Legal Resources | Education Code | EC 52055.5
Immediate Intervention/Underperforming Schools Program
(b) Twenty-four months after receipt of funding pursuant to Section 52054.5, a school that has not met its growth targets each year and has failed to show significant growth, as determined by the state board, shall be deemed a state-monitored school.
(1) The state board shall make its final determination regarding whether or not a school shows significant growth no later than 30 days after the public release of a school's growth in API results or the next regularly scheduled meeting of the state board following the expiration of the 30 days if meeting the 30-day time limit would not provide the state board with sufficient time to comply with the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act (Article 9 (commencing with Section 11120) of Chapter 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, within 90 days after the public release of a state-monitored school's growth in API results, the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall do the following:
(A) Assume all the legal rights, duties, and powers of the governing board with respect to that school, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (7) of subdivision (e) and except as provided by Section 52055.51.
(B) Reassign the principal of that school, subject to the findings in subdivision (g).
(3) In addition to the actions specified in paragraph (2), the Superintendent, after consultation with the state board, shall do one or more of the following with respect to a state-monitored school:
(A) Revise attendance options for pupils to allow them to attend any public school in which space is available. If additional attendance options are made available, nothing in this option shall be construed to require either the sending or receiving school district to incur additional transportation costs.
(B) Allow parents to apply directly to the state board for the establishment of a charter school and allow parents to establish the charter school at the existing schoolsite.
(C) Under the supervision of the Superintendent, assign the management of the school to a college, university, county office of education, or other appropriate educational institution, excluding for-profit organizations. The entity chosen to assume management of the school shall possess the qualifications specified in subdivision (b) of Section 52055.51. Consistent with paragraph (6) of subdivision (e), the involvement of the school district during the sanctions process shall be established by contract. The costs of the entity to manage the school shall be established by contract and shall be paid by the school district. However, the Superintendent may not assume the management of the school.
(D) Reassign other certificated employees of the school.
(E) Renegotiate a new collective bargaining agreement at the expiration of the existing collective bargaining agreement, pursuant to Section 3543.2 of the Government Code.
(F) Reorganize the school.
(G) Close the school.
(H) (i) Place a trustee at the school, for a period not to exceed three years, who shall monitor and review the operation of the school. The trustee shall possess the qualifications specified in subdivision (b) of Section 52055.51, shall compile an initial report in accordance with the requirements of subdivision (d) of Section 52055.51, and shall receive reports from the school district and schoolsite no less than three times during the year on the progress towards meeting the goals established in the initial report. During the period of his or her service, the trustee may stay or rescind those actions of the governing board of the school district or schoolsite principal that, in the judgment of the trustee, may detrimentally affect the conditions of the state-monitored school to which the trustee is assigned. The salary and benefits of the trustee shall be established by the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, and shall be paid by the school district.
(ii) For the purposes of this section, in order to facilitate the appointment of the trustee and the employment of any necessary staff, the Superintendent is exempt from the requirements of Article 6 (commencing with Section 999) of Chapter 6 of Division 4 of the Military and Veterans Code and Part 2 (commencing with Section 10100) of the Public Contract Code.
(iii) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, if the Superintendent appoints an employee of the department to act as trustee pursuant to this section, the salary and benefits of that employee shall be established by the Superintendent and paid by the school district. During the time of appointment, the employee is an employee of the school district, but shall remain in the same retirement system and under the same plan as if the employee had remained in the department. Upon the expiration or termination of the appointment, the employee shall have the right to return to his or her former position, or to a position at substantially the same level as that position, with the department. The time served in the appointment shall be counted for all purposes as if the employee had served that time in his or her former position with the department.
(c) When a school is deemed to be a state-monitored school, the governing board of the school district shall, at a regularly scheduled public meeting, inform the parents and guardians of pupils enrolled at the schoolsite that the school is a state-monitored school and that as a result of this determination the corrective actions set forth in subdivision (b) may occur.
(d) In addition to the actions taken pursuant to subdivision (b), the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent shall be included in discussions regarding the governance of the state-monitored schoolsite and the actions that shall be taken in order for the schoolsite to succeed. During the discussions, the participants shall clearly delineate the role that the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent will play during the sanctions period and shall report this delineation to the Superintendent. The role to be played by the governing board of the school district and the district superintendent as delineated during the discussions regarding the governance of the state-monitored schoolsite shall be in addition to those actions set forth in subdivision (e).
(e) After a school is deemed to be a state-monitored school pursuant to subdivision (b), the governing board of the school district shall do all of the following:
(1) (A) Make the same fiscal, human, and educational resources, at a minimum, available to the schoolsite as were available before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b) excluding state or federal funding provided pursuant to Sections 52054.5 and 52055.600. If the total amount of resources available to the school district differs from one year to another, it shall make the same proportion of resources available to the schoolsite as was available before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b).
(B) The entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) shall review the resources allocated to the schoolsite and determine if additional resources should be made available from district funds to reasonably support the schoolsite without detriment to the other schools and pupils of the district.
(C) If the school does not have a management team pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, shall designate an entity to review the resources allocated to the schoolsite and determine if additional resources should be made available from district funds to reasonably support the schoolsite without detriment to the other schools and pupils of the district.
(D) If the entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) or the entity chosen by the Superintendent pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) is unable to obtain the information necessary to make this determination, the entity may request that the Superintendent and state board intervene to obtain the necessary documents.
(E) Any dispute between the entity selected to manage a school pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (b) or the entity chosen by the Superintendent pursuant to subparagraph (C) of paragraph (1) and the school district over resource allocations shall be resolved by the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board.
(2) Continue its current ownership status with respect to the schoolsite.
(3) Continue to provide the same insurance coverage as before the action taken pursuant to subdivision (b) with respect to property, liability, error and omissions, and other regularly provided policies.
(4) Name the Superintendent and the department as additional insureds upon transfer of legal rights, duties, and responsibilities to the Superintendent.
(5) Continue to provide facilities support, including maintenance if appropriate to the management arrangement, and full schoolsite participation in bond financing.
(6) Remain involved with the school throughout the sanction period.
(7) If the state board approves, the governing board of the school district may retain its legal rights, duties, and responsibilities with respect to that school.
(f) In addition to the actions listed in subdivision (b), the Superintendent, in consultation with the state board, may take any other action considered necessary or desirable against the school district or the school district governing board, including appointment of a new superintendent or suspension of the authority of the governing board with respect to the school or schools identified pursuant to subdivision (b).
(g) (1) Before the Superintendent may take any action against a principal pursuant to subdivision (b), the Superintendent or a designee of the superintendent, which may be a panel consisting of the county superintendent of schools of the county in which the school is located or an adjoining county, one principal with experience in a similar type of school, and the superintendent of the school district in which the state-monitored school is located, shall do the following:
(A) Hold an informal hearing to determine whether there are sufficient issues to proceed to a formal hearing. The informal hearing shall be held in a closed session. The principal, and his or her representative, and a school district representative may be present at the informal hearing. The decision on whether to proceed to a formal hearing shall be posted and presented at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district. If the decision is not to proceed to a formal hearing, the posting and presentation shall explain the rationale for this decision. This item may not be a consent item on the agenda.
(B) Hold a formal hearing on the matter in the school district and make both of the following findings:
(i) A finding that the principal had the authority to take specific enumerated actions that would have helped the school meet its performance goals.
(ii) A finding that the principal failed to take specific enumerated actions pursuant to paragraph (1).
(2) Evidence to support the findings made at a formal hearing held pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) shall be presented and discussed in a closed session. The principal, or his or her representative, and a school district representative may be present in the closed session. The findings shall be posted and presented at a regularly scheduled public meeting of the governing board of the school district. This item may not be a consent item on the agenda. The governing board shall give adequate time for public input and response to findings.
(3) The Superintendent may not take any action against a principal pursuant to subdivision (b) if the principal is assigned to the school for one academic year or less.
(h) A school that has not met its growth targets within 36 months of receiving funding pursuant to Section 52054.5, but has shown significant growth, as determined by the state board, shall continue to be monitored by the Superintendent until it meets its annual growth target or the statewide performance target. If, in any year between the third year of implementation funding and the first year the school meets its growth target, the school fails to make significant growth, as determined by the state board, that school shall be deemed a state-monitored school and subject to the provisions of paragraphs (1) to (10), inclusive, of subdivision (b).
(i) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f) shall be conducted from funds provided for that purpose in the annual Budget Act and shall not require reimbursement by the Commission on State Mandates.
(j) An action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (e), or (f) shall be accompanied by specific findings by the Superintendent and the state board that the action is directly related to the identified causes for continued failure by a school to meet its performance goals. These findings shall be made public and discussed at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board of the school district before the enactment of any action taken pursuant to subdivision (b), (c), or (d).
(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 766, Sec. 2.)
Reference:
Education Code 52054.5
Education Code 52055.51
Education Code 52055.600
Government Code 3543.2
Government Code 11120
Military and Veterans Code 999
Public Contract Code 10100