74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 203
 
                         Senate Bill 369
 
Sponsored by Senator SCHRADER (Presession filed.)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Requires school districts to ensure that all students meet or
exceed academic content standards prior to graduating from high
school. Requires school districts to have specified percentages
of students earning high school diploma. Requires school
districts to have specified percentage of student attendance.
  Directs Department of Education to award school improvement
grants to school districts that meet performance measures. For
school districts that do not meet performance measures, directs
portion of grant funds to be used for school district improvement
activities.
  Declares emergency, effective July 1, 2007.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to school district improvement; creating new provisions;
  amending ORS 327.290 and 327.294; repealing ORS 327.297; and
  declaring an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1. ORS 327.290 is amended to read:
  327.290. The Legislative Assembly finds that:
  (1) The state has an interest in ensuring that public resources
for primary and secondary schools are used to achieve the
outcomes established under the Oregon Educational Act for the
21st Century in ORS chapter 329 { +  and to assist school
districts in providing instruction necessary for students to
reach academic standards established by the Legislative Assembly
and the Department of Education + }.
  (2) To achieve that purpose, the School Improvement Fund is
established so the state may support activities directly related
to increases in student achievement while still allowing school
districts flexibility in determining the specific activities
necessary to support students.
  (3) It is the intent of the state in establishing the School
Improvement Fund to link these activities to the recommendations
of the Quality Education Commission established under Executive
Order 99-16 and the recommendations of the Quality Education
Commission established under ORS 327.500.
  SECTION 2. ORS 327.294 is amended to read:
  327.294. (1) There is established the School Improvement Fund,
separate and distinct from the General Fund. Interest earned by
the School Improvement Fund shall be credited to the fund. Any
moneys in the fund that are not distributed by the Department of
Education in any fiscal year shall be retained in the fund and
may be distributed in the next fiscal year.
  (2) The moneys in the fund are continuously appropriated to the
Department of Education for purposes of the  { + school
improvement + } grant program created by   { - ORS 327.297 - }
 { +  section 4 of this 2007 Act + }.
  SECTION 3.  { + (1)(a) School districts, in collaboration with
the Department of Education, shall ensure that students perform
at a level sufficient to demonstrate a rate of academic growth
that will lead to achieving:
  (A) State reading and mathematics benchmarks for grades 5, 8
and 10 so that students will meet or exceed academic content
standards in reading and mathematics, as defined in ORS 329.007,
prior to graduating from high school; and
  (B) Performance targets identified by the school district in
the district's school improvement grant application.
  (b) The department shall review the rate of academic growth
identified by a school district in the district's school
improvement grant application that must be achieved by students
for a school district to meet the requirements of paragraph (a)
of this subsection.
  (2)(a) On or after July 1, 2009, each school district, in
collaboration with the department, shall ensure that at least 70
percent of all students who enter high school earn a high school
diploma within four years of entering high school.
  (b) Each school year after the 2009-2010 school year, the
percentage of students who must earn a high school diploma for a
school district to meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this
subsection shall increase by 0.5 percent until 95 percent of
students must receive a high school diploma for a school district
to meet the requirements of paragraph (a) of this subsection.
  (3) Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, each school
district, in collaboration with the department, shall have an
average school attendance rate for each school year that is equal
to or greater than 93 percent of all students who are enrolled in
the school district.
  (4) The department shall require each school district to
provide evidence of meeting the requirements of this section.
Each school district shall report to the department on whether
the district met the requirements of this section. The report
must describe how each component population in the individual
schools of a school district, and the school district as a whole,
is meeting the requirements of this section.
  (5) As part of the local district improvement plan adopted by
each school district under ORS 329.095, school districts shall
utilize the performance measures required by this section to
identify steps for district improvement, financial allocations
and professional development of the employees of the
district. + }
  SECTION 4.  { + (1) In addition to those moneys distributed
through the State School Fund, the Department of Education shall
award school improvement grants to school districts to assist the
districts in providing instruction necessary for students to
reach the academic standards established by law.
  (2)(a) The base amount of each school improvement grant = the
school district's ADM X (the total amount available for the
grants in a fiscal year : the total statewide ADM for that fiscal
year).
  (b) As used in this subsection, 'ADM' means the average daily
membership as defined in ORS 327.006.
  (3) During the 2007-2008 school year, each school district
shall receive the full base amount as a school improvement grant.
  (4) Each school year after the 2007-2008 school year, a school
district shall receive the full base amount as a school
improvement grant if during the previous school year the school
 
district met the requirements of section 3 (2) and (3) of this
2007 Act and:
  (a) During the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 school years, 50 percent
of all students in the school district met the requirements
established by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (b) During the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, 60 percent
of all students in the school district met the requirements
established by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (c) During the 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 school years, 70 percent
of all students in the school district met the requirements
established by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (d) During the 2013-2014 school year, 80 percent of all
students in the school district met the requirements established
by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (e) During the 2014-2015 school year, 90 percent of all
students in the school district met the requirements established
by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (f) During the 2015-2016 school year, 95 percent of all
students in the school district met the requirements established
by section 3 (1) of this 2007 Act.
  (5) If a school district does not qualify for the full base
amount of the school improvement grant under subsection (4) of
this section, for the next school year:
  (a) The department shall withhold up to 50 percent of the base
amount of the district's school improvement grant; and
  (b) The school district shall include in the local district
improvement plan specific steps the district will take to enable
the district to meet the requirements of subsection (4) of this
section.
  (6) The department shall use the amount withheld from a school
district's school improvement grant to pay for the development of
the local district improvement plan required by subsection (5)(b)
of this section. Grant funds may be used for activities
identified in the local district improvement plan, including but
not limited to:
  (a) The development of an in-depth data analysis of the
performance of the school district and the success of existing
instructional programs of the school district;
  (b) A review of evidence of the success of special programs and
strategies to serve low-performing students;
  (c) Activities that target resources to low-performing and
minority students; and
  (d) Strategies to engage the community in the school district.
  (7) If a school district does not qualify for the full base
amount of the school improvement grant under subsection (4) of
this section for two consecutive school years, the department
shall use a portion of the amount withheld from the school
district's school improvement grant for a performance audit of
the local district improvement plan and the instructional
programs of the school district. The department shall work with
the school district to implement recommendations from the
performance audit.  The department may contract with a public or
private entity for the performance audit.
  (8)(a) If a school district does not qualify for the full base
amount of the school improvement grant under subsection (4) of
this section for three consecutive school years, the department
shall award the amount withheld from the school district's school
improvement grant to an education service district in which the
school district is a component school district. The education
service district shall use the grant to fund activities described
in this subsection.
  (b) The education service district shall provide review and
oversight of the instructional programs of the school district.
The education service district may identify improvements for the
instructional programs and may require the school district to
implement those improvements. The education service district may
also require the school district to provide professional
development to the employees of the school district.
  (9) Each school district shall use a portion of the funds
received as a school improvement grant to implement a
comprehensive community engagement process. Through this process,
a school district shall develop and implement:
  (a) Communication strategies for all language groups that
reside in the school district;
  (b) Procedures for providing community members with accurate
and comprehensive information about the school district and the
programs, finances, performance and budget of the school
district; and
  (c) Procedures for community involvement in the decision-making
process of the school district.
  (10) The State Board of Education may adopt any rules necessary
for the administration of the school improvement grant
program. + }
  SECTION 5.  { + ORS 327.297 is repealed. + }
  SECTION 6.  { + This 2007 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes effect July 1,
2007. + }
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