2006 Louisiana Laws - RS 17:10.5 — School and district accountability; failing schools; transfer to recovery school district

§10.5.  School and district accountability; failing schools; transfer to Recovery School District

A.(1)  An elementary or secondary school operating under the jurisdiction and direction of any city, parish, or other local public school board or any other public entity which is academically unacceptable under a uniform statewide program of school accountability established pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education under authority of law, referred to in this Section as "the state board", shall be designated as a failed school.  When a city, parish, or other local public school board or other public entity: (a) fails to present a plan to reconstitute the failed school to the state board, as required pursuant to such an accountability program, or (b) presents a reconstitution plan that is unacceptable to the state board, or (c) fails at any time to comply with the terms of the reconstitution plan approved by the state board, or (d) the school has been labeled an academically unacceptable school for four consecutive years, the school shall be removed from the jurisdiction of the city, parish, or other local public school board or other public entity and transferred to the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District established in R.S. 17:1990, provided the state board approves the transfer.

(2)  Procedures and standards for aligning the state program of school and district accountability with the requirements of this Section and Part VII of Chapter 8 of this Title shall be adopted by the state board by rule.

B.  A failed school shall be reorganized, as necessary, and operated by the Recovery School District pursuant to its authority in whatever manner is determined by the administering agency of the Recovery School District to be most likely to bring the school to an acceptable level of performance as determined pursuant to the accountability plan.

C.(1)(a)  The Recovery School District shall retain jurisdiction over any school transferred to it until the state board, upon the recommendation of the district's administering agency, enters into an agreement with the city, parish, or other local public school board or any other public entity from which the school was transferred for its return to the jurisdiction of such school board or public entity.  When a school in the district is no longer academically unacceptable, the state board shall require the administering agency of the district to seek agreement for the return of the school.

(b)  Such agreement shall include all of the following:

(i)  Details for the operation of the school by the city, parish, or other local public school board or any other public entity, including provisions for the continuation of the programs that have provided the basis for the academic achievement by the students.

(ii)  Provisions providing for the employment status of all persons employed by the district or the operator of the school who were not employed by the prior system at the time the school was transferred to the jurisdiction of the district.

(iii)  Provisions for the means and timetable for the school's transition and return to the jurisdiction of the school board or other public entity.

(2)(a)  When a school has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District, has been operating pursuant to arrangements established by the Recovery School District for four years, and has failed to improve sufficiently to no longer be academically unacceptable, the state board shall take any one of the following actions:

(i)  Revoke all school approval.

(ii)  Require the Recovery School District to terminate the operational arrangement and provide a different operational arrangement.

(iii)  Return the school to the jurisdiction of the city, parish, or other local public school board or other public entity from which it was transferred.

(b)(i)  However, the provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall not apply if the performance of the school as measured by a school performance score pursuant to a uniform statewide program of school accountability established pursuant to rules adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has improved by at least twenty points during such four-year period.

(ii)  Additionally, the provisions of Subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph shall not apply in any subsequent four-year period during which a school continues to be academically unacceptable provided an improvement in the school performance score of at least twenty additional points is achieved.

D.  At the time of the transfer of a school to the Recovery School District, the parent or guardian with responsibility for decisions regarding the education of any student attending the school or any student who would be assigned to attend the school may choose to continue to have their child be enrolled in and attend the school under the jurisdiction of the Recovery School District or may exercise an option which shall be made available by the city, parish, or other local public school board or any other public entity from which the school is being transferred to enroll in and attend another school operated by the school board or entity.

E.(1)  Annually, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, represented by the superintendent of the Recovery School District, shall submit a written report to the House and Senate committees on education.

(2)  The report required by this Subsection shall include:

(a)  A listing and description of the status of each school for which the state board has required the development of a plan of reconstitution since the submittal of the last report.

(b)  A listing and description of the status of each school which has begun operating pursuant to an approved reconstitution plan since the submittal of the last report.

(c)  A listing and description of the status of each school which has continued to operate pursuant to an approved reconstitution plan since the submittal of the last report.

(d)  A listing and description of the status of each school the jurisdiction over which has been transferred to the Recovery School District since the submittal of the last report.

Acts 2003, No. 9, §1, eff. Nov. 6, 2003.