BILL NUMBER: AB 1987 CHAPTERED 09/24/04 CHAPTER 757 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 24, 2004 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2004 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 26, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 23, 2004 AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 12, 2004 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 23, 2004 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Steinberg FEBRUARY 12, 2004 An act to amend Section 52055.650 of the Education Code, relating to pupils. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 1987, Steinberg. High Priority Schools Grant Program. Existing law establishes the High Priority Schools Grant Program within the Public Schools Accountability Act of 1999 under which funds are made to eligible schools for implementation of a school action plan that includes specified components. This bill would provide that a school participating in the program that received a planning grant in the 2001-02 fiscal year is eligible to receive program funding in only the 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05 fiscal years. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 52055.650 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52055.650. (a) Section 52055.5 does not apply to a school participating in the High Priority Schools Grant Program. (b) Twenty-four months after receipt of funding for implementation of the action plan pursuant to Sections 52054.5 and 52055.600 or no sooner than July 1, 2004, a school that has not met its growth targets each year shall be subject to review by the State Board of Education. This review shall include an examination of the school's progress relative to the components and reports made pursuant to Section 52055.640. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, may direct that the governing board of a school take appropriate action and adopt appropriate strategies to provide corrective assistance to the school in order to achieve the components and benchmarks established in the school's action plan. (c) Thirty-six months after receipt of funding to implement a school action plan or no sooner than July 1, 2005, a school that has met or exceeded its growth target each year shall receive a monetary or nonmonetary award, under the Governor's Performance Award Program, as set forth in Section 52057. Funds received pursuant to that section may be used at the school's discretion. (d) Thirty-six months after receipt of funding to implement a school action plan or no sooner than July 1, 2005, a school that has not met its growth targets each year, but demonstrates significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education, shall continue to participate in the program and receive funding as specified in Sections 52054.5 and 52055.600. (e) Notwithstanding any other law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall follow the course of action prescribed by paragraph (1) or (2) with respect to a school that does not meet its growth targets within the periods described in either subdivision (c) or (d), as applicable, or no later than July 1, 2005, and has failed to show significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education. (1) Require the district to enter into a contract with a school assistance and intervention team. (A) Team members should possess a high degree of knowledge and skills in the areas of school leadership, curriculum, and instruction aligned to state academic content and performance standards, classroom management and discipline, academic assessment, parent-school relations, and evaluation and research-based reform strategies and have proven successful expertise specific to the challenges inherent in high-priority schools. (B) The team shall provide intensive support and expertise to implement the school reform initiatives in the plan. Decisions about interventions shall be data driven. A school assistance and intervention team shall work with school staff, site planning teams, administrators, and district staff to improve pupil literacy and achievement by assessing the degree of implementation of the current action plan, refining and revising the action plan, and making recommendations to maximize the use of fiscal resources and personnel in achieving the goals of the plan. The district shall provide support and assistance to enhance the work of the team at the targeted schoolsites. (C) Not later than 60 days after the school's API becomes public, the team shall complete an initial report. The report shall include recommendations for corrective actions chosen from a range of interventions, including the reallocation of district fiscal resources to ensure that appropriate resources are targeted to those specific interventions identified in the recommendations of the team for the targeted schools and other changes deemed appropriate to make progress toward meeting the school's growth target. Not later than 90 days after the API is made public, the governing board of the school district shall adopt the team's recommendations at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board. The governing board may not place the adoption on the consent calendar. The report shall be submitted to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education. (D) No less than three times during the year, the school district and schoolsite shall present the team with data regarding progress toward the goals established by the team's initial assessment. The data shall be presented to the governing board of the school district at a regularly scheduled meeting. The team shall, to the extent possible, utilize existing site data. The data shall also be provided to the Superintendent of Public Instruction and State Board of Education. Every effort shall be made to report this data in a manner that minimizes the length and complexity of the reporting requirement in order to maximize the focus on improving pupil literacy and achievement. (E) An action taken pursuant to this paragraph shall not increase local costs or require reimbursement by the Commission on State Mandates. (2) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall assume all the legal rights, duties, and powers of the governing board with respect to the school. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education and the governing board of the school district, shall reassign the principal of that school subject to the findings in subdivision (i). In addition to reassigning the principal, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, do at least one of the following: (A) Revise attendance options for pupils to allow them to attend any public school in which space is available. If an additional attendance option is made available, this option may not require either the sending or receiving school district to incur additional transportation costs. (B) Allow parents or guardians to apply directly to the State Board of Education for the establishment of a charter school and allow parents or guardians to establish the charter school at the existing schoolsite. (C) Under the supervision of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, assign the management of the school to a college, university, county office of education, or other appropriate educational institution. However, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may not assume the management of the school. (D) Reassign other certificated employees of the school. (E) Renegotiate a new collective bargaining agreement at the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement. (F) Reorganize the school. (G) Close the school. (f) In addition to the actions listed in subdivision (e), the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the State Board of Education, may take any other action considered necessary or desirable against the school district or the school district governing board, including appointment of a new superintendent or suspension of the authority of the governing board with respect to a school that does not meet its growth targets within the periods described in either subdivision (b) or (c), as applicable, and has failed to show significant growth, as determined by the State Board of Education. (g) Before the Superintendent of Public Instruction may take any action against a principal pursuant to subdivision (e), the Superintendent of Public Instruction or a designee of the superintendent shall hold a public hearing on the matter in the school district and make both of the following findings: (1) A finding that the principal had the authority to take specific enumerated actions that would have helped the school meet its performance goals. (2) A finding that the principal failed to take specific enumerated actions pursuant to paragraph (1). (h) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (e), (f), or (g) shall not increase local costs or require reimbursement by the Commission on State Mandates. (i) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (e), (f), or (g) shall be accompanied by specific findings by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the State Board of Education that the action is directly related to the identified causes for continued failure by a school to meet its performance goals. (j) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school participating in the High Priority Schools Grant Program that received a planning grant pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 52053 in the 1999-2000 fiscal year is eligible to receive funding pursuant to Section 52055.600 in the 2002-03 fiscal year only. (2) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school participating in the High Priority Schools Grant Program that received a planning grant pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 52053 in the 2000-01 fiscal year is eligible to receive funding pursuant to Section 52055.600 in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 fiscal years only. (3) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a school participating in the High Priority Schools Grant Program that received a planning grant pursuant to subdivision (l) of Section 52053 in the 2001-02 fiscal year is eligible to receive funding pursuant to Section 52055.600 in only the 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05 fiscal years. (k) Notwithstanding the growth target timelines set forth in subdivisions (b), (c), (d), and (e), for a school that receives funds pursuant to Section 52055.600 during the 2002-03 or 2003-04 fiscal year, the growth target deadline for subdivision (b) is December 31, 2004, and the growth target deadline for subdivisions (c), (d), and (e) is December 31, 2005.