BP BHEAD INT H [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to creating a small schools pilot project; adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW; making an appropriation; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature recognizes that a large and growing body of research supports the premise that all students learn more, perform better, and exhibit more responsible and respectful behavior in schools where they are known personally and as individuals by the adults in the school.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definition in this section applies throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

"Personalized school" means a school with each of the following characteristics:

(1) The school enrolls no more than two hundred seventy-five students if it is an elementary school, or no more than four hundred forty students if it is a middle, junior high, or high school with three or four grade levels;

(2) Every teacher at the school works with every student assigned to his or her classroom for a minimum of two consecutive years;

(3) The school develops and implements a plan for high levels of parental involvement in which parents are directly engaged in supporting their child's learning and in which parents play a significant role in school governance;

(4) The school develops a governance plan which involves an administrator, teachers, parents and other community members, and, if it is a secondary school, the students; and

(5) The school develops a philosophy and mission which focuses on the personalization of learning and academic and personal success for each student. The school embodies its philosophy and mission in its daily operations and activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A personalized schools research and development program is established to study the extent to which personalized schools can result in increased academic and personal achievement for students in public schools. The program is intended to determine the capacity of personalized schools to promote higher academic achievement, as measured by performance on the Washington assessment of student learning, and personal achievement, as measured by retention and graduation rates, student behavior, student, parent, and teacher satisfaction, and other relevant data. The legislature intends for this pilot program to operate five full school years, to include evaluation of personalized schools, and to publish and disseminate the results of the project's research and findings for the benefit of the entire state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a process for school districts to apply for grant funding to participate in the personalized schools research and development program. School districts may apply on behalf of existing schools that intend to meet the program requirements or on behalf of proposed new schools to be created in order to meet the program requirements. In order to be eligible to participate in the program, a school must have its own leadership, staff, and governance, but may share a common school building with another school in the district. The school-within-a-school model program and the academic house model program may not be employed by schools participating in the program established by this chapter.

(2) The superintendent shall appoint a selection committee to review applications and, to the extent funding is provided for this program, select up to fifty schools to participate from among qualified applicants. The selection committee shall include one member of the superintendent's office, two teachers from schools in a district not applying for a grant under the program, one administrator from a school district which has not applied for a grant under the program, one representative from an institution of higher education, and two additional members.

(3) The selection committee shall attempt to select approximately equal numbers of schools enrolling elementary school students, middle or junior high school students, and high school students. The selection committee shall make every possible effort to award grants to at least nine schools in each of the three categories of school: Elementary, middle or junior high, and high school. The selection committee shall also endeavor to balance grants among schools serving urban, suburban, and rural communities and to achieve geographic balance in grant awards to include all regions of the state.

(4) The selection committee shall determine the grant award recipients by December 10, 2000, and inform all applicants of its decisions by December 18, 2000.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) Applications for grants under this chapter must be submitted to the superintendent by November 1, 2000.

(2) Each application on behalf of an existing school must include:

(a) A description of how the school currently satisfies all of the conditions set forth in the definition of a personalized school, as provided in section 2 of this act, or a description of how the school plans to satisfy those conditions by September 1, 2001;

(b) A statement of the applicant school's understanding of the value of personalization in education;

(c) A letter from the applying school district affirming the commitment of the board of directors of the district and the district superintendent to maintain the applicant school as a personalized school, as defined in section 2 of this act, for the entire five-year duration of this research and development program, if the school is selected to receive a grant to participate in the program; and

(d) A letter from the applicant school's principal articulating his or her commitment to the personalized schools research and development program.

(3) Each application on behalf of a proposed school to be created for purposes of the personalized schools program must include:

(a) A description of how the proposed school will satisfy all the conditions set forth in the definition of a personalized school, as defined in section 2 of this act;

(b) A statement of the understanding of the applicant for the proposed school regarding the value of personalization in education;

(c) A letter from the applying school district affirming the commitment of the board of directors of the district and the district superintendent to maintain the proposed school as a personalized school, as defined in section 2 of this act, for the entire five-year duration of this research and development program, if the application for a proposed school is selected to receive a grant to participate in the program; and

(d) A letter from the individual who would become the proposed school's principal articulating his or her commitment to the personalized schools research and development program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. (1) The superintendent shall award start-up grants for selected schools by January 15, 2001. Subject to available funding, each personalized school shall receive a thirty-five thousand dollar start-up grant.

(a) Up to fifteen thousand dollars of the start-up grant may be used for facilities.

(b) The remainder of the start-up grant must be expended for needs directly related to teaching and learning, with a focus on professional development. This may not include purchase of material or curricula, unless such materials or curricula are necessary for the conduct of professional development activities.

(2) Subject to available funding, by July 1, 2001, the superintendent shall award each personalized school a grant of twenty-five thousand dollars for the first year of operation of the personalized school. Subject to available funding, by July 1, 2002, the superintendent shall award each personalized school a grant of fifteen thousand dollars for the second year of operation of the personalized school. Subject to available funding, by July 1, 2003, the superintendent shall award each personalized school a grant of eight thousand dollars for the third year of operation of the personalized school.

(3) Schools selected to participate in the personalized schools program shall begin planning activities in January 2001 and shall begin their first year of operation within the personalized school program in September 2001. Participating schools shall continue to operate as personalized schools at least through the end of the 2005-06 school year. All funds awarded for personalized schools under this chapter must be under the control of the personalized school and may be spent according to the school's discretion, subject to the requirements of all other applicable laws.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop an assessment system for personalized schools. The assessment system must include the Washington assessment of student learning, information concerning student behavior, data relating to the perceptions that students, parents, and educators have about personalized schools, and other information that may be relevant to determining the effectiveness of personalized schools. Up to thirty thousand dollars of the appropriation provided for this program in the 2001 fiscal year may be used for development of the assessment system created pursuant to this section.

(2) The superintendent shall designate a program staff member within the agency to manage the assessment development activities and to provide technical assistance to personalized schools. Subject to available funding, the designated staff member shall also organize an annual institute for representatives of each personalized school to gain additional professional development and provide opportunities to learn from the experiences of other personalized schools.

(3) The superintendent may require personalized schools to collect and report information the superintendent deems necessary for an adequate evaluation of the personalized schools pilot program. The superintendent shall compile and analyze information on the results and effectiveness of the personalized school pilot program and report its findings to the legislature and to the public annually.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The superintendent may adopt rules necessary to implement this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Sections 1 through 8 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Sections 1 through 8 of this act expire December 31, 2006.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The sum of one million eight hundred thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, to carry out the purposes of this act.