SB 955 — AN ACT CONCERNING STATE ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN UNDERPERFORMING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

General Assembly   RaisedSubstitute Bill No.

955 January Session, 2017   LCO*_____SB00955ED____032717____* No.AN ACT CONCERNING STATE ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN UNDERPERFORMING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

4673   *04673_______ED_* Referred to Committee on EDUCATION   Introduced by:

  (ED)   AN ACT CONCERNING STATE ASSISTANCE TO CERTAIN UNDERPERFORMING SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

(NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) (a) The State Board of Education may appoint a school or district improvement officer for any school designated as low achieving, pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (e) of section 10-223e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, or any educational reform district, as defined in section 10-262u of the general statutes, toas operateapplicable, except the lowstate achievingboard shall not appoint a school or educationaldistrict reformimprovement districtofficer andfor implementany thesuch improvementlow plan,achieving describedschool inor subparagrapheducational (H)reform ofdistrict subdivisionwhose (2)accountability ofindex, as defined in section 10-223e of the general statutes, as amended by this act.act, has improved significantly over the previous three school years.

The school or district improvement officer shall be an individual (1) with a demonstrated record of success in improving low performing schools or the academic performance of disadvantaged students.students, and (2) who is properly certified as a superintendent pursuant to chapter 166 of the general statutes or is granted a waiver in accordance with the provisions of section 10-157 of the general statutes.

The school or district improvement officer shall (A) have full managerial and operational control over the low achieving school or educational reform district,district asto providedimplement the improvement plan, described in subparagraph (H) of subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 10-223e of the general statutes, as amended by this act, (B) work collaboratively with the local or regional board of education to implement the provisions of the improvement plan, and shall(C) be responsible for meeting the goals of the improvement plan.

The improvement plan may include, but need not be limited to, any of the actions described in subparagraphs (A), (C),(C) (D),to (E), (F), inclusive, (I), (J), (L) and (M) of subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 10-223e of the general statutes, as amended by this act.

The districtCommissioner improvementof officerEducation shall submitsettle aany writtendisputes reportbetween to the Stateschool Boardor ofdistrict Educationimprovement officer and the local or regional board of education onrelating a quarterly basis to provide information regarding the progress of the implementation of the improvement plan.

(b) (1) The Commissioner of Education shall annually evaluate each low achieving school or educationaldistrict reformimprovement districtofficer forshall whichsubmit a districtwritten improvementreport officerto hasthe beenState appointedBoard toof determineEducation ifand the lowlocal achieving school or educationalregional reformboard districtof haseducation meton thea goalsquarterly ofbasis theto improvementprovide planinformation andregarding tothe assessprogress of the implementation of the improvement plan.

(b) (1) The Commissioner of Education shall annually evaluate each low achieving school or educational reform district for which a school or district improvement officer has been appointed to determine if the low achieving school or educational reform district has met the goals of the improvement plan and to assess the implementation of the improvement plan.

(2) If, after conducting an annual evaluation, the commissioner determines that the low achieving school or educational reform district has not met one or more goals of the improvement plan, the commissioner may require the school or district improvement officer to modify the improvement plan.

If the commissioner determines that the low achieving school or educational reform district has substantially failed to meet multiple goals in the improvement plan, the commissioner may terminate the contract of the school or district improvement officer.

(3) Upon expiration of the contract of the school or district improvement officer, the commissioner shall conduct a review of the low achieving school or educational reform district to determine if the low achieving school or educational reform district has improved sufficiently, requires additional improvement or has failed to improve.

If the commissioner determines that the low achieving school or educational reform district has improved sufficiently or requires additional improvement, the commissioner may renew the contract of the school or district improvement officer for an additional period not to exceed three years or return full managerial and operational control over the low achieving school or educational reform district to the local or regional board of education.

(H) direct the local or regional board of education for the school or district or the school or district improvement officer, appointed pursuant to subparagraph (N) of this subdivision, to develop and implement [a] an improvement plan addressing deficits in achievement and in the learning environment as recommended in the instructional audit;

2 July 1, 2017 10-223e(e) Statement of Purpose:Legislative Commissioners:

ToIn authorizeSections the1 Stateand Board2, of"district Educationimprovement toofficer" appointwas arenamed district"school improvementor officerdistrict to implement an improvement planofficer" for aaccuracy. low achieving school or educational reform district.

[ProposedED deletionsJoint areFavorable enclosedSubst. in brackets.

Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]