First Regular Session Seventieth General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 15-0750.01 Julie Pelegrin x2700 HOUSE BILL 15-1155 HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Wilson, SENATE SPONSORSHIP (None), House Committees Senate Committees Education A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning flexibility regarding the requirements imposed on rural school districts. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) The bill allows a school district that the department of education (department) identifies as rural and that enrolls fewer than 1,000 students (small rural school district) to submit certain reports biennially, instead of annually, and exempts the school district from another report, if the small rural school district is accredited or accredited with distinction. A small rural school district that is accredited with an improvement plan or lower may submit a strategic plan that demonstrates how biennial submitttals of the identified reports and exemption from the one report will enable the small rural school district to improve student academic performance. The department will review the strategic plan, and the state board of education (state board) may approve the strategic plan and allow the small rural school district to submit the reports biennially. The bill exempts a small rural school district from the requirement to: Perform certain duties of the district and school accountability committees; Hold public meetings in the process of preparing and adopting a school priority improvement or turnaround plan; Identify an employee to act as a point of contact for parent engagement training and resources; and Participate on a local or regional child fatality prevention review team. A small rural school district may apply to the state board for a waiver of the early literacy requirements by submitting a strategic plan that explains how the small rural school district will ensure that the students enrolled in the district develop the necessary reading skills by the end of third grade to enable them to master the academic standards and expectations applicable to the fourth grade and beyond. A small rural school district that receives a waiver must meet the local targets for student achievement on the third grade English language arts statewide assessment. If the district does not meet the local targets for 2 consecutive school years, the state board must revoke the waiver. A small rural school district that operates under a waiver is eligible for early literacy funding and must comply with the reporting requirements that relate to the funding. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 22-32-110.9 as follows: 22-32-110.9. Small rural school districts - reporting - biennial. (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law or rule to the contrary, beginning with the 2015-16 school year and for school years thereafter, a small rural school district that holds the status of accredited or accredited with distinction pursuant to section 22-11-208: (a) May submit the following reports or documents biennially rather than annually: (I) The school district unified improvement plan that the department of education requires through the accreditation process and any addenda that the department of education requires for the unified improvement plan, including but not limited to the Title I addendum and the gifted and talented program addendum; (II) The end-of-year enrollment report that the department of education requires the secretary of the school district board of education to submit; (III) The safe school report required in section 22-32-109.1 (2) (b) and the school discipline form that the department of education requires the school district to submit; and (IV) The report of programs and personnel that school districts are required by rule to file with the department of education in the spring; and (b) Is not required to submit the report that the department of education requires school districts to submit for purposes of preparing precoded labels for statewide assessments. (2) A small rural school district that holds the status of accredited with improvement plan or lower may submit to the department of education a strategic plan that explains how, the level to which, and the time frame in which the small rural school district will improve the academic performance of students enrolled in the school district if the small rural school district is allowed to submit the reports and documents specified in paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section biennially instead of annually and is not required to submit the report specified in paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section. The department of education shall review the plan and make recommendations to the state board of education. Based on the recommendations of the department of education, the state board of education may approve the strategic plan and allow the small rural school district to submit the reports and documents biennially and exempt the school district from the precoded labels report. If the small rural school district does not improve student academic performance to the level identified in the strategic plan or within the time frame specified in the strategic plan, the department of education may recommend revocation, and the state board of education may revoke the small rural school district's ability to submit the reports and documents biennially and the school district's exemption from the precoded labels report. (3) As used in this section, a small rural school district is a school district in Colorado that the department of education determines is rural, based on the geographic size of the school district and the distance of the school district from the nearest large, urbanized area, and that enrolls fewer than one thousand students. SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-302, add (3) as follows: 22-11-302. School district accountability committee - powers and duties. (3) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (1) of this section to the contrary, the district accountability committee for a small rural school district, as described in section 22-32-110.9 (3), is not required to implement the requirements specified in paragraph (g) of subsection (1) of this section. SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-402, add (2) as follows: 22-11-402. School accountability committee - powers and duties - meetings. (2) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (1) of this section to the contrary, the school accountability committee for a public school of a small rural school district, as described in section 22-32-110.9 (3), is not required to implement the requirements specified in paragraphs (f) to (h) of subsection (1) of this section. SECTION 4. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-32-142, add (4) as follows: 22-32-142. Parent engagement - policy - communications - incentives. (4) Notwithstanding any provision of this section or section 22-11-405 or 22-11-406 to the contrary, a small rural school district, as described in section 22-32-110.9 (3), is not required to comply with the requirements specified in this section. SECTION 5. In Colorado Revised Statutes, add 22-7-1209.5 as follows: 22-7-1209.5. State board - waiver - small rural school districts. (1) Notwithstanding any provision of this part 12 to the contrary, the state board may waive the requirements of this part 12 for a local education provider that is a small rural school district, as described in section 22-32-110.9 (3). To obtain a waiver pursuant to this section, a small rural school district must submit to the department an application that specifies the school district's strategic plan for ensuring that, no later than the completion of third grade, the students enrolled in the school district develop the necessary reading skills to enable them to master the academic standards and expectations applicable to the fourth-grade curriculum and beyond. The state board shall grant the waiver based on the department's review of and recommendations concerning the strategic plan. (2) A small rural school district that obtains a waiver pursuant to this section must meet the local targets for student proficiency on the third-grade English language arts statewide assessment set in the school district's performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan, whichever is applicable, for each school year. If the small rural school district does not achieve the local targets for two consecutive school years, the state board shall revoke the waiver, and the small rural school district shall comply with the requirements specified in this part 12. (3) A small rural school district that is operating under a waiver granted pursuant to this section is eligible to receive per-pupil intervention moneys as provided in section 22-7-1210 (5) (a) and may apply for moneys through the early literacy grant program as provided in section 22-7-1211. Notwithstanding the waiver under which it operates, the small rural school district must use the per-pupil intervention moneys as provided in section 22-7-1210 (5) (b) and shall comply with the reporting requirements specified in section 22-7-1213 (2). SECTION 6. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 25-20.5-404, amend (3) (a) (IV) as follows: 25-20.5-404. Local and regional review teams - creation - membership - authority. (3) (a) A local or regional review team must include representatives from the following entities located within the service area of the establishing county or district public health agency or agencies: (IV) School districts; except that a small rural school district, as described in section 22-32-110.9 (3), C.R.S., is not required to provide a representative to serve on a local or regional review team; SECTION 7. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.