Bill Text: FL S1684 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: School Improvement
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2018-03-10 - Died in Education [S1684 Detail]
Download: Florida-2018-S1684-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1684
By Senator Simmons
9-01329A-18 20181684__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to school improvement; amending s.
3 1002.333, F.S.; redefining the term “persistently low
4 performing school”; revising duties of the State Board
5 of Education; amending s. 1008.33, F.S.; requiring
6 intervention and support strategies for certain
7 traditional public schools to include extended
8 learning hours; modifying the turnaround options
9 available for certain schools within the school
10 district under certain circumstances; requiring
11 certain school districts to submit a contingency plan
12 to the state board by a specified date; providing
13 requirements for certain state board rules; providing
14 an effective date.
15
16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraph
19 (c) of subsection (10) of section 1002.333, Florida Statutes,
20 are amended to read:
21 1002.333 Persistently low-performing schools.—
22 (1) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
23 (b) “Persistently low-performing school” means a school
24 that has completed 2 school years of implementing a district
25 managed turnaround plan required under s. 1008.33(4)(a) and that
26 has not improved its school grade to a “C” or higher, earned
27 three consecutive grades lower than a “C,” pursuant to s.
28 1008.34, and a school that was closed pursuant to s. 1008.33(4)
29 within 2 years after the submission of a notice of intent.
30 (10) SCHOOLS OF HOPE PROGRAM.—The Schools of Hope Program
31 is created within the Department of Education.
32 (c) The state board shall:
33 1. Provide awards for eligible up to 25 schools that have
34 and prioritize awards for plans submitted plans pursuant to
35 paragraph (b) which that are based on whole school
36 transformation and that are developed in consultation with the
37 school’s principal.
38 2. Annually report on the implementation of this subsection
39 in the report required by s. 1008.345(5), and provide summarized
40 academic performance reports of each traditional public school
41 receiving funds.
42 Section 2. Paragraph (c) of subsection (3), and subsections
43 (4) and (5) of section 1008.33, Florida Statutes, are amended to
44 read:
45 1008.33 Authority to enforce public school improvement.—
46 (3)
47 (c) The state board shall adopt by rule a differentiated
48 matrix of intervention and support strategies for assisting
49 traditional public schools identified under this section and
50 rules for implementing s. 1002.33(9)(n), relating to charter
51 schools. The intervention and support strategies must address
52 student performance and include extended learning by at least 1
53 extra hour, and may include improvement planning; leadership
54 quality improvement; educator quality improvement; professional
55 development; curriculum review, pacing, and alignment across
56 grade levels to improve background knowledge in social studies,
57 science, and the arts; and the use of continuous improvement and
58 monitoring plans and processes. In addition, the state board may
59 prescribe reporting requirements to review and monitor the
60 progress of the schools. The rule must define the intervention
61 and support strategies for school improvement for schools
62 earning a grade of “D” or “F” and the roles for the district and
63 department.
64 (4)(a) The state board shall apply intensive intervention
65 and support strategies tailored to the needs of schools earning
66 two consecutive grades of “D” or a grade of “F.” In the first
67 full school year after a school initially earns two consecutive
68 grades of “D” or a grade of “F,” the school district must
69 immediately implement intervention and support strategies
70 prescribed in rule under paragraph (3)(c) and, by September 1,
71 provide the department with the memorandum of understanding
72 negotiated pursuant to s. 1001.42(21) and, by October 1, a
73 district-managed turnaround plan for approval by the state
74 board. The district-managed turnaround plan may include a
75 proposal for the district to implement an extended school day or
76 a summer program or to enter into a formal agreement with one or
77 more nonprofit organizations with tax exempt status under s.
78 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code to implement wrap-around
79 services pursuant to s. 1002.333(10)(b). Upon approval by the
80 state board, the school district must implement the plan for the
81 remainder of the school year and continue the plan for 1 full
82 school year. The state board may allow a school an additional
83 year of implementation before the school must implement a
84 turnaround option required under paragraph (b) if it determines
85 that the school is likely to improve to a grade of “C” or higher
86 after the first full school year of implementation.
87 (b) Unless an additional year of implementation is provided
88 pursuant to paragraph (a), the school district, for a school
89 that has completed 2 school years of implementing a district
90 managed turnaround plan required under paragraph (a) and that
91 has not improved its school grade to a “C” or higher pursuant to
92 s. 1008.34, earns three consecutive grades below a “C” must
93 implement one or a combination of the following options:
94 1. Reassign students to another school and monitor the
95 progress of each reassigned student;
96 2. Close the school and reopen the school as one or more
97 charter schools, each with a governing board that has a
98 demonstrated record of effectiveness; or
99 3. Contract as a conversion charter school or with an
100 outside entity that has a demonstrated record of effectiveness
101 to operate the school on terms and performance standards
102 determined by the State Board of Education. By March 31, 2018,
103 and annually thereafter, the State Board of Education shall
104 approve a list of outside entities from which a district may
105 select an entity to operate a school identified under this
106 paragraph. An outside entity may include:
107 a. A district-managed charter school; or in which all
108 instructional personnel are not employees of the school
109 district, but are employees of an independent governing board
110 composed of members who did not participate in the review or
111 approval of the charter.
112 b. A hope operator, as defined in s. 1002.333(2), which
113 submits to the school district a notice of intent, consistent
114 with the requirements of s. 1002.333(4), to operate the school
115 identified under this paragraph;
116 4. Enter into a formal agreement with a school principal
117 within the school district who has a demonstrated record of
118 effectiveness to operate the school identified under this
119 paragraph in addition to the school to which the principal is
120 currently assigned. The school principal may be a principal who
121 is rated highly effective under s. 1012.34 or is the principal
122 of a school of excellence pursuant to s. 1003.631. The principal
123 must be provided with the flexibility to allocate resources and
124 personnel between the two schools, except that funds received
125 under s. 1002.333(10)(b) must be expended at the school
126 implementing the turnaround option selected under this
127 paragraph; or
128 5. Enter into a formal agreement with a state university or
129 an independent college or university that is not-for-profit, is
130 accredited by a regional accrediting agency recognized by the
131 department, and confers degrees as defined in s. 1005.02, which
132 is located in the area of the school district to operate the
133 school or to provide professional development and related
134 support services.
135 (c) Implementation of the turnaround option is no longer
136 required if the school improves to a grade of “C” or higher.
137 (d) If a school earning two consecutive grades of “D” or a
138 grade of “F” does not improve to a grade of “C” or higher after
139 2 full school years of implementing the turnaround option
140 selected by the school district under paragraph (b), the school
141 district must implement another turnaround option.
142 Implementation of the turnaround option must begin the school
143 year following the implementation period of the existing
144 turnaround option, unless the state board determines that the
145 school is likely to improve to a grade of “C” or higher if
146 additional time is provided to implement the existing turnaround
147 option.
148 (e) A school district that has not improved to a grade of
149 “C” or higher after the first year of implementing the district
150 managed turnaround plan under paragraph (a) must submit a
151 contingency plan to the State Board of Education for approval by
152 October 1, if the school does not improve to a grade of “C” or
153 higher after 2 school years of implementing the district-managed
154 turnaround plan under paragraph (a).
155 (5) The state board shall adopt rules pursuant to ss.
156 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section. The rules
157 shall include timelines for submission of implementation plans,
158 approval criteria for implementation plans, and timelines for
159 implementing intervention and support strategies, and terms and
160 performance standards for determining whether an outside entity
161 has a demonstrated record of effectiveness. The state board
162 shall consult with education stakeholders in developing the
163 rules.
164 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
