HOUSE BILL No. 5268

 

August 19, 2009, Introduced by Reps. Genetski, Agema, Amash, Haines, Wayne Schmidt, Tyler, Lund, Moss, Rick Jones, Elsenheimer, Hildenbrand, Meekhof, Rogers, Kowall, Walsh, Knollenberg, Pearce, Ball, Lori, Caul, Opsommer, Calley, Pavlov, Daley, Moore, Rocca, Scripps, Schuitmaker, Stamas, Espinoza, LeBlanc, Tlaib, McMillin, Haveman, Proos, Crawford, Hansen, Booher, Denby, Sheltrown, Miller, Mayes, Gonzales, Terry Brown, Bauer, Roy Schmidt, Slezak, Barnett, Smith, Liss, Constan, Haase, Lindberg, Polidori, Switalski, Robert Jones, Womack, Durhal, Warren, Gregory, Bolger, Clemente, Leland, Haugh, Hammel, Kandrevas, Meltzer, Johnson, Jackson, Dean and Nathan and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

     A bill to amend 1976 PA 451, entitled

 

"The revised school code,"

 

by amending sections 1204a and 1280 (MCL 380.1204a and 380.1280),

 

section 1204a as amended by 1996 PA 159 and section 1280 as amended

 

by 2006 PA 123.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1204a. (1) In addition to the requirements specified in

 

section 1280 for accreditation under that section, if the board of

 

a school district wants all of its schools to be accredited under

 

section 1280, the board shall prepare and submit to the state board

 

not later than September 1 each year, and shall provide that each

 

school in the school district distributes to the public at an open

 

meeting not later than October 15 each year, an annual educational

 

report. The annual educational report shall include, but is not

 

limited to, all of the following information for each public school

 

in the school district:

 

     (a) The accreditation status of each school within the school

 

district, the process by which pupils are assigned to particular

 

schools, and a description of each specialized school.

 

     (b) The status of the 3- to 5-year school improvement plan as

 

described in section 1277 for each school within the school

 

district.

 

     (c) A copy of the core academic curriculum and a description

 

of its implementation, including how pupils are ensured enrollment

 

in those courses or subjects necessary for them to receive adequate

 

instruction in all of the core academic curriculum, and the

 

variances and explanation for the variances from the model core

 

academic curriculum developed by the state board pursuant to

 

section 1278(2).

 

     (d) A report for each school of aggregate student achievement

 

based upon the results of any locally-administered student

 

competency tests, statewide assessment tests, or nationally normed

 

achievement tests that were given to pupils attending school in the

 

school district.

 

     (e) For the year in which the report is filed and the previous

 

school year, the district pupil retention and high school

 

graduation report as defined in section 6 of the state school aid

 

act of 1979, being section 388.1606 of the Michigan Compiled Laws

 

MCL 388.1606.

 

     (f) The number and percentage of parents, legal guardians, or

 

persons in loco parentis with pupils enrolled in the school

 

district who participate in parent-teacher conferences for pupils

 

at the elementary, middle, and secondary school level, as

 

appropriate.

 

     (g) Beginning in the 1996-97 school year, if the school is a

 

high school, all of the following:

 

     (i) The number and percentage of pupils enrolled in the school

 

who enrolled during the immediately preceding school year in 1 or

 

more postsecondary courses under the postsecondary enrollment

 

options act, or under 1996 PA 160, MCL 388.511 to 388.524, and

 

section 21b of the state school aid act of 1979, being section

 

388.1621b of the Michigan Compiled Laws MCL 388.1621b.

 

     (ii) The number of college level equivalent courses offered to

 

pupils enrolled in the school, in the school district, and in

 

consortia or cooperative programs available to pupils of the school

 

district.

 

     (iii) The number and percentage of pupils enrolled in the school

 

who were enrolled in at least 1 college level equivalent course

 

during the immediately preceding school year, disaggregated by

 

grade level.

 

     (iv) The number and percentage of pupils described in

 

subparagraph (iii) who took a college level equivalent credit

 

examination.

 

     (v) The number and percentage of pupils described in

 

subparagraph (iv) who achieved a score on a college level equivalent

 

credit examination that is at or above the level recommended by the

 

testing service for college credit.

 

     (h) A comparison with the immediately preceding school year of

 

the information required by subdivisions (a) through (g).

 

     (2) If a school district provides services to pupils who are

 

convicted of a crime or are adjudicated youth and who are placed by

 

a court in a juvenile detention or other facility for more than 2

 

days, the school district may exclude those pupils and data

 

relating to those pupils from calculations made for the purposes of

 

this section.

 

     (3) (2) At least annually, the department shall prepare and

 

submit to the legislature a report of the information described in

 

subsection (1)(g), aggregated for statewide and intermediate school

 

district totals, using the information submitted by school

 

districts.

 

     (4) (3) The state board shall prepare and make available to

 

school districts suggestions for accumulating the information

 

listed in subsection (1) and a model annual educational report for

 

school districts to consider in the implementation of this section.

 

     (5) (4) As used in this section, "college level equivalent

 

course" and "college level equivalent credit examination" mean

 

those terms as defined in part 14a section 1471.

 

     Sec. 1280. (1) The board of a school district that does not

 

want to be subject to the measures described in this section shall

 

ensure that each public school within the school district is

 

accredited.

 

     (2) As used in subsection (1), and subject to subsection (6),

 

"accredited" means certified by the superintendent of public

 

instruction as having met or exceeded standards established under

 

this section for 6 areas of school operation: administration and

 

school organization, curricula, staff, school plant and facilities,

 

school and community relations, and school improvement plans and

 

student performance. The building-level evaluation used in the

 

accreditation process shall include, but is not limited to, school

 

data collection, self-study, visitation and validation,

 

determination of performance data to be used, and the development

 

of a school improvement plan.

 

     (3) The department shall develop and distribute to all public

 

schools proposed accreditation standards. Upon distribution of the

 

proposed standards, the department shall hold statewide public

 

hearings for the purpose of receiving testimony concerning the

 

standards. After a review of the testimony, the department shall

 

revise and submit the proposed standards to the superintendent of

 

public instruction. After a review and revision, if appropriate, of

 

the proposed standards, the superintendent of public instruction

 

shall submit the proposed standards to the senate and house

 

committees that have the responsibility for education legislation.

 

Upon approval by these committees, the department shall distribute

 

to all public schools the standards to be applied to each school

 

for accreditation purposes. The superintendent of public

 

instruction shall review and update the accreditation standards

 

annually using the process prescribed under this subsection.

 

     (4) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop and

 

distribute to all public schools standards for determining that a

 

school is eligible for summary accreditation under subsection (6).

 

The standards shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and

 

distributed using the same process as prescribed in subsection (3)

 

for accreditation standards, and shall be finally distributed and

 

implemented not later than December 31, 1994.

 

     (5) The standards for accreditation or summary accreditation

 

under this section shall include as criteria pupil performance on

 

Michigan education assessment program (MEAP) tests and on the

 

Michigan merit examination under section 1279g, and, until the

 

Michigan merit examination has been fully implemented, the

 

percentage of pupils achieving state endorsement under section

 

1279, but shall not be based solely on pupil performance on MEAP

 

tests or the Michigan merit examination. or on the percentage of

 

pupils achieving state endorsement under section 1279. The

 

standards shall also include as criteria multiple year change in

 

pupil performance on MEAP tests and the Michigan merit examination.

 

and, until after the Michigan merit examination is fully

 

implemented, multiple year change in the percentage of pupils

 

achieving state endorsement under section 1279. If it is necessary

 

for the superintendent of public instruction to revise

 

accreditation or summary accreditation standards established under

 

subsection (3) or (4) to comply with this subsection, the revised

 

standards shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and distributed

 

using the same process as prescribed in subsection (3).

 

     (6) If the superintendent of public instruction determines

 

that a public school has met the standards established under

 

subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation, the school is

 

considered to be accredited without the necessity for a full

 

building-level evaluation under subsection (2).

 

     (7) If the superintendent of public instruction determines

 

that a school has not met the standards established under

 

subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation but that the school

 

is making progress toward meeting those standards, or if, based on

 

a full building-level evaluation under subsection (2), the

 

superintendent of public instruction determines that a school has

 

not met the standards for accreditation but is making progress

 

toward meeting those standards, the school is in interim status and

 

is subject to a full building-level evaluation as provided in this

 

section.

 

     (8) If a school has not met the standards established under

 

subsection (4) or (5) for summary accreditation and is not eligible

 

for interim status under subsection (7), the school is unaccredited

 

and subject to the measures provided in this section.

 

     (9) Beginning with the 2002-2003 school year, if If at least

 

5% of a public school's answer sheets from the administration of

 

the Michigan educational assessment program (MEAP) tests are lost

 

by the department or by a state contractor and if the public school

 

can verify that the answer sheets were collected from pupils and

 

forwarded to the department or the contractor, the department shall

 

not assign an accreditation score or school report card grade to

 

the public school for that subject area for the corresponding year

 

for the purposes of determining state accreditation under this

 

section. The department shall not assign an accreditation score or

 

school report card grade to the public school for that subject area

 

until the results of all tests for the next year are available.

 

     (10) Subsection (9) does not preclude the department from

 

determining whether a public school or a school district has

 

achieved adequate yearly progress for the school year in which the

 

answer sheets were lost for the purposes of the no child left

 

behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110. However, the department

 

shall ensure that a public school or the school district is not

 

penalized when determining adequate yearly progress status due to

 

the fact that the public school's MEAP answer sheets were lost by

 

the department or by a state contractor, but shall not require a

 

public school or school district to retest pupils or produce scores

 

from another test for this purpose.

 

     (11) The superintendent of public instruction shall annually

 

review and evaluate for accreditation purposes the performance of

 

each school that is unaccredited and as many of the schools that

 

are in interim status as permitted by the department's resources.

 

     (12) The superintendent of public instruction shall, and the

 

intermediate school district to which a school district is

 

constituent, a consortium of intermediate school districts, or any

 

combination thereof may, provide technical assistance, as

 

appropriate, to a school that is unaccredited or that is in interim

 

status upon request of the board of the school district in which

 

the school is located. If requests to the superintendent of public

 

instruction for technical assistance exceed the capacity, priority

 

shall be given to unaccredited schools.

 

     (13) A school that has been unaccredited for 3 consecutive

 

years is subject to 1 or more of the following measures, as

 

determined by the superintendent of public instruction:

 

     (a) The superintendent of public instruction or his or her

 

designee shall appoint at the expense of the affected school

 

district an administrator of the school until the school becomes

 

accredited.

 

     (b) A parent, legal guardian, or person in loco parentis of a

 

child who attends the school may send his or her child to any

 

accredited public school with an appropriate grade level within the

 

school district.

 

     (c) The school, with the approval of the superintendent of

 

public instruction, shall align itself with an existing research-

 

based school improvement model or establish an affiliation for

 

providing assistance to the school with a college or university

 

located in this state.

 

     (d) The school shall be closed.

 

     (14) The superintendent of public instruction shall evaluate

 

the school accreditation program and the status of schools under

 

this section and shall submit an annual report based upon the

 

evaluation to the senate and house committees that have the

 

responsibility for education legislation. The report shall address

 

the reasons each unaccredited school is not accredited and shall

 

recommend legislative action that will result in the accreditation

 

of all public schools in this state.

 

     (15) Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, a high school

 

shall not be accredited by the department unless the department

 

determines that the high school is providing or has otherwise

 

ensured that all pupils have access to all of the elements of the

 

curriculum required under sections 1278a and 1278b. If it is

 

necessary for the superintendent of public instruction to revise

 

accreditation or summary accreditation standards established under

 

subsection (3) or (4) to comply with the changes made to this

 

section by the amendatory act that added this subsection, the

 

revised standards shall be developed, reviewed, approved, and

 

distributed using the same process as prescribed in subsection (3).

 

     (16) If a school district provides services to pupils who are

 

convicted of a crime or are adjudicated youth and who are placed by

 

a court in a juvenile detention or other facility for more than 2

 

days, the school district may exclude those pupils and data

 

relating to those pupils from calculations made for the purposes of

 

this section.