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
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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 desegregation order or
1 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 desegregation order or plan, 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, the The
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 2 2004 2008, shall have until July 1, 2006 2009, 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
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