Missouri Revised Statutes













Chapter 160

Schools--General Provisions

←160.700

Section 160.720.1

160.730→

August 28, 2015

Priority schools identified, criteria--comprehensive school improvement plan required, contents--educational audits, requirements--evaluation of plan, time lines--withholding of funds, when--rules.

160.720. 1. The department of elementary and secondary education shall

identify as a priority school any school building or attendance center that

fails to meet acceptable standards of student achievement established by the

state board of education and based upon factors which shall include, but not

be limited to, student assessments, graduation rate, drop-out rate, school

attendance rate, graduate placement in college, vocational or technical

school, or high-wage employment and incidence of school violence.



2. The board of education of any district that contains a priority school

shall submit a comprehensive school improvement plan that provides for the

following:



(1) Identification of the areas of academic deficiency in student

performance on the statewide assessment established pursuant to section

160.518 by disaggregating scores based upon school, grade, academic content

area and student demographic subgroups, which shall include, but shall not be

limited to, race, ethnicity, disability status, migrant status, limited

English proficiency, and economic disadvantage;



(2) Implementation of research-based strategies to assist the priority

school in addressing the areas of deficiency;



(3) Alignment of the priority school's curriculum to address

deficiencies in student achievement;



(4) Reallocation of district resources to address the areas of academic

deficiency, which shall include focusing available funding on professional

development in the areas of deficiency; and



(5) Listing of all school buildings and attendance centers declared to

be priority schools in the district's annual school accountability report

distributed pursuant to section 160.522.



3. The state board of education may appoint a team to conduct an

educational audit of any priority school to determine the factors that have

contributed to the lack of student achievement and shall give audit priority

to schools based upon failure to meet standards of student achievement as

established pursuant to this section.



(1) An audit team shall include an experienced teacher and an

experienced administrator from successful school districts of comparable size

and per-pupil funding. The size of the audit team shall be based upon the

size of the school to be audited;



(2) The audit team shall report its findings to the state board of

education and the local board of education;



(3) The state board may require all or part of those findings to be

addressed in the comprehensive school improvement plan required pursuant to

this section.



4. Comprehensive school improvement plans shall be evaluated based upon

standards established pursuant to subsection 2 of this section and upon the

following time lines:



(1) The comprehensive school improvement plan shall be submitted to the

department of elementary and secondary education on or before August

fifteenth following any school year in which a school district building meets

the criteria established under subsection 1 of this section;



(2) The department of elementary and secondary education shall review

and identify areas of concern in the plan within sixty days of receipt; and



(3) Changes to the plan shall be forwarded to the department of

elementary and secondary education within sixty days of notice to the

district of the areas of concern.



5. The department of elementary and secondary education shall withhold

funds authorized in section 163.031 from any school district that fails to

submit a comprehensive school improvement plan based upon the standards and

time lines established in this section. Withheld funds shall be released upon

submission of a comprehensive school improvement plan that meets the

established requirements.



6. Designation as a priority school and the effectiveness of the school

district in implementing the comprehensive school improvement plan required

under this section shall be considered by the state board of education in the

school district's accreditation granted pursuant to section 161.092.



7. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated under this section shall

become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to chapter 536.



(L. 2002 H.B. 1711, A.L. 2004 S.B. 1080)





2002



2002



160.720. 1. The department of elementary and secondary education shall

identify for recognition by the governor schools demonstrating high student

achievement to be designated as performance schools. In addition, the

department of elementary and secondary education shall identify those waivers

of administrative rule authorized under state law appropriate for the

recognized school district or school. The department of elementary and

secondary education shall endeavor to identify waivers of administrative rule

that result in a meaningful reduction in administrative burden on the

districts recognized in this section.



2. The department of elementary and secondary education shall identify

priority school districts and priority schools based upon the following

criteria:



(1) School attendance centers declared academically deficient by the

state board of education as authorized by section 160.538;



(2) School districts declared unaccredited or provisionally accredited

by the state board of education pursuant to section 161.092, RSMo; or



(3) School districts or school attendance centers that do not meet any

of the accreditation standards on student performance established by the state

board of education based upon the statewide assessment system authorized

pursuant to section 160.518.



3. The board of education of any priority school district or priority

school shall submit, as a part of a comprehensive school improvement plan, an

accountability compliance statement that shall:



(1) Identify and analyze areas of deficiency in student performance by

school, grade and academic content area;



(2) Provide a comprehensive strategy for addressing these areas of

deficiency;



(3) Assure disclosure of these areas of deficiency in the school

accountability report card required pursuant to section 160.522;



(4) Permit a metropolitan district that is implementing a program of

academic improvement in a school or schools identified pursuant to a

settlement agreement for a desegregation lawsuit to submit the elements of the

accountability compliance statement required in subdivisions (1) to (3) of

this subsection for review for possible waiver solely in regard to the schools

identified for academic improvement pursuant to the settlement agreement;

provided, however, that the department of elementary and secondary education

shall meet with any district covered by the provisions of this subdivision

prior to the district submitting any element of an accountability compliance

statement, so that the department may identify elements of the settlement

agreement academic improvement plan that are substantially similar to the

requirements contained in this section, and the department shall advise such

district if, based on its review, any further plan or reporting of such plans

or elements is required; and



(5) Require school boards of each district to annually review the school

discipline provisions contained in section 160.261, and sections 167.023,

167.026, 167.117, 167.161 to 167.171 and 167.335, RSMo, and ensure that the

district's discipline policies are consistent with the above listed sections.



4. The comprehensive strategy for addressing areas of deficiency

required pursuant to this section shall address the following areas:



(1) Align curriculum to address areas of deficiency in student

achievement;



(2) Develop, for any student who is not receiving special education

services under an individualized education plan pursuant to sections 162.670

to 162.699, RSMo, who is performing at a level not determined or at the lowest

level of proficiency in any subject area under the statewide assessment

established pursuant to section 160.518, an individual performance plan in

that subject area which shall:



(a) Be developed by the teacher or teachers in consultation with the

child's parent, guardian, or other adult responsible for the student's

education;



(b) Outline responsibilities for the student, parent, guardian, or other

adult responsible for the student's education, teachers, and administrators in

implementing the plan. Such plans shall not require the level of

documentation and procedural complexities of an individualized education plan

pursuant to sections 162.670 to 162.699, RSMo, but shall contain sufficient

detail for all parties to understand their responsibilities in the

implementation of the student's performance plan;



(c) State that the student's parent, guardian, or other adult

responsible for the student's education shall act in good faith to implement

the student performance plan and make reasonable efforts to meet with the

teacher when requested or required by the plan; and



(d) Require those students performing at a level not determined or at

the lowest level of proficiency in any subject area under the statewide

assessment established pursuant to section 160.518 to be provided with

additional instruction time and for students in grade nine to eleven to retake

the assessment;



(3) Focus state and local professional development funds on the areas of

greatest academic need, including a statement relating to accessing the

resources and services of the regional professional development center and

support from state professional development funds;



(4) Create programs to improve teacher and administrator effectiveness;



(5) Establish school accountability councils consistent with the

procedures stated in subsection 5 of section 160.538 or align any existing

parent advisory council with the requirements of subsection 5 of section

160.538;



(6) Develop a resource reallocation plan for the district; and



(7) Consider the need to implement strategies pursuant to this

subsection for feeder schools of any priority school.



5. The school district shall include in any program for improvement of

teacher and administrator effectiveness in an accountability compliance

statement policies that will:



(1) Require school administrators and teachers, including teachers who

are provisionally or temporarily certified, to participate in one of the

following programs of professional development:



(a) A mentoring program meeting standards established by the state board

of education or supervised by an individual previously designated by the

department of elementary and secondary education as a regional resource

teacher;



(b) Successful completion of a training program for certification as a

scorer under the statewide assessment program authorized pursuant to section

160.518; or



(c) Enrollment and making adequate progress towards national board

certification;



(2) Provide one additional year of intensive professional development

assistance to teachers and administrators who do not complete or make adequate

progress in the professional development activities described in subdivision

(1) of this subsection;



(3) Exempt from the professional development requirements accountability

compliance statement as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection any

individual who:



(a) Holds qualifying scores in the appropriate professional assessment

as determined by the state board of education or who elects to take and

receive a qualifying score of that assessment;



(b) Holds national board certification;



(c) Is certified as a scorer under the statewide assessment program;



(d) Is designated by the department of elementary and secondary

education as a regional resource teacher;



(e) Serves as a mentor teacher for one school year in a program meeting

standards adopted by the state board of education; or



(f) Successfully completes an appropriate administrator academy program

offered pursuant to section 168.407, RSMo.



6. Any resource reallocation plan shall include at least one of the

following elements:



(1) Reduce class size in areas of academic concern;



(2) Establish full-day kindergarten or preschool programs;



(3) Establish after-school, tutoring and other programs offering

extended time for learning;



(4) Employ regional resource teachers designated by the department of

elementary and secondary education or national board-certified teachers, along

with appropriate salary enhancements for such teachers;



(5) Establish programs of teacher home visitation to encourage parental

support of student learning; and



(6) Create "school within a school" programs to achieve smaller learning

communities within priority schools.



7. The state board of education shall establish by administrative rule

standards to evaluate accountability compliance statements, based upon the

following criteria:



(1) An accountability compliance statement shall be submitted to the

department of elementary and secondary education on or before August fifteenth

following any school year in which a school district meets the criteria

established under subsection 2 of this section;



(2) The department of elementary and secondary education shall review

and identify areas of deficiency in the plan within thirty days of receipt;

and



(3) Changes to the plan shall be forwarded to the department of

elementary and secondary education within thirty days of notice to the

district of the areas of deficiency.



8. The department of elementary and secondary education shall withhold

funds to be paid to the school district, as authorized in section 163.031,

RSMo, until such time as the district submits an accountability compliance

statement meeting the standards authorized pursuant to this section within the

time lines established herein.



9. The department of elementary and secondary education shall develop

within three years of the adoption of this section a program of administrator

mentoring focusing on the need of priority schools and priority school

districts and meeting standards established by the state board of education.



10. No rule or portion of a rule promulgated pursuant to the authority

of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant

to chapter 536, RSMo.



11. In any school year in which the school funding formula has a

proration factor on line 1(b) of less than 0.9, the provisions of subsections

2 to 9 of this section relating to priority schools and priority school

districts shall not be enforced. For any school year in which funding of the

school aid formula at the level stated in this subsection appears to be in

doubt after all appropriations bills are truly agreed and finally passed, the

house budget chair and the senate appropriations chair shall send a joint

letter to the commissioner of education by August fifteenth, notifying the

department of elementary and secondary education of the likelihood that

funding would be below the limit stated in this subsection and requesting that

the department not enforce subsections 2 to 9 of this section unless and until

the department's calculations for the first "live" school aid payment of the

school year show that the formula will have a proration factor on line 1(b) of

no less than 0.9.



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