SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2330
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)
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SENATE, Friday, March 9, 2018
The committee on Ways and Means to whom was referred the Senate Bill relative to education collaboratives (Senate, No. 290),-- reports, recommending that the same ought to pass with an amendment substituting a new draft with the same title (Senate, No. 2330).
For the committee,
Karen E. Spilka
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2330
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)
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An Act relative to education collaboratives.
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. Subsection (c) of section 4E of chapter 40 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:- The commissioner or the commissioner’s designee shall serve as a non-voting ex officio member of the board of directors; provided, however, that if a designee is appointed, the designee shall, to the extent feasible, have expertise in 1 or more of the following areas: (i) educational programming and services; (ii) finance; (iii) budgeting; and (iv) management oversight.
SECTION 2. Said section 4E of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word “department”, in line 108, the following words:- of revenue.
SECTION 3. Said section 4E of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out, in lines 130 and 131, the words “and articles of incorporation”.
SECTION 4. Said section 4E of said chapter 40, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by adding the following 4 subsections:-
(n) The board of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the Massachusetts Organization of Educational Collaboratives, Inc., shall organize education collaboratives into not more than 6 regions. Each region shall designate 1 education collaborative as a regional liaison by majority vote for a period of 3 years. Each regional liaison shall be responsible for: (i) identifying regional needs and priorities for educational services; (ii) developing policies to coordinate the delivery of services to school districts to respond to regional needs and priorities; and (iii) working to coordinate the dissemination of information and support to districts in partnership with the department and regional entities including, but not limited to, district and school assistance centers, readiness centers and workforce investment boards. The department shall, subject to appropriation, provide grants to regional liaisons to support their planning and coordination activities.
(o) Notwithstanding a regional liaison designation under subsection (n), the board of elementary and secondary education may designate a lead collaborative in each region to provide support for the implementation of a particular state initiative; provided, however, that the lead collaborative shall be designated pursuant to an application process that ensures selection of the best suited candidate.
(p) The department shall: (i) when appropriate, promote the use of education collaboratives as providers of educational services and programs for local school districts; and (ii) include consideration of grant applications that include the use of education collaboratives for the procurement of services and programs. The department may designate education collaboratives as eligible recipients and local education agencies for any federal or state grant to cities, towns or regional school districts for educational programs.
(q) Upon approval from the board of directors and the secretary of health and human services, an education collaborative formed under this section may provide services to individuals with developmental disabilities over the age of 22 and shall be subject to the programmatic rules and regulations of the relevant agency.
SECTION 5. Section 4 of chapter 43 of the acts of 2012 is hereby repealed.
SECTION 6. Subsection (n) of section 4E of chapter 40 of the General Laws shall take effect 12 months after the effective date of this act.
SECTION 7. The board of elementary and secondary education may promulgate regulations necessary to implement this act.