Article Archived on September 1, 2021
The POE Government Relations Team headed back to the State Capitol recently to celebrate the passage of POE’s request bill — Senate Bill 807 — with an official signing ceremony.
SB 807, authored by Sen. Chris Kidd, Rep. Rhonda Baker, and Rep. Mark Vancuren, guarantees that all school support employees, just like certified school staff, will be paid in the event of a school closure due to a pandemic or other health emergency.
When public schools closed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers and school administrators were guaranteed payment for the duration of the closure by state law. School support employees, however, had no such guarantee. In many cases, school districts ceased payment to support employees during the pandemic for constitutionality concerns. The passage of SB 807 puts into law that support employees, just like teachers and administrators, are guaranteed payment in the event of a school closure due to a pandemic or other health emergency.
“As I’ve said before, Senate Bill 807 is a straightforward and common-sense bill,” said Sen. Kidd following the signing ceremony. “This new law provides vital financial protection for all school support employees. My hope is that this new law, despite the uncertainty that remains, offers a measure of reassurance and peace of mind to Oklahoma’s support employees and their families.”
The POE Government Relations Team is extremely grateful for the strong leadership of Sen. Kidd as well as Rep. Baker, and Rep. Vancuren. But, just as important, we would like to thank the POE members for diligently supporting SB 807 with many letters, phone calls, and personnel conversations with their elected officials — Thank You for all your efforts!