BILL REQ. #:  S-1346.2 

READ FIRST TIME 02/14/13.   

     AN ACT Relating to assisting persistently lowest-achieving schools to become more accountable; amending RCW 28A.657.050, 28A.657.050, 28A.657.090, and 28A.657.100; adding a new section to chapter 28A.657 RCW; creating a new section; making an appropriation; providing an effective date; providing expiration dates; and declaring an emergency.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that in 2010 an accountability system was created for the Washington public schools, which was to be implemented in two phases. The first phase used federal guidelines to designate the persistently lowest-achieving schools that were eligible for federal Title I funds to apply for a federal school improvement grant to implement federal intervention strategies to improve student performance. The system was initially voluntary but a required action process was to begin in 2011. The legislature further finds that under the required action process four of the persistently lowest-achieving schools that were on a downward trend were offered the opportunity to use the federal school improvement grants to take required actions. The legislature further finds that the Renton and Onalaska school districts show promising improvement that other districts can build upon. The legislature intends to implement phase two of the accountability process beginning in the 2013-14 school year with the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 28A.657 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By June 1, 2013, the office of the superintendent of public instruction must identify the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools using the student results on the statewide reading and mathematics assessments.
     (2) A school district with at least one school identified as one of the ten most persistently lowest-achieving schools shall be designated as a required action district.
     (3) The superintendent of public instruction shall provide each required action school district superintendent with written notice by certified mail or personal service of the identification of the school within the district as one of the most persistently lowest-achieving schools causing the district to be designated a required action district.
     (4) A district designated as a required action district must notify all parents of students attending a school identified as one of the most persistently lowest-achieving schools in the district, the designation of the district as a required action district, and the process for complying with the requirements in RCW 28A.657.040 through 28A.657.100.
     (5) Each required action district designated under this section must follow the process and comply with the requirements in RCW 28A.657.040 through 28A.657.100.

Sec. 3   RCW 28A.657.050 and 2012 c 53 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The local district superintendent and local school board of a school district designated as a required action district must submit a required action plan to the state board of education for approval. Unless otherwise required by subsection (3) of this section, the plan must be submitted under a schedule as required by the state board. A required action plan must be developed in collaboration with administrators, teachers, and other staff, parents, unions representing any employees within the district, students, and other representatives of the local community. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a district with assistance in developing its plan if requested. The school board must conduct a public hearing to allow for comment on a proposed required action plan. The local school district shall submit the plan first to the office of the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines. After the office of the superintendent of public instruction has approved that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines, the local school district must submit its required action plan to the state board of education for approval.
     (2) A required action plan must include all of the following:
     (a) Implementation of one of the four federal intervention models required for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant, for those persistently lowest-achieving schools that the district will be focusing on for required action. However, a district may not establish a charter school under a federal intervention model without express legislative authority, unless the district is designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act. If a required action district chooses to establish a charter school as the intervention model, then the charter school that is established counts towards the maximum number of charter schools that may be established in accordance with RCW 28A.710.150. The intervention models are the turnaround, restart, school closure, and transformation models. The intervention model selected must address the concerns raised in the academic performance audit and be intended to improve student performance to allow a school district to be removed from the list of districts designated as a required action district by the state board of education within three years of implementation of the plan;
     (b) Submission of an application for a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the superintendent of public instruction, except that a district designated as a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act shall receive the state funds appropriated for this purpose;
     (c) A budget that provides for adequate resources to implement the federal model selected and any other requirements of the plan;
     (d) A description of the changes in the district's or school's existing policies, structures, agreements, processes, and practices that are intended to attain significant achievement gains for all students enrolled in the school and how the district intends to address the findings of the academic performance audit; and
     (e) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at a school identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school, which include improving mathematics and reading student achievement and graduation rates as defined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction that enable the school to no longer be identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.
     (3)(a) For any district designated for required action, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 10, 2010, and for a school district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act after the effective date of this section, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan. For any district applying to participate in a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project under RCW 28A.630.104, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 7, 2012, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement an innovation and success plan.
     (b) If the school district and the employee organizations are unable to agree on the terms of an addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, the parties, including all labor organizations affected under the required action plan, shall request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint an employee of the commission to act as a mediator to assist in the resolution of a dispute between the school district and the employee organizations. Beginning in 2011, and each year thereafter, mediation shall commence no later than April 15th. All mediations held under this section shall include the employer and representatives of all affected bargaining units.
     (c) If the executive director of the public employment relations commission, upon the recommendation of the assigned mediator, finds that the employer and any affected bargaining unit are unable to reach agreement following a reasonable period of negotiations and mediation, but by no later than May 15th of the year in which mediation occurred, the executive director shall certify any disputed issues for a decision by the superior court in the county where the school district is located. The issues for determination by the superior court must be limited to the issues certified by the executive director.
     (d) The process for filing with the court in this subsection (3)(d) must be used in the case where the executive director certifies issues for a decision by the superior court.
     (i) The school district shall file a petition with the superior court, by no later than May 20th of the same year in which the issues were certified, setting forth the following:
     (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the school district and its principal representative;
     (B) The name, address, and telephone number of the employee organizations and their principal representatives;
     (C) A description of the bargaining units involved;
     (D) A copy of the unresolved issues certified by the executive director for a final and binding decision by the court; and
     (E) The academic performance audit that the office of the superintendent of public instruction completed for the school district in the case of a required action district, or the comprehensive needs assessment in the case of a collaborative schools for innovation and success pilot project.
     (ii) Within seven days after the filing of the petition, each party shall file with the court the proposal it is asking the court to order be implemented in a required action plan or innovation and success plan for the district for each issue certified by the executive director. Contemporaneously with the filing of the proposal, a party must file a brief with the court setting forth the reasons why the court should order implementation of its proposal in the final plan.
     (iii) Following receipt of the proposals and briefs of the parties, the court must schedule a date and time for a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be limited to argument of the parties or their counsel regarding the proposals submitted for the court's consideration. The parties may waive a hearing by written agreement.
     (iv) The court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in a required action plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school district's academic performance audit, and allows for the award of a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal or state funds for school improvement to the district from the office of the superintendent of public instruction to implement one of the four federal intervention models. In the case of an innovation and success plan, the court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in the plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school's comprehensive needs assessment. The court's decision must be issued no later than June 15th of the year in which the petition is filed and is final and binding on the parties; however the court's decision is subject to appeal only in the case where it does not allow the school district to implement a required action plan consistent with the requirements for the award of a federal school improvement grant or other federal or state funds for school improvement by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (e) Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees incurred under this statute.
     (f) Any party that proceeds with the process in this section after knowledge that any provision of this section has not been complied with and who fails to state its objection in writing is deemed to have waived its right to object.
     (4) All contracts entered into between a school district and an employee must be consistent with this section and allow school districts designated as required action districts to implement one of the four federal models in a required action plan.

Sec. 4   RCW 28A.657.050 and 2010 c 235 s 105 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The local district superintendent and local school board of a school district designated as a required action district must submit a required action plan to the state board of education for approval. Unless otherwise required by subsection (3) of this section, the plan must be submitted under a schedule as required by the state board. A required action plan must be developed in collaboration with administrators, teachers, and other staff, parents, unions representing any employees within the district, students, and other representatives of the local community. The superintendent of public instruction shall provide a district with assistance in developing its plan if requested. The school board must conduct a public hearing to allow for comment on a proposed required action plan. The local school district shall submit the plan first to the office of the superintendent of public instruction to review and approve that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines. After the office of the superintendent of public instruction has approved that the plan is consistent with federal guidelines, the local school district must submit its required action plan to the state board of education for approval.
     (2) A required action plan must include all of the following:
     (a) Implementation of one of the four federal intervention models required for the receipt of a federal school improvement grant, for those persistently lowest-achieving schools that the district will be focusing on for required action. However, a district may not establish a charter school under a federal intervention model without express legislative authority, unless the district is designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act. If a required action district chooses to establish a charter school as the intervention model, then the charter school that is established counts towards the maximum number of charter schools that may be established in accordance with RCW 28A.710.150. The intervention models are the turnaround, restart, school closure, and transformation models. The intervention model selected must address the concerns raised in the academic performance audit and be intended to improve student performance to allow a school district to be removed from the list of districts designated as a required action district by the state board of education within three years of implementation of the plan;
     (b) Submission of an application for a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal funds for school improvement to the superintendent of public instruction, except that a district designated as a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act shall receive the state funds appropriated for this purpose;
     (c) A budget that provides for adequate resources to implement the federal model selected and any other requirements of the plan;
     (d) A description of the changes in the district's or school's existing policies, structures, agreements, processes, and practices that are intended to attain significant achievement gains for all students enrolled in the school and how the district intends to address the findings of the academic performance audit; and
     (e) Identification of the measures that the school district will use in assessing student achievement at a school identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school, which include improving mathematics and reading student achievement and graduation rates as defined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction that enable the school to no longer be identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school.
     (3)(a) For any district designated for required action, the parties to any collective bargaining agreement negotiated, renewed, or extended under chapter 41.59 or 41.56 RCW after June 10, 2010, and for a school district designated a required action district in accordance with section 2 of this act after the effective date of this section, must reopen the agreement, or negotiate an addendum, if needed, to make changes to terms and conditions of employment that are necessary to implement a required action plan.
     (b) If the school district and the employee organizations are unable to agree on the terms of an addendum or modification to an existing collective bargaining agreement, the parties, including all labor organizations affected under the required action plan, shall request the public employment relations commission to, and the commission shall, appoint an employee of the commission to act as a mediator to assist in the resolution of a dispute between the school district and the employee organizations. Beginning in 2011, and each year thereafter, mediation shall commence no later than April 15th. All mediations held under this section shall include the employer and representatives of all affected bargaining units.
     (c) If the executive director of the public employment relations commission, upon the recommendation of the assigned mediator, finds that the employer and any affected bargaining unit are unable to reach agreement following a reasonable period of negotiations and mediation, but by no later than May 15th of the year in which mediation occurred, the executive director shall certify any disputed issues for a decision by the superior court in the county where the school district is located. The issues for determination by the superior court must be limited to the issues certified by the executive director.
     (d) The process for filing with the court in this subsection (3)(d) must be used in the case where the executive director certifies issues for a decision by the superior court.
     (i) The school district shall file a petition with the superior court, by no later than May 20th of the same year in which the issues were certified, setting forth the following:
     (A) The name, address, and telephone number of the school district and its principal representative;
     (B) The name, address, and telephone number of the employee organizations and their principal representatives;
     (C) A description of the bargaining units involved;
     (D) A copy of the unresolved issues certified by the executive director for a final and binding decision by the court; and
     (E) The academic performance audit that the office of the superintendent of public instruction completed for the school district.
     (ii) Within seven days after the filing of the petition, each party shall file with the court the proposal it is asking the court to order be implemented in a required action plan for the district for each issue certified by the executive director. Contemporaneously with the filing of the proposal, a party must file a brief with the court setting forth the reasons why the court should order implementation of its proposal in the final plan.
     (iii) Following receipt of the proposals and briefs of the parties, the court must schedule a date and time for a hearing on the petition. The hearing must be limited to argument of the parties or their counsel regarding the proposals submitted for the court's consideration. The parties may waive a hearing by written agreement.
     (iv) The court must enter an order selecting the proposal for inclusion in a required action plan that best responds to the issues raised in the school district's academic performance audit, and allows for the award of a federal school improvement grant or a grant from other federal or state funds for school improvement to the district from the office of the superintendent of public instruction to implement one of the four federal intervention models. The court's decision must be issued no later than June 15th of the year in which the petition is filed and is final and binding on the parties; however the court's decision is subject to appeal only in the case where it does not allow the school district to implement a required action plan consistent with the requirements for the award of a federal school improvement grant or other federal or state funds for school improvement by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (e) Each party shall bear its own costs and attorneys' fees incurred under this statute.
     (f) Any party that proceeds with the process in this section after knowledge that any provision of this section has not been complied with and who fails to state its objection in writing is deemed to have waived its right to object.
     (4) All contracts entered into between a school district and an employee must be consistent with this section and allow school districts designated as required action districts to implement one of the four federal models in a required action plan.

Sec. 5   RCW 28A.657.090 and 2010 c 235 s 109 are each amended to read as follows:
     A school district must implement a required action plan upon approval by the state board of education. The office of (([the])) the superintendent of public instruction must provide the required action district with technical assistance and federal school improvement grant funds or other federal funds for school improvement, if available, or state funds, to implement an approved plan. The district must submit a report to the superintendent of public instruction that provides the progress the district is making in meeting the student achievement goals based on the state's assessments, identifying strategies and assets used to solve audit findings, and establishing evidence of meeting plan implementation benchmarks as set forth in the required action plan.

Sec. 6   RCW 28A.657.100 and 2010 c 235 s 110 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The superintendent of public instruction must provide a report twice per year to the state board of education regarding the progress made by all school districts designated as required action districts.
     (2) The superintendent of public instruction must recommend to the state board of education that a school district be released from the designation as a required action district after the district implements a required action plan for a period of three years; has made progress, as defined by the superintendent of public instruction, in reading and mathematics on the state's assessment over the past three consecutive years; and no longer has a school within the district identified as persistently lowest-achieving. The state board shall release a school district from the designation as a required action district upon confirmation that the district has met the requirements for a release.
     (3) If the state board of education determines that the required action district has not met the requirements for release, the ((district remains in required action and must submit a new or revised plan under the process in RCW 28A.657.050)) office of the superintendent of public instruction shall review the actions taken in accordance with the required action process and create a new three-year plan with the school district board of directors to be implemented by the office of the superintendent of public instruction using a management structure chosen by the superintendent of public instruction.
     (4) If at the end of the three-year plan instituted in accordance with subsection (3) of this section the state board of education determines that the required action district has not made sufficient improvement as determined by the office of the superintendent of public instruction, the school must be closed and the students assigned to another school, unless there is no viable option to accommodate the students due to lack of capacity or inability to provide equitable access to educational programs and services.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   The sum of ten million dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014, from the general fund to the office of the superintendent of public instruction for equal distribution to each of the ten school districts identified in section 2 of this act to implement this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   Section 3 of this act expires June 30, 2019.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   Section 4 of this act takes effect June 30, 2019.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   Section 2 of this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety, or support of the state government and its existing public institutions, and takes effect immediately.