Bill S.299

SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1893 FILED ON: 1/18/2019

SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 299

By Ms. Jehlen, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 299) of Patricia D. Jehlen, David M. Rogers and Michael O. Moore for legislation to implement the Every Student Succeeds Act. Education.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act implementing the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking sections 1J-1K and inserting the following section:-

Section 1J. (a) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education may identify schools as in need of comprehensive support and improvement. The commissioner may identify subgroups of students in a school as in need of targeted support and improvement. The board shall adopt regulations establishing standards for the commissioner to make such identifications in compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015.

The board of elementary and secondary education and the commissioner of the department of elementary and secondary education may not label, tier or otherwise publish rankings of schools. The department shall only issue, based upon a system of meaningful differentiation, a list of schools identified as in need of comprehensive support and improvement, not more frequently than every 3 years. Any such list shall only identify schools (1) in the lowest-performing 5 percent of all schools receiving funds under Title I from the United States Department of Education, (2) high schools failing to graduate one third or more of its students and (3) schools at which an identified subgroup of students is in the lowest-performing 5 percent of all students.

Any determination by the commissioner to identify a school as in need of comprehensive support and improvement shall be based upon a system of annual meaningful differentiation that shall take into account multiple school based indicators in making such determination, including, but not limited to, school climate, access to the arts, access to a well-rounded curriculum, teacher turnover, dismissal rates, suspension and exclusion rates. Prior to any identification of a school as in need of comprehensive support and improvement, the commissioner shall present findings and recommended schools for identification for approval to the board of elementary and secondary education. The findings shall include an analysis of the school’s foundation budget spending per student.

A student who is enrolled in a school at the time it is identified as in need of comprehensive support and improvement shall retain the ability to remain enrolled in the school while remaining a resident of the district if the student chooses to do so.

(b) Upon the identification of a school as in need of comprehensive support and improvement in accordance with regulations developed pursuant to this section, the superintendent of the district, with approval by the local stakeholder group convened by the superintendent, shall create a comprehensive support and improvement plan for the school, under the subsections (d)-(k),inclusive.

Before the superintendent creates the comprehensive support and improvement plan required in this subsection, the superintendent shall convene a local stakeholder group of not more than 7 individuals, or 9 individuals in a high school, for the purpose of soliciting recommendations on the content of such plan to improve student learning. The group shall include: (1) the chair of the school committee, or a designee; (2) the president of the local teacher's union, or a designee; (3) an administrator from the school, who may be the principal, chosen by the superintendent; (4) two teachers from the school chosen by the faculty of the school; (5) two parents from the school chosen by the local parent organization; and at a high school (6) two students selected by the student council. If the school or district does not have a parent organization or if the organization does not select a parent, the superintendent shall select a volunteer parent of a student from the school.

The local stakeholder group may elect to participate in a school accreditation process established by a regional or national non-profit education organization to satisfy the requirement for a comprehensive support and improvement plan under this section. The department shall assist in any associated application process.

(c) Upon the designation of a subgroup at a school as in need of targeted support and improvement in accordance with regulations developed pursuant to this section, the superintendent of the district, with approval by the local stakeholder group convened by the superintendent, shall create a targeted support and improvement plan for the school.

Before the superintendent creates the targeted support and improvement plan required in this subsection, the superintendent shall convene a local stakeholder group, for the purpose of soliciting recommendations on the content of such plan to improve student learning. The group shall include: (1) the chair of the school committee, or a designee; (2) the president of the local teacher's union, or a designee; (3) an administrator from the school, who may be the principal, chosen by the superintendent; (4) two teachers from the school chosen by the faculty of the school; (5) not less than 2 parents from the school chosen by the local parent organization, one of whom shall represent each of the identified subgroups of students at the school. If the school or district does not have a parent organization or if the organization does not select a parent, the superintendent shall select a volunteer parent of a student from the school.

(d) In addition, a local stakeholder group may call upon representatives of applicable state and local social service, health and child welfare agencies, representatives of state and local workforce development agencies, for elementary schools, representatives of an early education and care provider and, for middle schools or high schools, representatives of the higher education community to provide information, and assistance in drafting the plan. The department shall provide any technical assistance requested by a local stakeholder group and the local stakeholder group may consult with department staff to assist in developing and drafting the plan.

(e) The superintendent shall convene such group within 30 days of the board identifying a school as in need of comprehensive support and improvement and the group shall make its recommendations to the superintendent within 60 days of its initial meeting. Meetings of the local stakeholder group shall be open to the public and the recommendations submitted to the superintendent under this subsection shall be publicly available immediately upon their submission.

(f) The superintendent shall include in the creation of the comprehensive support and improvement plan, after considering the recommendations of the local stakeholder group, the following: (1) steps to address social service and health needs of students at the school and their families, to help students arrive and remain at school ready to learn; provided, however, that this may include mental health and substance abuse screening; (2) steps to improve or expand child welfare services and, as appropriate, law enforcement services in the school community, in order to promote a safe and secure learning environment; (3) steps to improve workforce development services provided to students and their families at the school, to provide students and families with meaningful employment skills and opportunities; (4) steps to address achievement gaps for limited English-proficient, special education and low-income students; and (5) alternative English language learning programs for limited English proficient students, notwithstanding chapter 71A; and (6) a financial plan for the school, including any additional funds to be provided by the district, commonwealth, federal government or other sources.

The secretaries of health and human services, labor and workforce development, public safety and other applicable state and local social service, health and child welfare officials shall coordinate with the superintendent regarding the implementation of strategies under clauses (1) to (3), inclusive, that are included in a final comprehensive or targeted support and improvement plan and shall, subject to appropriation, reasonably support such implementation consistent with the requirements of state and federal law applicable to the relevant programs that each such official is responsible for administering. The secretary of education and the commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall assist the superintendent in facilitating the coordination.

To assess the school across multiple measures of school quality and student success, the comprehensive support plan shall include measurable annual goals of school quality and student success.

(g) Any comprehensive plan developed under this section shall be approved by the local stakeholder group representing the school, by the district school committee, and by the board of elementary and secondary education prior to implementation. Any targeted support and improvement plan shall be approved by the district school committee.

(h) In compliance with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, the department shall segregate 7 percent of the amount the State receives under subpart 2 of part A of said act, from the United States Department of Education in a separate account from all other funds. The department shall transmit an estimate of funds that are anticipated to be distributed for the implementation of an improvement plan to the local stakeholder group at a school identified by the department as in need of comprehensive support and improvement or targeted support and improvement within 15 days of the appointment of the group. Upon board approval of a comprehensive support and improvement plan or a targeted support and improvement plan, the segregated funds shall be distributed to the school based upon the Title I funding formula subject to the plan.

The department shall make available sufficient funds to ensure that any school designated as in need of comprehensive support and improvement shall receive not less than $250,000 or 2.5% of the school’s budget. The department may use funds segregated in the previous paragraph combined with any state funds to satisfy the minimum assistance funding requirement. Any funding allocated through this paragraph shall not reduce or cease until the school in receipt of the funds has received foundation aid in an amount sufficient to ensure that per pupil spending equals or exceeds the statewide average per pupil spending above foundation budget.

(i) Each comprehensive support and improvement plan shall be authorized for a period of not more than 4 years, subject to subsection (k).

(j) Each school identified as in need of comprehensive support and improvement under subsection (a) shall be reviewed by the superintendent, in consultation with the principal of the school, and the local stakeholder group, at least annually. The purpose of the review shall be to determine whether the school has met the annual goals in its comprehensive support plan and to assess the overall implementation of the comprehensive support plan. The review shall be in writing and shall be submitted to the local stakeholder group not later than July 1 for the preceding school year.

(k) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, any school in need of comprehensive or targeted support and improvement operating a limited-English proficient program or programs for limited English proficient students in any 1 language group shall establish a limited English proficient parent advisory council. The parent advisory council shall be comprised of parents or legal guardians of students who are enrolled in limited English proficient programs within the school. Each parent advisory council shall have at least 1 representative from every language group in which a program is conducted in a given school. Membership shall be restricted to parents or legal guardians of students enrolled in limited English proficient programs within the school. The duties of the parent advisory council shall include, but not be limited to, advising the school on matters that pertain to the education of students in limited English proficient programs, meeting regularly with school officials to participate in the planning and development of a plan to improve educational opportunities for limited English proficient students, and to participate in the review of school improvement plans established under section 59C of chapter 71 as they pertain to limited English proficient students. Any parent advisory council may, at its request, meet at least once annually with the school council. The parent advisory council shall establish by-laws regarding officers and operational procedures. In the course of its duties under this section, the parent advisory council shall receive assistance from the director of limited English proficient programs for the district or other appropriate school personnel as designated by the superintendent.

(l) The board of elementary and secondary education shall adopt regulations regarding the conditions under which a school in need of comprehensive support and improvement shall no longer be identified as a school in need of comprehensive support and improvement. The regulations shall include provisions to allow a school to retain measures adopted in a comprehensive support plan for a transitional period if, in the judgment of the commissioner, the measures would contribute to the continued improvement of the school. Such regulations shall also include provisions that clearly identify the conditions under which such a transitional period shall end or be determined in need of further district review by the department should the targeted or comprehensive support and improvement plan not meet the intended goals. Any determination by the department that a plan is not meeting intended goals and that a district review is necessary shall be approved by the board prior to implementation of a district review process.

(m) The board of elementary and secondary education shall adopt regulations regarding the conditions under which a subgroup of students at a school is in need of targeted support and improvement shall no longer be identified as in need of targeted support and improvement. The regulations shall include provisions to allow a school to retain measures adopted in a target support plan for a transitional period if, in the judgment of the commissioner, the measures would contribute to the continued improvement of the school. Such regulations shall also include provisions that clearly identify the conditions under which such a transitional period shall end or be determined in need of further district review by the department should the targeted support and improvement plan not meet the intended goals Any determination by the department that a plan is not meeting intended goals and that a district review is necessary shall be approved by the board prior to implementation of a district review process.

(n) The commissioner shall report annually to the joint committee on education, the house and senate committees on ways and means, the speaker of the house of representatives and the senate president on the implementation and fiscal impact of this section and section 1K. The report shall include, but not be limited to, a list of all schools currently identified as in need of comprehensive support or comprehensive improvement, and strategies used in each of the schools to improve student learning.

Name:	District/Address:
Patricia D. Jehlen	Second Middlesex
David M. Rogers	24th Middlesex	2/1/2019
Michael O. Moore	Second Worcester	2/13/2019