House Study Bill 530 SENATE/HOUSE FILE BY (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BILL) Passed Senate, Date Passed House, Date Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays Approved A BILL FOR 1 An Act relating to voluntary or court=ordered school 2 desegregation plans under the state's open enrollment law. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5331XD 82 5 kh/rj/24 PAG LIN 1 1 Section 1. Section 282.18, subsection 3, Code 2007, is 1 2 amended to read as follows: 1 3 3.In all districts involved with voluntary or 1 4 court=ordered desegregation, minority and nonminority pupil 1 5 ratios shall be maintained according to the desegregation plan 1 6 or order.The superintendent of a district subject to a 1 7 voluntary or court=ordered desegregation plan, as recognized 1 8 by rule of the state board of education, may deny a request 1 9 for transfer under this section if the superintendent finds 1 10 that enrollment or release of a pupil will adversely affect 1 11 the district's implementation of the desegregationorder or1 12 plan, unless the transfer is requested by a pupil whose 1 13 sibling is already participating in open enrollment to another 1 14 district, or unless the request for transfer is submitted to 1 15 the district in a timely manner as required under subsection 2 1 16 prior to the adoption of a desegregation plan by the district. 1 17 If a transfer request would facilitate a voluntary or 1 18 court=ordered desegregation plan, the district shall give 1 19 priority to granting the request over other requests. 1 20 A parent or guardian, whose request has been denied because 1 21 of a desegregationorder orplan, may appeal the decision of 1 22 the superintendent to the board of the district in which the 1 23 request was denied. The board may either uphold or overturn 1 24 the superintendent's decision. A decision of the board to 1 25 uphold the denial of the request is subject to appeal to the 1 26 district court in the county in which the primary business 1 27 office of the district is located.By July 1, 2004, theThe 1 28 state board of education shall adopt rules establishing 1 29 definitions, guidelines, and a review process for school 1 30 districts that adopt voluntary desegregation plans. The 1 31 guidelines shall include criteria and standards that school 1 32 districts must follow when developing a voluntary 1 33 desegregation plan. The department of education shall provide 1 34 technical assistance to a school district that is seeking to 1 35 adopt a voluntary desegregation plan. A school district 2 1 implementing a voluntary desegregation plan prior to July 1, 2 220042008, shall have until July 1,20062009, to comply with 2 3 guidelines adopted by the state board pursuant to this 2 4 section. 2 5 EXPLANATION 2 6 This bill eliminates a reference to minority and 2 7 nonminority pupil ratios maintained according to a 2 8 desegregation plan or order under the state's open enrollment 2 9 law. The bill requires that the state board of education 2 10 adopt administrative rules establishing definitions, 2 11 guidelines, and a review process for voluntary desegregation 2 12 plans, and gives school districts implementing a plan prior to 2 13 July 1, 2008, until July 1, 2009, to comply with the new 2 14 guidelines adopted by the state board. The bill also requires 2 15 departmental rules to recognize court=ordered desegregation 2 16 plans. 2 17 The bill is drafted in response to the U.S. Supreme Court's 2 18 decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle 2 19 School District No. 1 et al., No. 05=908, (together with 2 20 Meredith, Custodial Parent and Next Friend of McDonald v. 2 21 Jefferson County Bd. of Ed et al., No. 05=915,) decided June 2 22 28, 2007. In its decision, the court stated that the court 2 23 has condemned as illegitimate a plan whose objective is 2 24 directed only to racial imbalance, without "any pedagogic 2 25 concept of the level of diversity needed to attain the 2 26 asserted educational benefits." The court reiterated that it 2 27 is permissible to "consider the school's racial makeup" as one 2 28 aspect in adopting "general policies to encourage a diverse 2 29 student body." The court offered a number of measures which 2 30 may be used to offer equal educational opportunity to all. 2 31 2 32 LSB 5331XD 82 2 33 kh/rj/24