BILL REQ. #:  H-0990.1 

Read first time 02/04/13.   Referred to Committee on Education.

     AN ACT Relating to creating a statewide school district for the purpose of dramatically improving the performance of the most persistently lowest achieving schools; amending RCW 28A.310.140; adding a new section to chapter 41.56 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 41.59 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.315 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.323 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 28A.343 RCW; and adding a new chapter to Title 28A RCW.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   FINDING. The legislature finds that despite efforts to identify and provide various forms of assistance to schools and school districts that are struggling to improve student achievement, there remain a small number of schools that are persistently lowest-achieving and not making progress. Incremental change has not been a successful strategy to turn around the performance of these schools. Rather, a more significant transformation and renewal of school governance, staffing, leadership, and management is necessary to allow these schools first to recover, and then to be successful on an ongoing basis. Transformation and renewal requires innovation and leadership from the state level, along with the structures, resources, and expertise to implement change that will dramatically improve student performance.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   DEFINITIONS. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Learning management organization" means a nonprofit corporation with expertise in managing both the daily operations and the academic and instructional learning environment of a school under a contract with the governing authority of the school. A learning management organization must be either a public benefit nonprofit corporation as defined in RCW 24.03.490, or a nonprofit corporation as defined in RCW 24.03.005 that has applied for tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. Sec. 501(c)(3)).
     (2) "Original school district" means the school district within whose boundaries a school is located and does not include the renewal district.
     (3) "Renewal district" means an office within the office of the superintendent of public instruction that has been assigned the powers and responsibilities of a school district as provided under this chapter.
     (4) "Renewal school" means a school that has been temporarily transferred from its original school district to the jurisdiction of the renewal district as provided under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   RENEWAL DISTRICT. (1) The renewal district is hereby established as a statewide school district within the state of Washington. The superintendent of public instruction shall exercise all powers and responsibilities assigned under this title to a school district board of directors for the governance and oversight of the renewal district, including under RCW 28A.150.230 and 28A.320.015, except as otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (2) The renewal district and the superintendent of public instruction as the governing authority of the district have jurisdiction over all renewal schools that have been temporarily transferred to the district under section 4 of this act.
     (3) The renewal district is not a local taxing district and the superintendent of public instruction may not levy taxes under RCW 84.52.053. The superintendent of public instruction may not buy or sell real property under RCW 28A.335.120 or incur bonded indebtedness under RCW 28A.530.010 or 28A.530.080, and does not have the power of eminent domain under RCW 28A.335.220. The state treasurer shall act as the treasurer for the renewal district, with the same responsibilities for renewal district funds as are assigned by law to the county treasurer for local school district funds.
     (4) The renewal district shall be designated as a local education agency of the state under applicable federal laws and rules and is responsible for meeting the requirements of local education agencies under those laws and rules, including those regarding the receipt and expenditure of federal funds.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   RENEWAL SCHOOLS--TRANSFER. (1) Beginning in January 2014, the superintendent of public instruction shall annually recommend to the state board of education schools for temporary transfer to the jurisdiction of the renewal district.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall adopt criteria for the recommendation, including:
     (a) The school has been identified under RCW 28A.657.020 as a persistently lowest-achieving school and is furthermore among the persistently lowest-achieving of these schools;
     (b) The school is not the subject of a required action plan in a required action district under chapter 28A.657 RCW, except that a school that has been the subject of a required action plan for at least three years and has not been released from required action under RCW 28A.657.100 may be recommended for transfer to the renewal district; and
     (c) The school is not the subject of a currently active federal school improvement grant.
     (3) No more than twenty schools that meet the superintendent's criteria may be transferred to the renewal district each single year.
     (4) The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a school district superintendent with written notice of the recommendation for transfer of a school to the renewal district by certified mail or personal service. A school district superintendent may request reconsideration of the superintendent of public instruction's recommendation. The reconsideration is limited to a determination of whether the school met the criteria for being recommended for transfer to the renewal district. A request for reconsideration must be in writing and served on the superintendent of public instruction within ten days of service of the notice of the superintendent's recommendation.
     (5) The state board of education must consider the recommendations of the superintendent of public instruction under subsection (1) of this section at a public meeting. The state board of education may modify the superintendent's recommendations before directing the annual transfer of schools to the jurisdiction of the renewal district. The transfer shall take effect on September 1st following the board's decision.
     (6) During the period of time between the board's decision and the effective date of the transfer of a school under this section, the original school district must cooperate with the superintendent of public instruction in developing a transfer plan, including but not limited to providing necessary financial and staffing information to the superintendent.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   LEARNING MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION CONTRACTS. (1) The superintendent of public instruction shall contract with a learning management organization for the management and operation of each renewal school. A learning management organization may manage more than one renewal school, but each school shall be the subject of a separate contract. The term of a contract under this section shall be no more than three years. A learning management organization may apply for renewal of a contract. The superintendent of public instruction shall use the performance framework established under this section as a primary determining factor in awarding or denying a contract renewal.
     (2) The superintendent's requests for proposals for learning management organizations must require an applicant to provide:
     (a) The applicant's strategic vision for operation, management, and transformation and renewal of a persistently lowest-achieving school;
     (b) A plan to support the vision presented, including explanation and evidence of the applicant's budget and personnel capacity and commitment to execute the responsibilities of school operation and management;
     (c) A draft of the performance framework that the applicant would use to guide the transformation and renewal of the school; and
     (d) A statement of assurance that the applicant will provide public accountability and transparency in all matters concerning practices, decisions, and expenditures related to its management of a renewal school.
     (3) A contract with a learning management organization must contain a performance framework that clearly sets forth the academic and operational performance indicators, measures, and metrics for the improvement of student learning in the renewal school. Annual performance targets must be established under the contract. The learning management organization must develop, oversee, and implement a school transformation and renewal plan based on the performance framework.
     (4) At a minimum, the performance framework must include indicators, measures, and metrics for:
     (a) Student academic proficiency;
     (b) Student academic growth;
     (c) Achievement gaps in both proficiency and growth between major student subgroups;
     (d) Attendance;
     (e) Recurrent enrollment from year to year;
     (f) Graduation rates and postsecondary readiness, for high schools;
     (g) Financial performance and sustainability; and
     (h) Performance and stewardship by the learning management organization, including compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and terms of the contract with the superintendent of public instruction.
     (5) The superintendent of public instruction and the learning management organization may also include additional rigorous, valid, and reliable indicators in the performance framework to augment external evaluations of the performance of the renewal school.
     (6) The performance framework must require the disaggregation of all student performance data by major student subgroups, including gender, race and ethnicity, poverty status, special education status, English learner status, and highly capable status.
     (7) A contract with a learning management organization must include expectations and indicators for parent and community involvement in the renewal school. The learning management organization must establish and hold regular public meetings with a standing parent and community advisory committee.
     (8) A learning management organization may contract with individuals, organizations, educational service districts, and school districts including the original school district to provide goods and services to a renewal school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   RENEWAL DISTRICT EMPLOYEES. (1) The original school district must notify all certificated and classified employees assigned to a school that is scheduled to be transferred to the renewal district under section 4 of this act that their employment contracts shall be nonrenewed at the end of the school year before the transfer takes effect. The transfer of the school of assignment to the jurisdiction of the renewal district where the superintendent of public instruction has governing authority, including over the employment of necessary staff, constitutes probable cause for contract nonrenewal. For certificated employees, the notice must comply with the provisions of RCW 28A.405.210 and 28A.405.220.
     (2) Certificated and classified employees assigned to a school that is scheduled to be transferred to the renewal district may apply to the original school district for a transfer of assignment within the original district, which request must be considered according to the policies and procedures of the district regarding transfers of assignment.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall exercise the powers of a school district board of directors under RCW 28A.400.300 with regard to employment of certificated and classified employees who shall be considered employees of the renewal district.
     (4) Under the terms of the contracts executed under section 5 of this act, the superintendent must delegate to the learning management organization the responsibility to hire, assign, evaluate, and dismiss all staff of a renewal school.
     (5) Classified and certificated staff previously assigned to a school that is transferred to the renewal district may apply to the learning management organization to become employees of the renewal district assigned to that school.
     (6) Years of service in a renewal school by certificated instructional staff shall be included in the years of service calculation for purposes of the statewide salary allocation schedule under RCW 28A.150.410.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   RENEWAL DISTRICT STUDENTS. (1) The original school district must notify all parents of students attending a school scheduled to be transferred to the renewal district of the state board of education's decision to transfer the school.
     (2) A parent of a student scheduled to attend a renewal school must be permitted to transfer the student to another school within the original school district, but may be required to follow other school assignment policies of the original school district.
     (3) Except for transfers requested by a parent under this section, assignment of students to a renewal school must be based on the same policies for student assignment to other schools in the original school district.
     (4) Students enrolled in a renewal school may participate in interscholastic and extracurricular activities offered by the original school district in the same manner as other students enrolled in the original school district, including being required to pay fees to participate in extracurricular activities.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   RENEWAL SCHOOLS--APPLICABILITY OF STATE LAWS. (1) The superintendent of public instruction, as the governing authority of the renewal district, and the schools transferred to its jurisdiction are exempt from all state statutes and rules applicable to school districts and school district boards of directors, except those statutes and rules made applicable under this chapter.
     (2) The renewal district and all renewal schools must:
     (a) Comply with state and federal health, safety, parents' rights, civil rights, and nondiscrimination laws applicable to school districts and to the same extent as school districts, including but not limited to chapter 28A.642 RCW (discrimination prohibition) and chapter 28A.640 RCW (sexual equality);
     (b) Provide instruction in the essential academic learning requirements and participate in the statewide student assessment system as provided under RCW 28A.655.070;
     (c) Employ certificated instructional staff as required in RCW 28A.410.025, however the renewal district may hire noncertificated instructional staff of unusual competence and in exceptional cases as specified in RCW 28A.150.203(7);
     (d) Comply with the employee record check requirements in RCW 28A.400.303;
     (e) Adhere to generally accepted accounting principles and be subject to financial examinations and audits as determined by the state auditor, including annual audits for legal and fiscal compliance;
     (f) Comply with the annual performance report under RCW 28A.655.110;
     (g) Be subject to the performance improvement goals adopted by the state board of education under RCW 28A.305.130;
     (h) Comply with the open public meetings act in chapter 42.30 RCW and open public records requirements in RCW 42.56.040; and
     (i) Be subject to and comply with legislation enacted after the effective date of this section governing the operation and management of the renewal district.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   FUNDING. (1) According to the schedule established under RCW 28A.510.250, the superintendent of public instruction shall deduct from the apportionment payments due to an original school district funding for each annual average full-time equivalent student enrolled in a renewal school, including general apportionment, special education, categorical, and other nonbasic education moneys including local effort assistance. Categorical funding must be deducted for a renewal school based on the same funding criteria used for other public schools, except that the superintendent of public instruction is exempt from rules and statutes regarding the expenditure of these funds.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction shall place the deducted funds in a separate account for each renewal school, and funds in such an account may be spent only in support of that school. Any unspent funds at the end of a school fiscal year remain in the account to be used in future years for the benefit of that school.
     (3) Federal funds that are made available to the renewal district as a local education agency must be apportioned among the renewal schools by the superintendent of public instruction based on the programs and criteria that generated the funds.
     (4) State funds deducted from the apportionment of an original school district under subsection (1) of this section and federal funds apportioned to a renewal school under subsection (3) of this section must be included in the levy base of the school's original school district under RCW 84.52.0531.
     (5) If an original school district has a local levy for maintenance and operations, the district must transmit to the superintendent of public instruction a per-student amount of the levy for each annual average full-time equivalent student enrolled in a renewal school in that district. The superintendent of public instruction must place the funds in the separate account under subsection (2) of this section and spend the funds only in support of that school. For levies submitted to voters after the transfer of a school to the renewal district, the school must be included in levy planning, budgets, and funding distribution in the same manner as other schools in the original school district.
     (6) Notwithstanding the transfer of a school to the renewal district, the original school district must continue to receive applicable state and federal funds for pupil transportation under chapter 28A.160 RCW and for food services under chapter 28A.235 RCW for students enrolled in a renewal school and shall continue to provide transportation services and food services to the students enrolled in that school in the same manner as such services would be provided absent the transfer of the school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   FACILITIES. (1) A renewal school is entitled to the continued rent free use of its existing facility. The original school district remains responsible for major repairs and safety upgrades that may be required, as well as continued payment for any outstanding bonds or capital projects associated with the school. The renewal district is responsible for routine maintenance of the facility, including but not limited to, cleaning, painting, gardening, and landscaping.
     (2) The original school district retains ownership of and legal title to the land, building, and equipment of a renewal school. After the decision is made by the state board of education to transfer a school to the renewal district, the original school district may not remove supplies or equipment from the renewal school without written authorization from the superintendent of public instruction or the contracted learning management organization for the school.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction may negotiate with the original school district for payment of the school's share of insurance, utilities, or other similar shared overhead associated with the operation of a renewal school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 11   RENEWAL SCHOOLS--RETURN TO ORIGINAL DISTRICT. (1) The state board of education must establish criteria for measuring the improvement of each renewal school, based on the performance framework and performance targets established under section 5 of this act.
     (2) A renewal school is eligible to be returned to the jurisdiction of its original school district after the school has met the performance improvement criteria of the state board of education for three consecutive years.
     (3) The state board of education must notify the superintendent of public instruction by January of the year after which a renewal school becomes eligible to be returned to its original school district. The superintendent of public instruction shall negotiate with the original school district for the return of the renewal school, including addressing the employment status of employees of the renewal school. Any notices of nonrenewal of contracts for certificated instructional staff of the renewal school must comply with RCW 28A.405.210 and 28A.405.220. The return of a renewal school to its original school district takes effect September 1st after the board's decision.
     (4) Any unspent balances in the account associated with the renewal school must be credited to the original school district.
     (5) The board of directors of the original school district may negotiate a new contract with the learning management organization to continue oversight and management of a returned renewal school.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 12   A new section is added to chapter 41.56 RCW to read as follows:
     Notwithstanding RCW 41.56.060 and 41.56.070, the bargaining units of classified employees of the renewal district established under section 3 of this act must be limited to the employees of each renewal school within the district and must be separate from other bargaining units in the district. The superintendent of public instruction must consult with the learning management organizations that are under contract to manage and operate renewal schools when fulfilling the responsibilities of a public employer under this chapter.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 13   A new section is added to chapter 41.59 RCW to read as follows:
     Notwithstanding RCW 41.59.070 and 41.59.080, the bargaining units of certificated employees of the renewal district established under section 3 of this act must be limited to the employees of each renewal school within the district and must be separate from other bargaining units in the district. The superintendent of public instruction must consult with the learning management organizations that are under contract to manage and operate renewal schools when fulfilling the responsibilities of an employer under this chapter.

Sec. 14   RCW 28A.310.140 and 2006 c 263 s 608 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every school district must be included entirely within a single educational service district. If the boundaries of any school district within an educational service district are changed in any manner so as to extend the school district beyond the boundaries of that educational service district, the superintendent of public instruction shall change the boundaries of the educational service districts so affected in a manner consistent with the purposes of RCW 28A.310.010 and this section. This section does not apply to the renewal district established under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 15   A new section is added to chapter 28A.315 RCW to read as follows:
     The provisions of this chapter do not apply to the renewal district established under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 16   A new section is added to chapter 28A.323 RCW to read as follows:
     The provisions of this chapter do not apply to the renewal district established under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 17   A new section is added to chapter 28A.343 RCW to read as follows:
     The provisions of this chapter do not apply to the renewal district established under section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 18   Sections 1 through 11 of this act constitute a new chapter in Title 28A RCW.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 19   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.