ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Forty-ninth Legislature, First Regular Session
FINAL AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR S.B. 1196
education; meetings; technical
correction
(NOW: education omnibus)
Purpose
Makes numerous changes regarding public education relating to state agencies, school finance, fingerprinting requirements, retirement benefits, academic receivership, charter schools, school districts, online instruction, special education funding categories, parental information requests, national rankings, technical and conforming changes to update Title 15 and establishes the Task Force for Measuring Academic Gains of K-3 Pupils.
Background
An omnibus bill packages together several measures into one bill as it relates to a single subject. An omnibus is used in order to make numerous changes in one piece of legislation.
The strike-everything amendment to S.B. 1196 addresses issues in public education concerning state agencies, school finance, fingerprinting requirements, retirement benefits, academic receivership, charter schools, school districts, online instruction, special education funding categories, parental information requests, national rankings and establishes the Task Force for Measuring Academic Gains of K-3 Pupils. Additionally, the amendment makes numerous technical and conforming changes to update Title 15.
There is no anticipated impact to General Fund associated with S.B. 1196.
Provisions
State Board of Education (SBE)
1. Requires the SBE to establish a minimum score on one or more nationally recognized college entrance exams, if data on the exams may be accessed for free, for the purposes of satisfying the Arizona Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) graduation requirement if a student has taken and failed to pass one or more portions of AIMS.
2. Adds a requirement that the SBE must determine a district’s equalization aid did not conform to statute in order for the SBE to reduce a district’s state aid for overexpenditures.
3. Prohibits the SBE from reducing a district’s state aid if the equalization conforms to statute but requires the district to reduce its budget limit to adjust for the overexpenditures.
4. Removes the requirement that the SBE hold a hearing when a school district’s expenditures exceed its general budget limit and instead allows the school district to request a hearing to dispute a determination of overexpenditure.
5. Requires the SBE to adopt rules regarding alternative certification for teachers of nontraditional foreign languages, including allowing an accredited test to substitute for the educational coursework requirement for certification.
Arizona Department of Education (ADE)
6. Allows the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish an alternate performance pay system for ADE employees.
7. Contains a statement of intent to allow the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a performance pay system to improve employee productivity and morale.
8. Requires the ADE to notify the SBE when a school district’s expenditures exceed its general budget limit.
9. Adds the ADE to sections authorizing the SBE to deny certification applications to conform to current practice.
10. Expands the instances when a school district may apply to the ADE for further average daily membership adjustments to include natural disasters and hazardous material events.
11. Clarifies that errors in calculating a district’s or charter’s budget limit does not require a reduction in state aid unless the error is in calculating the district’s or charter’s state aid.
Arizona Online Instruction
12. Renames the Technology Assisted Project Based Instruction (TAPBI) program to the Arizona Online Instruction (AOI).
13. Stipulates each new school participates on probationary status.
14. Permits a school to apply for removal from probationary status after demonstrating the academic integrity of its program through the improvement in student academic achievement.
15. Requires the SBE or the State Board for Charter Schools (SBCS) to remove a probationary school from the program if the school fails to demonstrate improvement in student academic achievement within three years.
16. Eliminates the cap on the number of school districts and charter schools authorized to participate in AOI and requires the SBE or SBCS to approve new participants.
17. Removes the enrollment cap for AOI and requires all enrolled students be Arizona residents.
18. Removes existing annual reporting requirements and instructs the SBE and the SBCS to develop annual reporting mechanisms for participating schools. Reporting requirements in effect for existing schools only in FY 2010.
19. Stipulates the percentage of Average Daily Membership (ADM) used to calculate funding for participating students as 95 percent for full-time students and 85 percent for part-time students and specifies how to determine the ADM for AOI students, as follows:
a) Students may generate ADM at any time during the fiscal year and do not incur absences for the purposes of determining ADM.
b) Calculate ADM by dividing reported instructional hours by the required hours for each grade.
20. Directs AOI to include multiple diverse assessment measures and to proctor the administration of required assessments
21. Defines “enrolled part-time” and “enrolled full-time.”
22. Makes technical and conforming changes related to expanding the current pilot program statewide.
School District Governing Boards, School Districts and Schools
23. Permits school district governing boards to submit up to three names to the county school superintendent for consideration in appointing someone to fill a vacant seat on the board.
24. Specifies the board must submit these names within 30 days of notification of the vacancy.
25. Stipulates the county superintendent is not required to appoint someone from the submitted list.
26. Allows a school district board with vacancies to achieve a quorum with a majority of the remaining members.
27. Prohibits a single member from being a quorum.
28. Allows school districts to give enrollment preference and reserve capacity for students whose parents are employed by or at a school within the district.
29. Eliminates the requirement for teachers to keep a school register.
30. Requires teachers to take and maintain daily classroom attendance.
Parental Information Requests
31. Requires parents to submit a written request for information regarding their child’s educational records, curriculum and learning material to the school principal or the superintendent of the school district during regular business hours.
32. States the principal or superintendent must either deliver the requested information or a written explanation for the denial.
33. Permits a parent to submit a written request for the information to the school district governing board if the initial request was denied or not received within 15 days of the original request.
34. Requires the school district governing board to consider a written request for information at the next scheduled public meeting that the request can be properly noticed and placed on the agenda.
Charter Schools
35. Affords charter schools in compliance with statutory fingerprinting requirements the same rights and protections provided to school districts.
36. Allows a charter school board with vacancies to achieve a quorum with a majority of the remaining members, if permitted by the charter school’s operating agreement.
37. Permits charter schools to give enrollment preference to children of board members and employees of the charter holder and the school.
38. Authorizes charter schools to provide instruction to a single gender, with permission of its sponsor.
39. Defines “charter holder.”
40. Allows charter schools to enter into contracts or agreements for joint purchasing of insurance.
Special Education
41. Renames the disability category of preschool severe delay (P-SD) to early childhood severe delay (ECSD).
42. Replaces the P-SD Group B weight with the ECSD Group B weight.
43. Renames the disability category of preschool moderate delay to developmental delay (DD) and includes children ages three through nine.
44. Clarifies that the Group A weight may be used for DD programs.
45. Establishes a Group B weight for DD, but prohibits Group B funding for preschool children in the DD category.
46. Incorporates the disability category of preschool speech/language delay and specific learning disability for preschool children into speech/language impairment (SLI).
47. Prohibits Group B funding for preschool children in the SLI category.
Fingerprinting
48. Expands the list of those individuals required to obtain identity verified fingerprint clearance cards to include students in a teacher preparation program, participants in field experience or student teaching, and tutors.
49. Removes the requirement for students who are enrolled in a teacher preparation program in Arizona but are teaching or engaging in field experience in another state to obtain an Arizona fingerprint clearance cards.
Academic Receivership
50. Repeals current district mismanagement provisions.
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51. Allows ADE to recommend to the SBE to hold a public hearing to determine whether a district should be subject to an Alternative Operation Plan (AOP).
52. Specifies that a district must have at least half of its schools, with a minimum of six, designated as underperforming or failing in order for ADE to make a recommendation.
53. Specifies the items ADE must consider prior to making a recommendation and for the SBE to decide to place a district on an AOP as:
a) Likelihood continued school based interventions will be successful.
b) Extent the district’s administrators and governing board impacted its underperforming or failing labels of the district’s schools.
c) Whether the schools designated as underperforming or failing demonstrated reasonable academic growth as determined by the specified measure of academic progress.
54. Allows the SBE to provide the development and implementation of AOP for a district upon a majority vote of the entire board.
55. Requires ADE to recommend three government, nonprofit, or private entities or individuals to manage the district’s affairs to the SBE who must appoint a manager from the list and specify their scope of authority.
56. Directs the appointed manager to review and investigate the district’s educational affairs, submit a report to the SBE of its findings and an AOP.
57. Requires the AOP to include a timeline and details on how the school district administration transitions back to the school district’s governing board.
58. Specifies that the appointed manager may be authorized by the SBE to:
a) override decisions by the district’s administrators, governing board or both and initiate decisions regarding district management and operation, including reopening a school as a charter school.
b) hire and fire personnel and terminate existing employment contracts to the extent permitted by law, including the district superintendent.
c) attend any and all meetings of district staff and governing board.
d) supervise and direct district staff, including reassigning personnel responsibilities and duties.
e) appoint a chief education officer who possesses a valid administrative certificate and will retain all the powers and duties of a superintendent.
f) cancel or renegotiate any contracts except for contracts of certified teachers employed by the district for more than one year.
59. Requires the SBE to periodically review districts under an AOP to determine whether operating authority should be returned to the district governing board.
60. Allows the SBE to remove and replace the appointed manager if progress is deemed to be insufficient.
61. Designates the district as responsible for the expenses and costs associated with the appointed manager.
Employment Benefits
62. Allows districts currently offering postemployment benefits to deposit funds used for those benefits into another postemployment benefits (OPEB) fund, trust account or both.
63. Prohibits legislative appropriations to fund these benefits.
64. Specifies monies in OPEB accounts are not subject to reversion unless the account is inactive for five years, at which time monies revert to the district’s maintenance and operations fund.
65. OPEB trust accounts must meet the following requirements: irrevocable, deposited contributions; assets dedicated to providing benefits to district retirees and their beneficiaries; and assets are legally protected from district or investment manager creditors.
66. Specifies qualifications for investment managers and establishes their authority over funds and defines OPEB fund
67. Restricts the amount that may be invested in equity securities to 30 percent.
68. Requires districts to annually submit an actuarial study of existing and prospective OPEBs to the Joint Legislative Budget Committee by September 1 that includes an analysis of defined contribution plans and defined benefits.
69. Allows the Arizona State Retirement System to establish a supplemental employee deferral plan for public employees, other than state employees, to save additional tax-deferred money for retirement.
Insurance Pools
70. Allows school districts to contract with an insurance pool operated solely for charter schools.
71. Requires a trustee, board of trustees, or insurance pool contracting with a school district or charter school to provide a common self-insurance program to:
a) Comply with all open meeting and public records laws.
b) Be subject to the same accounting, auditing, and reporting requirements insurance pools operated by two or more public agencies.
Arizona National Rankings
72. Requires ADE to collect, evaluate and assess existing studies and findings on national rankings and overall quality of Arizona schools.
73. Specifies what the studies and findings shall include and requires all data to be scientifically reliable.
74. Requires ADE to submit an annual report to the Governor, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by December 1 of each year.
75. Requires ADE to present its findings at a public meeting for discussion and analysis.
K-3 Academic Gains Task Force
76. Establishes the Task Force for Measuring Academic Gains of K-3 Pupils (Task Force) to develop measures and tasks associated with measures of academic gains in math, reading and language for students in kindergarten through third grade.
77. Allows school districts and charter schools to voluntarily participate in the measures.
78. Requires ADE to develop the process, upon approval from the SBE, for school districts and charter schools that participate to improve their academic achievement profile.
79. Requires the SBE to review and approve any testing process developed by the Task Force.
80. Requires ADE to maintain the integrity of any testing process used to measure the academic gains.
School Facilities Board (SFB)
81. Prohibits school districts from taking action at any time, rather than the current three-year time frame, to reduce pupil square footage or equipment without SFB notification and written approval.
82. Allows the SFB to contract for construction project management services, school building assessments, and services related to land acquisition and new school site development.
83. Permits the SFB to contract directly with construction project managers.
84. Authorizes the SFB access to school district utility bills for data related to energy usage after giving written notice to each district and receiving no objection.
85. Makes additional technical and conforming changes removing language relating to deficiencies corrections.
86. Changes, from September 1 to October 15, the date by which school districts must report school building information for building renewal to the SFB.
87. Allows monies from the New Schools Facilities Fund to be used for SFB contracted expenses.
88. Prohibits districts from taking action at any time, rather than the current three-year time frame, to reduce pupil square footage or equipment without SFB notification and written approval.
89. Requires the SFB to distribute monies received from the State Land Department for public education leases to a school district that provided the funding for the lease if the district is approved for a new school but received no award due to the new school construction moratorium in FY 2010.
Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education (ACPE)
90. Continues ACPE until July 1, 2019.
91. Repeals ACPE on January 1, 2020.
92. Contains a purpose statement regarding the continuation of the ACPE.
Miscellaneous
93. Allows school districts and charter schools to begin reporting new student level data elements on July 1 of the year following the effective date of the law requiring the collection of the data, unless otherwise prescribed.
94. Exempts school districts and charter schools from municipal tax on the storage, use or consumption of personal property.
95. Modifies the requirement for public universities in this state to offer the required classes on the U.S. and Arizona constitutions rather than administer the exam.
96. Allows Santa Cruz Valley Union High School a five-year payback period for overexpenditures committed by the district from FY 2002-2003 through FY 2006-2007.
97. Allows Red Mesa Unified School District a five-year payback period for overexpenditures committed by the district during FY 2005-2006 and FY 2006-2007.
98. Makes numerous technical and conforming changes, most notably:
a) Updates the school finance statutes.
b) Replaces references to P.L. 81-874 with the current federal reference Title VIII of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
c) Removes language relating to the Deficiencies Corrections program.
d) Repeals outdated and unnecessary sections.
99. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by Committee
· Adopted the strike everything amendment.
Amendments Adopted by the House of Representatives
Parental Information Requests
· Requires parents to submit a written request for information regarding their child’s educational records, curriculum and learning material to the school principal or the superintendent of the school district during regular business hours.
· States the principal or superintendent must either deliver the requested information or a written explanation for the denial.
· Permits a parent to submit a written request for the information to the school district governing board if the initial request was denied or not received within 15 days of the original request.
· Requires the school district governing board to consider a written request for information at the next scheduled public meeting that the request can be properly noticed and placed on the agenda.
Arizona Online Instruction
· Renames the Technology Assisted Project Based Instruction (TAPBI) program to the Arizona Online Instruction (AOI).
· Stipulates each new school participates on probationary status.
· Permits a school to apply for removal from probationary status after demonstrating the academic integrity of its program through the improvement in student academic achievement.
· Requires the SBE or the State Board for Charter Schools (SBCS) to remove a probationary school from the program if the school fails to demonstrate improvement in student academic achievement within three years.
· Eliminates the cap on the number of school districts and charter schools authorized to participate in AOI and requires the SBE or SBCS to approve new participants.
· Removes the enrollment cap for AOI and requires all enrolled students be Arizona residents.
· Removes existing annual reporting requirements and instructs the SBE and SBCS to develop annual reporting mechanisms for participating schools. Reporting requirements in effect for existing schools only in FY 2010.
· Stipulates the percentage of ADM used to calculate funding for participating students as 95 percent for full-time students and 85 percent for part-time students and specifies how to determine the ADM for AOI students, as follows:
o Students may generate ADM at any time during the fiscal year and do not incur absences for the purposes of determining ADM.
o Calculate ADM by dividing reported instructional hours by the required hours for each grade.
· Directs AOI to include multiple diverse assessment measures and to proctor the administration of required assessments
· Defines enrolled part-time and enrolled full-time.
· Makes technical and conforming changes related to expanding the current pilot program statewide.
Academic Receivership
· Clarifies the appointed manager has authority to hire or fire the district superintendant.
· Requires the AOP to include a timeline and details on how the school district administration transitions back to the school district’s governing board.
Insurance Pools
· Allows school districts to contract with an insurance pool operated solely for charter schools.
· Requires a trustee, board of trustees, or insurance pool contracting with a school district or charter school to provide a common self-insurance program to:
o Comply with all open meeting and public records laws.
o Be subject to the same accounting, auditing, and reporting requirements insurance pools operated by two or more public agencies.
Miscellaneous
· Requires the SFB to distribute monies received from the State Land Department for public education leases to a school district that provided the funding for the lease if the district is approved for a new school but received no award due to the new school construction moratorium in FY 2010.
· Clarifies that a charter school board with vacancies may only achieve a quorum with a majority of the remaining members if permitted by their operating agreement.
· Makes technical and conforming changes.
Senate Action House Action
ED 6/10/09 DPA/SE 5-2-0-0 ED 6/22/09 DPA 8-0-0-2-0
3rd Read 6/15/09 27-0-3-0 3rd Read 6/26/09 45-6-9-0
Final 6/29/09 22-6-2-0
Signed by the Governor 7/10/09
Chapter 95
Prepared by Senate Research
August 14, 2009
SM/tam