Bill Text: IN SB0496 | 2011 | Regular Session | Engrossed
Bill Title: Parental initiatives for school reorganization.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)
Status: (Enrolled - Dead) 2011-04-25 - House advisors appointed: Heuer, Noe and Cheatham [SB0496 Detail]
Download: Indiana-2011-SB0496-Engrossed.html
Citations Affected: IC 20-26; IC 20-31.
Synopsis: Parental initiatives for school reorganization. Requires a
school corporation to sell surplus real property to another educational
institution if the educational institution is the highest bidder. Requires
the state board of education to create a school performance category of
pending reorganization. Provides that parents of a school that is in the
third or subsequent year of placement in the lowest performance
category may petition to reorganize the school by: (1) closing the
school and transferring the students to a higher performing school in
the same school corporation; (2) providing tuition payments for
students to transfer to a higher performing school in another school
corporation; or (3) reorganizing the school as a charter school.
Requires the governing body of the school corporation to carry out the
reorganization if the parents of at least 51% of the students in the
school sign the petition. Requires the department of education to place
such a school in the pending reorganization performance category.
Provides that once a school has been reorganized, another petition for
reorganization may not be submitted for at least five years after the
school year in which the reorganization takes place.
Effective: Upon passage.
(HOUSE SPONSORS _ BEHNING, HEUER, PORTER, CHEATHAM)
January 13, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education and Career
Development.
February 17, 2011, amended, reported favorably _ Do Pass.
February 21, 2011, read second time, ordered engrossed. Engrossed.
February 22, 2011, read third time, passed. Yeas 35, nays 14.
March 28, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Education.
April 7, 2011, amended, reported _ Do Pass.
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A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
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(1) is no longer needed for school purposes; or
(2) should, in the interests of the school corporation, be exchanged for other property;
the governing body may sell or exchange the property in accordance with IC 36-1-11.
(b) Money derived from the sale or exchange of property under this section shall be placed in any school fund:
(1) established under applicable law; and
(2) that the governing body considers appropriate.
(c) A governing body:
(1) may not make a covenant that prohibits the sale of real property to another educational institution; and
(2) shall sell real property under this section to another
educational institution if the educational institution is the
highest bidder.
Chapter 12. Parental Initiatives for School Reorganization
Sec. 1. This chapter applies if, in the third or a subsequent year after initial placement in the lowest category or designation under IC 20-31-9, a school remains in the lowest category or designation.
Sec. 2. As used in this chapter, "designated school" refers to a school described in section 1 of this chapter.
Sec. 3. As used in this chapter, "household" means a student who attends a designated school and a parent of the student.
Sec. 4. The parents of students who attend a designated school may petition the governing body to reorganize the designated school under this chapter using one (1) of the following methods:
(1) Closing the designated school and transferring the students to a higher performing school within the same school corporation.
(2) Providing tuition payments for students from the designated school who wish to transfer from the designated school to a higher performing public school in another school corporation.
(3) Restructuring the designated school as a charter school under IC 20-24.
Sec. 5. The following apply to a petition under section 4 of this chapter:
(1) The petition must state which reorganization option under section 4 of this chapter the petitioners seek.
(2) The petition may be signed only by a parent in a household and by only one (1) parent.
(3) A parent in a household may sign the petition the number of times that equals the number of students who reside in the household and attend the designated school.
(4) Each signature must include the signer's printed name and address.
(5) A completed petition must be submitted to the governing body.
Sec. 6. (a) After the governing body receives a completed petition, the governing body shall deliver the petition to the state board for the verification of the signatures.
(b) If a petition that has been verified under subsection (a) contains a number of signatures equal to at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the number of students in the designated school, the governing body shall carry out the reorganization option sought in the petition.
(c) If a petition is verified and returned to the governing body after June 30 and before January 1, the reorganization set forth in the petition must be carried out beginning in the school year next following the date on which the petition was returned to the governing body. If a petition is verified and returned to the governing body after December 31 and before July 1, the reorganization set forth in the petition must be carried out in the school year following the school year next following the date on which the petition was returned to the governing body.
Sec. 7. (a) This section applies to a reorganization that restructures a designated school as a charter school under IC 20-24.
(b) The governing body of the school corporation in which the designated school is located or any other charter school sponsor (as defined in IC 20-24-1-9) shall serve as the sponsor for the charter school.
Sec. 8. (a) This section applies to a reorganization that provides for tuition payments for students who wish to transfer from the designated school.
(b) The department shall administer the tuition payments required under this chapter.
Sec. 9. After a petition for reorganization of a designated school has been verified under section 6 of this chapter, the department:
(1) shall remove the designated school from the lowest performance category or designation and place the designated school into a category or designation of pending reorganization; and
(2) may not place the designated school into a performance category or designation until the school year that next follows the school year in which the reorganization takes place.
Sec. 10. After a designated school has been reorganized, a petition for the reorganization of the designated school under this chapter may not be submitted to the governing body for at least five (5) years after the school year in which the reorganization takes place.
