2005 California Education Code Sections 52070-52075 CHAPTER 6.6. HIGH SCHOOL PUPIL SUCCESS ACT

52070.  (a) This chapter shall be known, and may be cited as, the
High School Pupil Success Act.
   (b) The High School Pupil Success Act is hereby established.
This chapter shall be jointly administered by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction and the Secretary for Education, in consultation
with an advisory committee consisting of representatives from the
State Department of Education, the State Board of Education, the
California School Boards Association, the Association of California
School Administrators, teacher associations, the California Parent
Teacher Association, the California County Superintendents
Educational Services Association, and education nonprofit entities
with proven expertise in systemic education reform as determined by
the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary for
Education.
   (c) The purpose of this chapter is to develop public-private
partnerships on both the local and state levels to aid in the
redesign and reformation of California's high schools for the 21st
century.  A school district that maintains a high school may apply to
participate in the program established pursuant to this chapter.  A
school district that receives private funds for those purposes
described in subdivision (e) shall not be eligible to receive funds
under this chapter.
   (d) This chapter shall be implemented in two phases.  In Phase I,
school districts awarded grants pursuant to this chapter shall form a
"district-community partnership" with a community-based
organization.  Together with the involvement of the whole school
community including parents, teachers, and pupils, the
district-community partnership shall develop a five-year reform and
redesign plan for the development of effective high schools for all
pupils in their districts.  In Phase II, school districts shall
implement their plan.
   (e) The reform and redesign plan developed for Phase I of the act
may include strategies to accomplish any of the following:
   (1) Smaller learning communities within existing high schools.
   (2) Free-standing small high schools.
   (3) Flexible scheduling alternatives to meet the needs of high
school pupils.
   (4) Rigorous academic curricula to prepare high school pupils for
the 21st century workplace.
   (5) The involvement of business, local universities, parent
groups, youth development organizations, community-based
organizations, medical centers, financial institutions, and other
segments of the local community to strengthen curriculum, increase
pupil motivation and expand professional development opportunities
for high school pupils and generally to improve the academic
achievement of high school pupils.
   (6) The reformation of central office administration to meet the
needs of schoolsites to improve academic achievement of high school
pupils.
   (7) Increased alignment of programs between middle school and high
school and providing support services for pupils making this
transition.
   (f) The reform and redesign plan shall be systemic in nature and
apply to all high schools within the district as well as the central
administration functions needed to support reform at the site level.
   (g) The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary for
Education, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall
develop a request for proposals no later than January 30, 2003.  The
Superintendent of Public Instruction shall issue a request for
proposals to all school districts with high schools for planning
grants to implement Phase I of this chapter, no later than January
30, 2003.
   (h) To apply for a grant under subdivision (g), a school district
shall create a district community partnership to assist the school
district in both of the following:
   (1) Developing a reform and redesign plan for Phase I pursuant to
subdivisions (d) and (e).
   (2) Implementing the grant in accordance with Phase II of this
chapter pursuant to subdivision (d) and Section 52073.
   (i) The school district shall act as the administrative and fiscal
agent for the grant.
52071.  (a) Phase I grant proposals shall include the following
components:
   (1) Proposal summary that describes the five-year reform and
redesign plan to be developed.
   (2) Problem analysis and goals, that shall include, but are not
limited to, the following:
   (A) How the pupils in the district have performed on the high
school exit examination.
   (B) How this proposal will link reform efforts being implemented
in the elementary and middle schools of that district to ensure
progress toward pupil success on the high school exit examination.
   (C) How this proposal will link reform efforts being implemented
in the district to ensure progress toward all of the following:
   (i) High schools meeting Academic Performance Index growth
targets.
   (ii) Improved high school pupil assessment scores pursuant to
Section 60640.
   (iii) Improved high school graduation rates.
   (iv) Decreased high school pupil suspension and expulsion rates.
   (3) Proposed membership in the district-community partnership.
   (4) Description of the proposed work-funding needs and the ability
of the district-community partnership to leverage existing funds and
to seek new funds to implement the reform and redesign plan that is
developed in Phase I.
   (5) Administration and governance of the district-community
partnership.
   (6) Budget summary delineating proposed expenditures of the
planning grant funds received.
   (b) The criteria to be used by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction and the Secretary for Education in consultation with the
advisory committee to evaluate all grant proposals and to select
eight participating school districts shall include, but not be
limited to, the following:
   (1) Quality of ideas, vision, and goals for effective high schools
for all pupils.
   (2) Clarity of problem definition and analysis of structural and
capacity barriers.
   (3) Strength of leadership within the district administration and
the proposed community partnership for building effective high
schools for all pupils.
   (4) Demonstrated willingness to engage constituencies at the
schools including principals, teachers, pupils, and parents, and to
engage constituencies in the communities in planning high school
reform.
   (5) Capacity of the district-community partnership members
individually and collectively to overcome system barriers and
building public will.
   (6) Prior district progress in elementary and middle school change
including pupil performance.
   (7) Capacity of the school district to manage the
district-community partnership and the planning process.
   (8) Ability of the district-community partnership to work
effectively with each other.
   (9) Alignment of the proposal with California state educational
standards and preparation for the high school exit examination.
   (c) Priority for selection shall be given to those district
proposals that contain all of the following:
   (1) Districts with one or more high schools ranked in the first or
second decile on the Academic Performance Index.
   (2) Proposals that have one or more high schools participating in
the Immediate Intervention/Underperforming School Program established
by Article 3 (commencing with Section 52053) of Chapter 6.1 or the
High Priority Schools Grant Program contained in Article 3.5
(commencing with Section 52055.600) of Chapter 6.1, and have
identified in their proposal strategies to integrate these reform
efforts into the reform and redesign plan required pursuant to this
chapter.
   (d) In consultation with the advisory committee, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary for Education
shall select, based on the criteria pursuant to subdivision (b), from
those school districts that submit proposals, eight school districts
to each receive a planning grant to develop in Phase I of this
chapter.  The eight school districts selected to participate, when
considered as a group, shall be representative of the various
geographic regions and the demographics of the state.
52072.  (a) A school district that is selected to receive a planning
grant under this chapter for Phase I shall be awarded a one-year
planning grant of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per each high
school in the district with a maximum award of two hundred fifty
thousand dollars ($250,000) for the district.  A participating school
district shall target a minimum of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000)
of the grant funds received toward developing strategies for
improving those high schools in the district that are ranked in the
lowest two deciles.  If the district receives the maximum award of
two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), those funds shall
first be utilized to develop a strategic plan that assists the lowest
performing high schools in that district.
   (b)The planning grant awarded pursuant to subdivision (a) is
intended to cover the costs of Phase I planning activities,
including, but not limited to, data collection, consultations with
pupils, teachers, parents, and other community stakeholders, meetings
and planning retreats, consultant costs, travel costs of school
district-community partnership representative visits to cities
already implementing a strategy or design under consideration, and
dissemination activities.  A school district that receives a grant
shall be known as a participating school district.
   (c) The school district-community partnership is required to
provide a one dollar ($1) match for every one dollar ($1) of the
Phase I grant money awarded.  The matching funds may come from
existing or new public funds, and local community, private and
discretionary funds.  The matching funds may only be used for Phase I
planning activities.  In-kind resources may not be used to fulfill
the match requirement.
52073.  (a) Proposals for Phase I grants shall be submitted to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction on or before April 30, 2003.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall announce Phase I
planning grant awards by June 30, 2003, and the grants shall be
awarded by August 1, 2003.  The high school reform and redesign plans
developed in Phase I of this program shall be submitted to the
Superintendent of Public Instruction by June 30, 2004.
   (b) Reform and redesign plans submitted by June 30, 2004, shall be
evaluated by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the
Secretary for Education, in consultation with the advisory committee,
using the criteria pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 52071, as
well as all of the following criteria:
   (1) Clear delineation of a five-year reform and redesign plan
that, at minimum, contains all of the following:
   (A) The specific actions necessary for the implementation of the
reform and redesign plan.
   (B) Specified benchmarks that demonstrate successful
implementation of the reform and redesign plan over the five-year
period.
   (C) A five-year implementation timeline or schedule.
   (D) A clear demonstration of linking existing reform efforts being
implemented in the school district to ensure progress toward all of
the following:
   (i) Pupils being successful in the high school exit  examination
pursuant to Section 60850.
   (ii) High schools meeting API growth targets pursuant to Section
52052.
   (iii) High school pupils improving assessment scores pursuant to
Section 60640.
   (iv) Improved high school graduation rates.
   (v) Decreasing high school pupil suspension and expulsion rates.
   (2) A five-year expenditure and revenue budget for the
implementation of the reform and redesign plan that includes, but is
not limited to, the following:
   (A) A one dollar ($1) match for every one dollar ($1) of grant
funding received from the state.
   (B) Projected annual cost for implementing of the five-year plan.
   (C) Use of existing state and federal funds including, but not
limited to, funds received under the Immediate
Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program established by Article 3
(commencing with Section 52053) of Chapter 6.1, the High Priority
Schools Grant Program contained in Article 3.5 (commencing with
Section 52055.600) of Chapter 6.1, and Title I and the Comprehensive
School Reform Program of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
(20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
   (3) A listing of indicators that measure annual progress linked to
those elements of the plan described in subdivision (e) of Section
52070.  These indicators shall include, but are not limited, to the
following:
   (A) Participating high schools meeting annual API growth targets.
   (B) Pupils being successful in the high school exit examination.
   (C) Improved high school pupil test scores as indicated on the
annual assessments pursuant to Section 60640.
   (D) Improved high school graduation rates.
   (E) Decrease in high school pupil suspension and expulsion rates.
   (c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction and Secretary for
Education, in consultation with the advisory committee, may develop
additional criteria for evaluating Phase I reform and redesign plans
prior to Phase II implementation.
   (d) School districts shall be notified no later than August 1,
2004, as to the acceptance of their reform and redesign plan for
Phase II implementation.
52074.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Secretary
for Education, in consultation with the advisory committee, shall
work with private donors to secure adequate funding for an evaluation
of this program.  This evaluation shall be provided to the
Legislature and the Governor by no later than January 1, 2009.
52075.  This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2010, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2010, deletes or extends
that date.