General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1002
January Session, 2013 LCO No. 3747
*03747_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 1002
January Session, 2013
LCO No. 3747
*03747_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING COMMUNITY SCHOOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) As used in this section and sections 2 to 8, inclusive, of this act:
(1) "Full service community school" means a public school that participates in a coordinated, community-based effort with community partners to provide comprehensive educational, developmental, family, health and wrap-around services during nonschool hours for students, families and community members with the objective of improving academic achievement, building school and community engagement and improving the skills, capacity and well-being of the community in which such school is located.
(2) "Local community school consortium" means the partnership established between a local or regional board of education and one or more community partners for the purpose of establishing, operating and sustaining a full service community school.
(3) "Community partner" means a provider of one or more of the following eligible services to students or community residents: (A) Primary medical or dental care, (B) mental health treatment and services, (C) academic enrichment activities designed to promote the cognitive development of students and provide opportunities for students to practice and apply academic skills, (D) programs designed to improve student attendance at school, including the reduction of early chronic absenteeism, (E) youth development programs designed to promote student social, emotional, physical and moral development through the arts, athletic activities, physical fitness, youth leadership, community service and service learning opportunities, (F) early childhood education, (G) parental involvement programs designed to facilitate parental involvement in and engagement with their children's education, including, but not limited to, parental activities that involve supporting, monitoring and advocating for their children's education, parent leadership within the school and parenting skills, (H) school-age child care services, including, but not limited to, before and after-school services and full-day programming that operates during school holidays, summers, vacations and weekends, (I) programs that provide assistance to students who have been truant, suspended or expelled and that offer multiple pathways to graduation or earning a high school diploma, (J) youth and adult job training and career counseling services, (K) nutrition education services, (L) adult education, (M) remedial education and enrichment activities, (N) legal services, or (O) any other programs deemed to be required in the community.
(4) "Community-based, integrated student services" means interventions, coordinated through a single point of contact, that improve student academic achievement by connecting community resources with academic and social service needs of students.
(5) "Community engagement in education" means (A) systematic efforts to involve, engage and collaborate with families, community residents, members of school communities, community partners and other stakeholders in exploring the needs of their students and schools, developing plans to address such needs, and (B) working together to address such needs by (i) developing a welcoming school and school system climate, (ii) mobilizing the community's assets to support student academic achievement and growth, (iii) engaging individuals and stakeholders who have historically not participated in school-community relations, (iv) improving working relationships, and (v) deepening the commitment to student academic success.
(6) "Family engagement in education" means a shared responsibility between families and schools for student academic success, in which schools and community-based organizations are committed to reaching out to engage families that encourage families to actively support their children's learning and development, as well as the learning and development of other children, from birth through young adulthood in the home, school and community.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) On or before August 1, 2013, the local or regional board of education for each school district designated as an alliance district, pursuant to section 10-262u of the general statutes, shall identify two elementary schools and one high school located in the school district that will establish full service community schools at such schools to begin operations in the school year commencing July 1, 2014. The board of education shall give priority to those elementary schools with existing family resource centers.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) (a) On or before October 1, 2013, those schools that are to establish full service community schools, pursuant to section 2 of this act, shall establish a local community school governance board. Each local community school governance board shall consist of (1) the principal, or the principal's designee, (2) the members of the school governance council, established pursuant to section 10-223j of the general statutes, for the school, (3) the director of the family resource center at the school, if applicable, and (4) at least six community partners.
(b) Each local community school governance board shall appoint a full-time community school coordinator to coordinate and administer the operations of the full service community school. The director of the family resource center at the school may serve as the community school coordinator.
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) (a) On or before January 1, 2014, the community school coordinator for a full service community school, in consultation with the local community school governance board and the local or regional board of education for the school district in which such full service community school is located, shall conduct a school operations audit, as described in subsection (b) of this section, and a community operations audit, as described in subsection (c) of this section, to assess the academic, physical, social, emotional, health, mental health and civic needs of students and their families that may impact student learning and academic achievement.
(b) The school operations audit shall determine the extent to which the full service community school (1) has established a strong family and community connection to the school, (2) serves the after-school hours needs of students and the community, (3) is addressing other noncognitive factors that impact student academic achievement, such as students' emotional, artistic, cultural, recreational, mental and physical health needs and the school climate, and (4) is addressing chronic absenteeism. Such school operations audit shall be informed by an inventory of the items described in subparagraphs (A) to (AA), inclusive, of subsection (c) of section 10-223h of the general statutes.
(c) The community operations audit shall determine (1) the extent to which the community is civically engaged, (2) the levels of community engagement in education, and (3) the types of community services that could improve community engagement in education and family engagement in education. Such community operations audit shall be informed by an inventory of the following: (A) The local and state unemployment rates, (B) the number of residents eligible and registered under the supplemental nutrition assistance program pursuant to the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, (C) the number of residents eligible and registered for unemployment compensation, (D) the number of free public libraries located in the community, (E) the availability of safe affordable housing, (F) the number of residents whose primary language is not English and an identification of languages spoken in the community, (G) the number of residents who are eligible and registered for HUSKY Plan, Part A, B, C or D, (H) levels of illiteracy, (I) the accessibility of affordable quality early childhood education, (J) the accessibility of affordable quality child care, (K) career counseling and job training or retraining programs, (L) availability of parenting education resources, (M) access to family support programs, including housing assistance, counseling, financial education, crisis intervention and related services, (N) access to technology, (O) the frequency and quality of noncognitive communications between school officials and community members, and (P) any other relevant information determined by the local community school governance board.
(d) The community school coordinator may use or modify an existing audit, needs assessment or assets assessment that is current and whose assessment and inventory is substantially similar to the school operations audit and community operations audit described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section.
Sec. 5. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) Following the completion of the school operations audit and the community operations audit, pursuant to section 4 of this act, the local community school governance board, established pursuant to section 3 of this act, shall conduct a community resource assessment of potential resources, services and opportunities available within or near the community that children and youth, families and community members may access and integrate into the full service community school. Such assessment shall include (1) a description of services administered by members of the local community school consortium that are funded through grants provided under P.L. 93-380, entitled "An Act to Extend and Amend the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and for Other Purposes", as may from time to time be amended, and (2) a description of the coordination and services provided by specialized instructional support personnel employed by the school or the local or regional board of education participating in the local community school consortium.
Sec. 6. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) The local community school governance board for a full service community school, established pursuant to section 3 of this act, shall develop a full service community school plan upon completion of the school operations and community operations audits, conducted pursuant to section 4 of this act, and the community resource assessment, conducted pursuant to section 5 of this act. The full service community school plan shall coordinate, integrate and enhance community-based, integrated student services associated with schools in a comprehensive manner that meets the holistic needs of students, increases community and family engagement in education and addresses the needs identified in the community operations audit. The full service community school plan shall be developed to accommodate and address the specific needs of the community in which the full service community school is located in the following areas: (1) Early childhood development, including, but not limited to, early childhood education, Head Start programs, early reading first programs, child care services, early childhood school transition services, home visiting, parenting education and services for special needs children, (2) academic support services, including, but not limited to, tutoring, extended day programs, student-parent learning programs, diploma acquisition, college preparation, dropout prevention and recovery, personalized learning environments, summer school and summer learning opportunities, (3) health services, including, but not limited to, primary health care, dental care, vision care, hearing care, mental health services, nutrition services, health education and services for students with special needs, (4) youth development, including, but not limited to, mentoring programs, recreation and physical education, service learning opportunities, civic education programs, leadership development programs, entrepreneurship, community service programs, job training, career counseling, mentorship and internship opportunities, career and technical education, college preparation and counseling services and positive behavioral interventions and support, and (5) social services for students and families, including, but not limited to, family support programs, housing assistance, counseling, financial education, crisis intervention, services for students who are truant or who have been suspended or expelled, diploma acquisition, parenting education, adult education programs, family literacy, parent and caregiver education, job training, citizenship preparation, juvenile crime prevention, rehabilitation programs, youth courts, teen courts, peer juries, drug courts and tribal youth programs, (8) specialized instructional support services, (9) adequate service coordination staffing levels, (10) training, technical assistance and professional development for school-based and community-based personnel providing services, (11) funding for service providers, (12) program administration and planning, and (13) any other relevant services.
Sec. 7. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) The Department of Education shall, within available appropriations, provide an annual grant to the local or regional board of education for a school district in which full service community schools are located. Such grant shall be used for the operation and administration of each full service community school in the district. No funds received pursuant to this section shall be used to supplant federal, state or local funding to such local or regional boards of education that would have otherwise been available for such schools.
Sec. 8. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2013) (a) Not later than July 1, 2015, and annually thereafter, the local or regional board of education for a school district in which full service community schools are located shall submit a report to the Department of Education, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, on each full service community school. Such report shall (1) include an evaluation on the effectiveness of each full service community school, (2) measure the development and implementation of partnerships among the schools, families, students and community partners, and (3) provide information regarding student learning and academic achievement, graduation rates, school readiness, the number of detentions, suspensions and expulsions, graduate enrollment in institutions of higher education, the degree of communication between schools and families, neighborhood safety, school climate, the degree of parental participation in school activities, student health, student civic participation, attendance rates, the number of students and families receiving services and any other information that is relevant.
(b) Not later than January 1, 2016, and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of Education shall submit a report on full service community schools to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. Such report shall include an evaluation of the full service community schools and provide information regarding (1) how state funds were used at the full service community schools to improve the lives of students and families, (2) federal and state barriers to implementation and effective coordination of services at the full service community schools, (3) the extent of coordination between state agencies providing services at the full service community schools, and (4) the efficiency and adequacy of state and local programs and policies with respect to student and family services provided at the full service community schools.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 5 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 6 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 7 July 1, 2013 New section
Sec. 8 July 1, 2013 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 2
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 3
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 4
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 5
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 6
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 7
July 1, 2013
New section
Sec. 8
July 1, 2013
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish full service community schools in alliance districts with the goal of bringing together community partners to provide important student and family services at such schools.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]