REFERENCE TITLE: school report cards |
State of Arizona Senate Fifty-fifth Legislature Second Regular Session 2022
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SB 1516 |
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Introduced by Senator Quezada
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AN ACT
amending sections 15-746 and 15-747, Arizona Revised Statutes; relating to school instruction.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Section 15-746, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-746. School report cards; distribution; annual report; definition
A. Each school shall distribute an annual report card that contains at least the following information:
1. A description of the school's regular, magnet and special instructional programs.
2. A description of the school's current academic goals.
3. A summary of each of the following:
(a) The results achieved by pupils who are enrolled at the school during the prior three school years as measured by the statewide assessment and the nationally standardized norm-referenced achievement test as designated by the state board and as reported in the annual report prescribed by section 15-743.
(b) Pupil progress on an ongoing and annual basis, showing the trends in gain or loss in pupil achievement over time in reading, language arts and mathematics for all years in which pupils are enrolled in the school district for an entire school year and for which this information is available.
(c) Pupil progress for pupils who are not enrolled in a district for an entire school year.
4. The attendance rate of pupils who are enrolled at the school as reflected in the school's average daily membership as defined in section 15-901.
5. The total number of incidents that occurred on the school grounds, at school bus stops, on school buses and at school-sponsored events and that required the contact of a local, county, tribal, state or federal law enforcement officer pursuant to section 13-3411, subsection F, section 13-3620, section 15-341, subsection A, paragraph 30 or section 15-515. The total number of incidents reported shall only include reports that law enforcement officers report to the school and that are supported by probable cause. For the purposes of this paragraph, a certified peace officer who serves as a school resource officer is a law enforcement officer. A school may provide clarifying information if the school has a school resource officer on campus.
6. The percentage of pupils who have either graduated to the next grade level or graduated from high school.
7. A description of the social services available at the school site.
8. The school calendar, including the length of the school day and hours of operations.
9. The total number of pupils who are enrolled at the school during the previous school year.
10. The transportation and food services available.
11. A description of the responsibilities of parents of children who are enrolled at the school.
12. A description of the responsibilities of the school to the parents of the children who are enrolled at the school, including dates the report cards are delivered to the home.
13. A description of the composition and duties of the school council as prescribed in section 15-351 if such a school council exists.
14. For the most recent year available, the average current expenditure per pupil for administrative functions compared to the predicted average current expenditure per pupil for administrative functions according to an analysis of administrative cost data by the joint legislative budget committee staff.
15. If the school provides instruction to pupils in kindergarten programs and grades one through three, the ratio of pupils to teachers in each classroom where instruction is provided in kindergarten programs and grades one through three.
16. The average class size per grade level for all grade levels, kindergarten programs and grades one through eight. For the purposes of this paragraph, "average class size" means the weighted average of each class.
B. The department of education shall develop a standardized report card format that meets the requirements of subsection A of this section. The department shall modify the standardized report card as necessary on an annual basis. The department shall distribute to each school in this state a copy of the standardized report card that includes the required test scores for each school. Additional copies of the standardized report card shall be available on request.
C. After each school has completed the report card distributed to it by the department of education, the school, in addition to distributing the report card as prescribed in subsection A of this section, shall send a copy of the report card to the department. The department shall prepare an annual report that contains the report card from each school in this state.
D. The school shall distribute report cards to parents of pupils who are enrolled at the school, not later than the last day of school of each fiscal year, and shall present a summary of the contents of the report cards at an annual public meeting held at the school. The school shall give notice at least two weeks before the public meeting that clearly states the purposes, time and place of the meeting.
E. Beginning in fiscal year 2021-2022, the school report card prescribed by this section shall include a link to access the information required by section 15-747.
F. For the purposes of this section, "school" includes online course providers as defined in section 15-808 and online schools as defined in section 15-808.
Sec. 2. Section 15-747, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-747. School financial transparency; portal; required information; third-party contractor
A. Beginning in fiscal year 2021-2022, the department of administration shall develop a transparent and easily accessible school financial transparency portal that includes the following school level data for charter schools, individual schools operated by a school district, and school districts, online course providers as defined in section 15-808 and online schools as defined in section 15-808:
1. The detailed total revenues generated by weighted student count.
2. The total allocated federal, state and local revenues and the breakdown per pupil.
3. The allocation of classroom site fund monies.
4. The per pupil amounts allocated for teacher pay and benefits, classroom supplies, student support, special education, extracurricular activities, facilities and other expenditures.
5. A comparison of both:
(a) The per pupil funding information for each school in relation to the per pupil funding information for other schools in the same local education agency.
(b) The per pupil funding information for each school in relation to the state average funding information for school districts and charter schools.
6. Any other information that is necessary for a transparent comparison between schools with respect to their revenues, expenditures, student demographics or academic achievement.
B. The department of education and the state board for charter schools shall provide and assist with any necessary data or financial information the department of administration or the contractor selected pursuant to subsection C of this section requests to comply with and implement subsection A of this section. The auditor general may provide assistance related to this section.
C. The department of administration shall contract with a third party to develop the portal prescribed in subsection A of this section. The third party selected by the department must meet all of the following:
1. Have experience in building education finance platforms to show school financial information in a transparent and easily understandable format.
2. Be incorporated for at least five years.
3. Have an exclusive focus on K-12 education finance technology.
4. Have at least five years of experience building cloud-hosted education finance software.
5. Have experience integrating with the uniform system of financial records.