Text: HF00592 Text: HF00594 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. There is appropriated
1 2 from the general fund of the state to the department of
1 3 education for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1997, and
1 4 ending June 30, 1998, the following amount, or so much thereof
1 5 as is necessary, to be used for the purpose designated:
1 6 For purposes of the school attendance task force project
1 7 program established in section 299.12:
1 8 .................................................. $ 250,000
1 9 Sec. 2. Section 256.9, Code 1997, is amended by adding the
1 10 following new subsection:
1 11 NEW SUBSECTION. 49. If funds are appropriated by the
1 12 general assembly for the program, establish and coordinate, as
1 13 provided in section 299.12, a school attendance task force
1 14 pilot project program, and publish and disseminate a school
1 15 attendance task force guide, create a grant application
1 16 process and applications forms, and provide technical
1 17 assistance to school attendance task force pilot project
1 18 program grant recipients as provided in section 299.13.
1 19 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 299.12 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TASK FORCE
1 20 PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.
1 21 If the general assembly appropriates moneys for the
1 22 establishment of a school attendance task force pilot project
1 23 program, the department of education shall establish and
1 24 coordinate a school attendance task force pilot project
1 25 program, as provided in this section and section 299.13, to
1 26 effectuate collaborative, positive interventions for truant
1 27 students with multiple needs in order to satisfactorily fill
1 28 the basic needs of the truant student and improve the
1 29 student's attendance. The program shall provide for the
1 30 establishment of school attendance task force projects for a
1 31 school year, which shall be located in at least five public
1 32 school districts. A grant may be awarded to a consortium of
1 33 school districts that meet the requirements provided in
1 34 section 299.13. The department shall establish and administer
1 35 not less than one grant to a large school district, one grant
2 1 to a medium-sized school district, and one grant to a small
2 2 school district, and districts shall be selected from both
2 3 rural and urban areas. For purposes of this section a large
2 4 school district is a district with an actual enrollment of
2 5 five thousand or more pupils; a medium-sized school district
2 6 is a district with an actual enrollment that is greater than
2 7 one thousand one hundred ninety-nine pupils, but less than
2 8 five thousand pupils; and a small school district is a
2 9 district with an actual enrollment of one thousand one hundred
2 10 ninety-nine or fewer pupils.
2 11 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 299.13 GRANT CRITERIA – TASK FORCE
2 12 MEMBERS.
2 13 1. If the general assembly appropriates moneys for the
2 14 establishment of a school attendance task force pilot project
2 15 program as provided in section 299.12 and this section, the
2 16 department of education shall gather information relative to
2 17 successful truancy prevention and intervention programs and
2 18 shall publish the information gathered in a school attendance
2 19 task force guide to be disseminated to public school districts
2 20 by September 1 biennially. Within the initial guide, to be
2 21 published and disseminated by September 1, 1997, the
2 22 department shall include the criteria and process to be used
2 23 in selecting school attendance task force project grant
2 24 recipients.
2 25 2. Criteria for the selection of grant recipients shall
2 26 include, but is not limited to, a method for prioritizing
2 27 grant applications based on illustrated efforts to meet the
2 28 multiple needs of the truants and their families. Criteria
2 29 for the selection shall also include a requirement that the
2 30 task force members will include representatives from the
2 31 school district or from a consortium of school districts, the
2 32 office of the county attorney, the department of human
2 33 services, local police and county sheriff's department, and
2 34 the area juvenile court office, working together under a
2 35 chapter 28E agreement. Evidence of excessive truancy
3 1 intervention needs may entitle a grant application to
3 2 priority, if the application includes methods of amelioration
3 3 of the problem through mediation with a student and the
3 4 student's parent, guardian, or legal or actual custodian.
3 5 3. The department shall create a grant application process
3 6 and application forms and shall provide technical assistance
3 7 to grant recipients to establish school attendance task force
3 8 projects.
3 9 4. Grant recipients shall provide the department of
3 10 education adequate assurance that district school attendance
3 11 policies will be reviewed.
3 12 5. Grant recipients shall convene a meeting of the schools
3 13 within the area, the county attorney, and a representative of
3 14 the area juvenile court office to review the support structure
3 15 needed to improve school attendance.
3 16 6. Notwithstanding section 8.33, unencumbered or
3 17 unobligated funds remaining on June 30 of the fiscal year for
3 18 which the funds were appropriated shall not revert but shall
3 19 be available for expenditure for the following fiscal year for
3 20 the purposes of this section and section 299.12.
3 21 EXPLANATION
3 22 This bill appropriates $250,000 from the general fund of
3 23 the state to the department of education for the 1997-1998
3 24 fiscal year for purposes of the school attendance task force
3 25 project program, which is also established under the bill.
3 26 The department of education is charged with establishing
3 27 and coordinating a school attendance task force pilot project
3 28 program to effectuate collaborative, positive interventions
3 29 for truant students with multiple needs in order to
3 30 satisfactorily fill the basic needs of the truant student and
3 31 improve the student's attendance.
3 32 Five project grants are to be awarded to school districts,
3 33 or a consortium of school districts, of various sizes that are
3 34 selected from both rural and urban areas.
3 35 The department is directed to gather, publish, and
4 1 disseminate to school districts, biennially, information
4 2 relative to successful truancy prevention and intervention
4 3 programs. Within the initial guide, to be published and
4 4 disseminated by September 1, 1997, the department shall
4 5 include the criteria and process to be used in selecting grant
4 6 recipients.
4 7 The department is directed to include in its criteria a
4 8 requirement that the task force members include
4 9 representatives from the school district or from a consortium
4 10 of school districts, the office of the county attorney, the
4 11 department of human services, local police and county
4 12 sheriff's department, and the area juvenile court office.
4 13 Grant recipients shall provide the department of education
4 14 adequate assurance that district school attendance policies
4 15 will be reviewed. Grant recipients are directed to convene a
4 16 meeting of the schools within the area, the county attorney,
4 17 and a representative of the area juvenile court office to
4 18 review the support structure needed to improve school
4 19 attendance.
4 20 LSB 2319YH 77
4 21 kh/jw/5
Text: HF00592 Text: HF00594 Text: HF00500 - HF00599 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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