Bill Text: AZ HB2887 | 2021 | Fifty-fifth Legislature 1st Regular | Introduced
Bill Title: Acceleration and support grant program
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-02-16 - House ED Committee action: Held, voting: (0-0-0-0-0-0) [HB2887 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2021-HB2887-Introduced.html
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REFERENCE TITLE: acceleration and support grant program |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-fifth Legislature First Regular Session 2021
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HB 2887 |
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Introduced by Representative Udall
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AN ACT
establishing the Student-focused acceleration and support grant program; appropriating monies.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Student-focused acceleration and support grant program; requirements; reports; delayed repeal; definitions
A. The student-focused acceleration and support grant program is established to support the costs of high-impact intervention and programming to mitigate the severe learning loss that has occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state board of education shall administer the program.
B. To receive a grant under this section, a local education agency shall submit a teaching and learning plan to the state board of education on behalf of each school within the local education agency that wishes to participate in the student-focused acceleration and support grant program. In developing the teaching and learning plan, the local education agency shall consult and frequently engage with the school leaders who will be executing the teaching and learning plan at the school. The teaching and learning plan shall include all of the following:
1. The schedule for and location of the in-person one-on-one intersession instruction and in-person small group intersession instruction that the school will offer following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year until the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
2. A plan for using master teachers to provide the intersession instruction prescribed in paragraph 1 of this subsection who have proven track records of successfully remediating students in core academic subjects. A school may leverage learning guides and community partnerships, including any of the following:
(a) A national summer school initiative.
(b) A boys and girls club.
(c) A leading nonprofit organization that is committed to strengthening the community by connecting all people to their potential and purpose and to each other and that, working locally, focuses on empowering young people, improving health and well-being and inspiring action in and across communities.
(d) Any other aligned providers.
3. A plan to conduct benchmark examinations in English language arts and mathematics at the beginning and end of the intersession to capture student growth and progress and to provide data showing student growth and progress over the course of the intersession, broken out collectively by both grade level and all of the following groups and categories:
(a) English language learner status.
(b) Students receiving exceptional student services.
(c) Race.
(d) Ethnicity.
(e) Gender.
(f) Students experiencing homelessness, if applicable.
(g) Students in foster care, if applicable.
4. The number of FRPL students and non-FRPL students that the school will serve during the intersession.
5. How the school will prioritize students who are not at grade level in one or more core academic subjects and prepare them for the 2021-2022 school year. The plan may also prioritize students who, according to data, are at risk of not staying at grade level.
6. A description of the curriculum, interventions and structure of instructional support and how that instructional support will meet the academic acceleration needs of FRPL students in general and FRPL students in the priority grade bands in particular.
7. A clear description of the actions that the school will take to engage parents in intersession instruction, including the scheduling options that the school will provide and the actions the school will take to keep parents updated on their child's progress.
8. The signature of the school leader.
C. A local education agency that receives grant monies under this section shall comply with all of the following requirements:
1. The local education agency shall use the grant monies to provide in-person one-on-one intersession instruction and in-person small group intersession instruction following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year until the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.
2. If a parent requests a remote-only or hybrid instruction option, the local education agency may use the grant monies to provide students with remote-only or hybrid intersession instruction options following the conclusion of the 2020-2021 school year until the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. These remote-only or hybrid intersession instruction options shall be in addition to the in-person instruction provided under paragraph 1 of this subsection.
3. If additional grant monies are available after providing the intersession instruction as prescribed in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this subsection, the local education agency shall use the remaining grant monies to extend remediation supports into the 2021-2022 school year. If the local education agency uses remaining grant monies during the 2021-2022 school year, the local education agency shall submit to the state board of education a quarterly report via an expenditure tracker that details how each school within the local education agency that is receiving grant monies during the 2021-2022 school year is using the grant monies. The final report shall be submitted to the state board of education on or before June 1, 2022.
4. The local education agency shall provide at least fifty hours of additional, targeted intersession instruction for students outside the priority grade bands and at least eighty hours of additional, targeted intersession instruction for students in the priority grade bands. If the amount calculated pursuant to section 2, subsection B of this act is either ten percent more or less than $389,000,000, the state board of education may vote to alter the requirements prescribed in this paragraph.
5. The local education agency shall provide parents with various intersession instruction scheduling options, including workday, evening and weekend options, and allow parents to select the schedule that will work best for their families. The local education agency shall keep parents updated on their child's progress and provide the parents with learning supports that they may offer at home, except that the local education agency may not expect parents to deliver the instruction without direct teaching and coaching from a master teacher or learning guide.
6. The local education agency shall separately account for any grant monies received under this section in the local education agency's annual financial report.
7. The local education agency may not use grant monies received under this section to supplant monies budgeted or received from any other source that are generally provided to the local education agency, including title I monies eligible for summer school.
8. The local education agency shall demonstrate to the state board of education that its teaching and learning plan submitted pursuant to subsection B of this section prioritizes outreach to and prioritization in serving low-income students. This paragraph does not prevent a local education agency from serving additional students who are not low-income, subject to capacity.
9. Before the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year, the local education agency shall submit to the state board of education a report on the effectiveness of the strategies that the schools within the local education agency that received grant monies used during intersession and which strategies, if any, the schools will continue to use in the 2021-2022 school year and beyond. This report shall include all of the following:
(a) The final expenditure tracker of each school within the local education agency that received grant monies that details how each school used the grant monies.
(b) The amount of remaining grant monies, if any, that the local education agency plans to use during the 2021-2022 school year.
(c) The results of the benchmark examinations as outlined in the teaching and learning plan.
D. Except as prescribed in subsection F of this section:
1. On receiving a teaching and learning plan for a school that received a letter grade of A or B pursuant to section 15-241, Arizona Revised Statutes, for the most recent year in which letter grades were issued, the state board of education shall immediately remit to the local education agency the amount of grant monies calculated pursuant to subsection E of this section.
2. On receiving a teaching and learning plan for any other school, the state board of education, in conjunction with the department of education and the state board for charter schools, shall evaluate and approve these plans before disbursing grant monies.
E. The state board of education shall distribute grant monies to local education agencies as follows:
1. For each school within a local education agency on behalf of which the local education agency submits a teaching and learning plan, the state board of education shall distribute to the local education agency $500 per FRPL student who was enrolled in the school during the 2019-2020 school year. The local education agency shall use these monies for the purposes prescribed in the school's teaching and learning plan.
2. After the distributions made under paragraph 1 of this subsection, for each school within a local education agency on behalf of which the local education agency submits a teaching and learning plan, the state board of education shall distribute to the local education agency an additional $327 per FRPL student who was enrolled in the school during the 2019-2020 school year and who is in a priority grade band during the 2020-2021 school year. The local education agency shall use these monies for the purposes prescribed in the school's teaching and learning plan.
F. If the amount calculated pursuant to section 2, subsection B of this act is:
1. Greater than $389,000,000, the state board of education shall increase the per-pupil distribution prescribed in subsection E, paragraph 1 of this section accordingly.
2. Less than $389,000,000, the state board of education shall decrease the per-pupil distribution prescribed in subsection E, paragraph 1 of this section for students who are not in priority grade bands only and shall ensure that the per-pupil distribution for students in priority grade bands is not affected.
G. The state board of education may not approve teaching and learning plans or distribute grant monies until on or after May 1, 2021. This paragraph does not prohibit the state board of education, the department of education or the state board for charter schools from accepting teaching and learning plans or providing guidance to local education agencies regarding the program before May 1, 2021.
H. On or before September 30, 2021, the state board of education, with assistance as needed from the department of education, shall compile the reports submitted under subsection C, paragraph 9 of this section and provide them as a comprehensive report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the chairpersons of both the senate and house of representatives education committees. The state board of education shall also provide a copy of this report to the secretary of state.
I. The state board of education shall convene a panel of community members, educators, policy experts and advocates of achievement for low-income students to review results of the student-focused acceleration and support grant program. On or before November 1, 2021, the panel shall submit a report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the chairpersons of both the senate and house of representatives education committees that details the lessons learned that could be scaled. The panel shall also submit a copy of this report to the secretary of state.
J. This section is repealed from and after December 31, 2022.
K. For the purposes of this section:
1. "FRPL students" means students who meet the economic eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1793) for free or reduced-price lunches.
2. "Local education agency" means a school district or charter school.
3. "Priority grade bands" means students who are in kindergarten programs, grade one, grade two, grade three, grade eight or grade eleven during the 2020-2021 school year.
4. "Title I monies" means monies received under title I of the elementary and secondary education act of 1965 (P.L. 89–10; 79 Stat. 27), as reauthorized.
Sec. 2. Appropriation; student-focused acceleration and support grant program; exemption
A. The sum of $389,000,000 is appropriated from the state general fund in fiscal year 2020-2021 to the state board of education for the purposes of administering the student-focused acceleration and support grant program, except that:
1. If the sum calculated pursuant to subsection B of this section is greater than $389,000,000, the appropriation is increased by the amount that the sum calculated pursuant to subsection B is in excess of $389,000,000.
2. If the sum calculated pursuant to subsection B of this section is less than $389,000,000, the appropriation is decreased by the amount that the sum calculated pursuant to subsection B is less than $389,000,000.
B. On or before April 30, 2021, the department of education shall calculate the total estimated school expenditure reductions resulting from equalization formula decreases during fiscal year 2020-2021. The department of education shall calculate this amount using the third quarter estimate and using a methodology that budgets for potential discrepancies between the third quarter estimate and the final total.
C. The appropriation made in this section is exempt from the provisions of section 35-190, Arizona Revised Statutes, relating to lapsing of appropriations, except that any monies remaining unexpended and unencumbered on January 1, 2023 revert to the state general fund.
Sec. 3. Emergency
This act is an emergency measure that is necessary to preserve the public peace, health or safety and is operative immediately as provided by law.
