an annual school safety assessment by all school districts.
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(2026-H 7895) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Justine A. Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich), would establish the Safe School Technology Act of 2026.
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(2026-H 7896) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Megan L. Cotter (D-Dist. 39, Exeter, Hopkinton, Richmond), would permit students diagnosed with asthma, a condition that may lead to bronchospasm or anaphylaxis, or both, to carry and self-administer asthma medication or auto-injectable or intranasal epinephrine, or both.
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(2026-H 7897) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Joseph J. Solomon Jr. (D-Dist. 22, Warwick), would require all schools and educational institutions to develop and implement a school safety plan that would provide for immediate access to school facilities by first responders in an emergency.
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(2026-H 7898) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Anthony J. DeSimone (D-Dist. 5, Providence), would require the installation and use of a weapons detection system at every public entrance to any school building, gymnasium, school event facility, sporting event site and any site where a school hosts or participates in an event even if off campus.
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(2026-H 7899) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Justine A. Caldwell (D-Dist. 30, East Greenwich, West Greenwich), would require the names of any noncredentialled school employee who is terminated for good and just cause, to be furnished to the Department of Education.
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(2026-H 7904) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Rebecca Kislak, (D-Dist. 4, Providence), would changes the maximum term of employment for a superintendent from three to five years.
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(2026-H 7905) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Julie Casimiro (D-Dist. 31, North Kingstown, Exeter), would establish certain presumptions pertaining to early childhood education programs operating in RIDE-certified school buildings.
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(2026-H 7908) — this bill, introduced by Rep. Mary Ann Shallcross Smith (D-Dist. 46, Lincoln, Pawtucket), would requires BrightStars QRIS ratings for licensed child care facilities to be based on an average of all standards, ensure transparent scoring methods and preserve automatic five-star ratings for nationally accredited programs.
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(2026-H 7909) — this bill, introduced by Rep. William W. O’Brien (D-Dist. 54, North Providence), would redefine dyslexia to mean a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading and/or spelling that involve accuracy, speed or both and vary depending on the orthography.
The House Education Committee is chaired by Rep. Joseph M. McNamara (D-Dist. 19, Warwick, Cranston. The meeting will be livestreamed at https://capitoltvri.cablecast.tv.
For more information, contact:
Daniel Trafford, Publicist
State House Room 20
Providence, RI 02903
(401)222-1922
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