House File 2330 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY MASCHER
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to at=risk students by establishing a school
2 attendance task force pilot project program, requiring a
3 report, and making an appropriation.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
5 TLSB 6160HH 82
6 kh/nh/24
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 256.9, subsection 43, Code Supplement
1 2 2007, is amended to read as follows:
1 3 43. a. Annually prepare a report identifying federal and
1 4 state and, to the extent possible, private foundation funding
1 5 for programs that provide educational, economic, and human
1 6 services support services to at=risk students to assist and
1 7 encourage at=risk students to remain in school and graduate.
1 8 The report shall also include a comprehensive list of options
1 9 and measures schools have used to increase at=risk student
1 10 graduation rates, including but not limited to alternative
1 11 programs, support system programs, tutoring, and one=to=one
1 12 support. The department shall make the report available to
1 13 school districts on its web site.
1 14 b. Prepare a plan and a report for ensuring that all Iowa
1 15 children will be able to satisfy the requirements for high
1 16 school graduation. The plan and report shall include a
1 17 statement of the dimensions of the dropout problem in Iowa; a
1 18 survey of existing programs geared to dropout prevention; a
1 19 plan for use of competency=based outcome methods and measures;
1 20 proposals for alternative means for satisfying graduation
1 21 requirements including alternative high school settings,
1 22 supervised vocational experiences, education experiences
1 23 within the correctional system, screening and assessment
1 24 mechanisms for identifying students who are at risk of
1 25 dropping out and the development of an individualized
1 26 education plan for identified students; a requirement that
1 27 schools provide information to students who drop out of school
1 28 on options for pursuing education at a later date; the
1 29 development of basic materials and information for schools to
1 30 present to students leaving school; a requirement that
1 31 students notify their school districts of residence when the
1 32 student discontinues school, including the reasons for leaving
1 33 school and future plans for career development; a requirement
1 34 that, unless a student chooses to make the information
1 35 relating to the student leaving school confidential, schools
2 1 make the information available to community colleges, area
2 2 education agencies, and other educational institutions upon
2 3 request; recommendations for the establishment of pilot
2 4 projects for the development of model alternative options
2 5 education programs; a plan for implementation of any
2 6 recommended courses of action to attain a zero dropout rate by
2 7 the year 2000; and other requirements necessary to achieve the
2 8 goals of this subsection. Alternative means for satisfying
2 9 graduation requirements which relate to the development of
2 10 individualized education plans for students who have dropped
2 11 out of the regular school program shall include, but are not
2 12 limited to, a tracking component that requires a school
2 13 district to maintain periodic contact with a student,
2 14 assistance to a dropout in curing any of the student's
2 15 academic deficiencies, an assessment of the student's
2 16 employability skills and plans to improve those skills, and
2 17 treatment or counseling for a student's social needs. The
2 18 department shall also prepare a cost estimate associated with
2 19 implementation of proposals to attain a zero dropout rate,
2 20 including but not limited to evaluation of existing funding
2 21 sources and a recommended allocation of the financial burden
2 22 among federal, state, local, and family resources.
2 23 Sec. 2. Section 256.9, Code Supplement 2007, is amended by
2 24 adding the following new subsection:
2 25 NEW SUBSECTION. 57. If funds are appropriated by the
2 26 general assembly for the program, establish and coordinate, as
2 27 provided in section 299.25, a school attendance task force
2 28 pilot project program, create a grant application process and
2 29 application forms, develop grant criteria, and provide
2 30 technical assistance to school attendance task force pilot
2 31 project program grant recipients as provided in section
2 32 299.25.
2 33 Sec. 3. Section 279.51, Code Supplement 2007, is amended
2 34 by adding the following new subsection:
2 35 NEW SUBSECTION. 3A. Each school district shall annually
3 1 review the funding streams it utilizes to provide services to
3 2 at=risk students and returning students and for dropout
3 3 prevention, evaluate the services funded to ensure that the
3 4 funds are being used efficiently and effectively, and make
3 5 every effort to identify additional funding sources, community
3 6 or business collaborations, and other funding opportunities
3 7 and measures which could be accessed by the school district to
3 8 expand the services available to the student, make the
3 9 educational experience more meaningful to the student, and
3 10 encourage the student to stay in school and graduate.
3 11 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 299.25 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE TASK FORCE
3 12 PILOT PROJECT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.
3 13 1. If the general assembly appropriates moneys for the
3 14 establishment of a school attendance task force pilot project
3 15 program, the department of education shall establish and
3 16 coordinate a school attendance task force pilot project
3 17 program, as provided in this section to effectuate
3 18 collaborative, positive interventions for truant students with
3 19 multiple needs in order to satisfactorily fill the basic needs
3 20 of the truant student and improve the student's attendance.
3 21 The program shall provide for the establishment of school
3 22 attendance task force projects for a school year.
3 23 2. The department shall establish and administer not less
3 24 than one grant to a large school district, one grant to a
3 25 medium-size school district, and one grant to a small school
3 26 district, and districts shall be selected from both rural and
3 27 urban areas. For purposes of this section, a "large school
3 28 district" is a district with an actual enrollment of five
3 29 thousand or more pupils; a "medium=size school district" is a
3 30 district with an actual enrollment that is greater than seven
3 31 hundred fifty pupils but less than five thousand pupils; and a
3 32 "small school district" is a district with an actual
3 33 enrollment of seven hundred fifty or fewer pupils. A grant
3 34 may be awarded to a consortium of school districts.
3 35 3. The director of the department of education shall
4 1 develop grant approval criteria for the school attendance task
4 2 force pilot project program. Criteria for the selection of
4 3 grant recipients shall include but is not limited to a method
4 4 for prioritizing grant applications based on illustrated
4 5 efforts to meet the multiple needs of the truant students and
4 6 their families and a requirement that the task force members
4 7 will include representatives from the school district or from
4 8 a consortium of school districts, the office of the county
4 9 attorney, the department of human services, local police and
4 10 county sheriff's departments, and the area juvenile court
4 11 office. Evidence of excessive truancy intervention needs may
4 12 entitle a grant application to priority if the application
4 13 includes methods of amelioration of the problem through
4 14 mediation with a student and the student's parent, guardian,
4 15 or legal or actual custodian.
4 16 4. The department shall provide technical assistance to
4 17 grant recipients to establish school attendance task force
4 18 projects.
4 19 5. Grant recipients shall convene a meeting of the schools
4 20 within the area, the county attorney, and a representative of
4 21 the area juvenile court office to review the support structure
4 22 needed to improve school attendance.
4 23 6. Grant recipients shall provide the department of
4 24 education adequate assurance that district school attendance
4 25 policies will be reviewed. Successful grant recipients shall
4 26 use a local truancy intervention task force to review the
4 27 implementation of truancy provisions in this chapter. Grant
4 28 recipients shall provide the department with a final report on
4 29 the effects of the pilot program implementation. The final
4 30 report shall include recommendations for appropriate
4 31 adjustments to the truancy provisions in this chapter.
4 32 Sec. 5. APPROPRIATION. There is appropriated from the
4 33 general fund of the state to the department of education for
4 34 the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2008, and ending June 30,
4 35 2009, the following amount, or so much thereof as is
5 1 necessary, to be used for the purpose designated:
5 2 For purposes of the school attendance task force pilot
5 3 project program established in section 299.25, if enacted:
5 4 .................................................. $ 250,000
5 5 The department may retain a portion of the funds for
5 6 administrative purposes. Notwithstanding section 8.33,
5 7 unencumbered or unobligated funds remaining on June 30 of the
5 8 fiscal year for which the funds were appropriated shall not
5 9 revert but shall be available for expenditure for the
5 10 following fiscal year for the purposes designated.
5 11 EXPLANATION
5 12 This bill establishes a school attendance task force pilot
5 13 project program and appropriates $250,000 from the general
5 14 fund of the state to the department of education for the
5 15 2008=2009 fiscal year for the purposes of the program. The
5 16 bill also requires the director of the department to prepare a
5 17 report on at=risk funding, and requires each school district
5 18 to annually review and evaluate the at=risk funding and
5 19 programs utilized by the school district.
5 20 The department of education is charged with establishing
5 21 and coordinating the program to effectuate collaborative,
5 22 positive interventions for truant students with multiple needs
5 23 in order to satisfactorily fill the basic needs of the truant
5 24 student and improve the student's attendance.
5 25 Project grants are to be awarded to school districts, or a
5 26 consortium of school districts, of various sizes that are
5 27 selected from both rural and urban areas.
5 28 The director of the department is directed to develop
5 29 criteria and a process for implementing school attendance task
5 30 force pilot programs. The criteria must include a requirement
5 31 that the task force members include representatives from the
5 32 school district or from a consortium of school districts, the
5 33 office of the county attorney, the department of human
5 34 services, local police and county sheriff's departments, and
5 35 the area juvenile court office.
6 1 Grant recipients shall provide the department of education
6 2 with adequate assurance that district school attendance
6 3 policies will be reviewed. Grant recipients are directed to
6 4 convene a meeting with the schools within the area, the county
6 5 attorney, and a representative of the area juvenile court
6 6 office to review the support structure needed to improve
6 7 school attendance.
6 8 Grant recipients shall provide the department with a final
6 9 report on the effects of the pilot program implementation,
6 10 including recommendations for appropriate adjustments to the
6 11 truancy provisions in Code chapter 299.
6 12 The bill also requires the director of the department to
6 13 annually prepare a report identifying funding streams for
6 14 programs that provide support services to at=risk students to
6 15 assist and encourage at=risk students to remain in school and
6 16 graduate. The report shall include a comprehensive list of
6 17 options and measures schools have used to increase at=risk
6 18 student graduation rates. The department must make the report
6 19 available to school districts on its web site.
6 20 Each school district must annually review the funding
6 21 streams it currently utilizes to provide services to at=risk
6 22 students and returning students and for dropout prevention,
6 23 evaluate the services funded to ensure that the funds are
6 24 being used efficiently and effectively, and make every effort
6 25 to identify additional funding sources, community or business
6 26 collaborations, and other funding opportunities and measures
6 27 which could be accessed by the school district to expand the
6 28 services available.
6 29 LSB 6160HH 82
6 30 kh/nh/24