OK
Oklahoma House Bill HB1656

Oklahoma 2022 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1656 Compare Versions

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2828 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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3030 1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
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3232 HOUSE BILL 1656 By: Brewer
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3838 AS INTRODUCED
3939
4040 An Act relating to school counselors; amending 70
4141 O.S. 2011, Section 3 -104.4, as last amended by
4242 Section 64, Chapter 161, O.S.L. 2020 (70 O.S. Supp.
4343 2020, Section 3-104.4), which relates to public
4444 school accreditation standards ; requiring school
4545 districts to employ at least one certified school
4646 counselor at each school site ; and providing an
4747 effective date.
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5252 BE IT ENACTED BY THE P EOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
5353 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2011, Section 3 -104.4, as
5454 last amended by Section 64, Chapter 161, O.S.L. 2020 (70 O.S. Supp.
5555 2020, Section 3-104.4), is amended to read as follows:
5656 Section 3-104.4 A. The State Board of Education shall adopt
5757 standards for the accreditation of the public schools in this state
5858 according to the requirements of Section 3 -104.3 et seq. of this
5959 title, to be effective as set forth in Section 3 -104.3 et seq. of
6060 this title. The accreditation standards shall incorporate the
6161 curricular standards established pursuant to Section 11 -103.6 of
6262 this title. The accreditation standards shall equal or exceed
6363 nationally recognized accreditation standards to the extent that the
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9090 standards are consistent with an academic results oriented approach
9191 to accreditation. The accreditation adopted by the State Board
9292 shall encompass accreditation for elementary schools, middle
9393 schools, junior high schools, and high schools. The accreditation
9494 standards shall be made available for public inspection at the
9595 offices of the State Department of Education.
9696 B. Standards for accreditation adopted by the State Board of
9797 Education shall include standards relating to the provision of
9898 school counselors to the pub lic school children of this state. The
9999 State Board of Education shall require each local school district to
100100 employ at least one certified school counselor at each school site
101101 within the district and provide information regarding the number of
102102 counselors serving each school site, the duties of all such
103103 counselors including all administrative duties, the number of
104104 students served by each counselor, and information regarding the
105105 number of counselors employed per elementary school, middle school,
106106 junior high school and high school.
107107 C. Except as otherwise provided, schools shall meet the
108108 accreditation standards as a condition of continued accreditation.
109109 Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing changes to the
110110 adopted standards by the State Board of Educa tion pursuant to the
111111 Administrative Procedures Act. The accreditation standards shall
112112 provide for warnings, probation or nonaccredited status for schools
113113 that fail to meet the standards. The Department shall investigate a
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140140 complaint of failure to provide educational services or failure to
141141 comply with accreditation standards within thirty (30) days of
142142 receiving the complaint. If the Department determines that a school
143143 has failed to comply with the accreditation standards, the
144144 Department shall report the re commended warning, probation or
145145 nonaccredited accreditation status to the State Board of Education
146146 within ninety (90) days. If a school does not take action to comply
147147 with the accreditation standards within ninety (90) days after a
148148 report is filed by the Department, the Board shall withdraw
149149 accreditation for the school. The State Board accreditation
150150 regulations shall provide for warnings and for assistance to schools
151151 and school districts whenever there is reason to believe a school is
152152 in danger of losing its state accreditation.
153153 D. If one or more school sites fail to receive accreditation as
154154 required pursuant to this section or subsequently lose
155155 accreditation, the State Board of Education shall close the school
156156 and reassign the students to accredited scho ols within the district
157157 or shall annex the district to one or more other districts in which
158158 the students can be educated in accredited schools.
159159 E. Standards for accreditation adopted by the State Board of
160160 Education shall include standards relating to the provision of
161161 educational services provided in partial hospitalization programs,
162162 day treatment programs, day hospital programs, residential treatment
163163 programs and emergency shelter programs for persons between the ages
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190190 of three (3) and twenty -one (21) years of age. The accreditation
191191 standards shall apply to onsite on-site and offsite off-site
192192 educational services provided by public school districts or state -
193193 accredited private schools. Each school which is providing or is
194194 required to provide educational ser vices for students placed in a
195195 program as described in this subsection shall be actively monitored
196196 by the State Department of Education. The Department shall
197197 determine on an ongoing basis if the educational program and
198198 services are in compliance with the accreditation standards.
199199 F. The State Board shall provide assistance to districts in
200200 considering the possibility of meeting accreditation requirements
201201 through the use of nontraditional means of instruction. The State
202202 Board shall also assist districts in forming cooperatives and making
203203 arrangements for the use of satellite instruction or other
204204 instructional technologies to the extent that use of such
205205 instructional means meets accreditation standards.
206206 G. 1. Accreditation shall not be withdrawn from or den ied nor
207207 shall a penalty be assessed against a school or school district for
208208 failing to meet the media materials and equipment standards, media
209209 program expenditure standards and media personnel standards as set
210210 forth in the accreditation standards adopted b y the Board.
211211 2. The provisions of paragraph 1 of this subsection shall cease
212212 to be effective during the fiscal year which begins on the July 1
213213 immediately succeeding the legislative session during which the
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240240 measure appropriating monies to the State Board of Education for the
241241 financial support of public schools is enacted as law and such
242242 appropriation amount is at least Fifty Million Dollars
243243 ($50,000,000.00) greater than the amount of money appropriated to
244244 the State Board of Education for the financial supp ort of public
245245 schools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019, pursuant to
246246 Chapter 146, O.S.L. 2018. Provided, the Fifty Million Dollars
247247 ($50,000,000.00) shall not include any amount of appropriations
248248 dedicated for support or certified employee salary in creases.
249249 Accreditation shall not be withdrawn from or denied nor shall a
250250 penalty be assessed against a school or school district for failing
251251 to meet the media personnel standards as set forth in accreditation
252252 standards adopted by the Board.
253253 H. 1. The State Board shall not assess a financial penalty
254254 against any school district which is given a deficiency in
255255 accreditation status during any fiscal year as provided for in this
256256 subsection.
257257 2. Beginning with the fiscal year which begins July 1, 2021, if
258258 the amount of money appropriated to the State Board of Education for
259259 the financial support of public schools is at least One Hundred
260260 Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00) greater than the amount of money
261261 appropriated to the State Board of Education for the financia l
262262 support of public schools for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019,
263263 pursuant to Chapter 146, O.S.L. 2018, a financial penalty shall be
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290290 assessed against any school districts that do not comply with the
291291 class size limitations for kindergarten as provided f or in Section
292292 18-113.2 of this title and class size limitations for grade one as
293293 provided for in subsection A of Section 18 -113.1 of this title.
294294 Provided, the One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000.00) shall
295295 not include any amount of appropriations ded icated for support or
296296 certified employee salary increases.
297297 3. The State Department of Education shall submit a report on
298298 statewide classroom sizes to the President Pro Tempore of the
299299 Oklahoma State Senate and the Speaker of the Oklahoma House of
300300 Representatives no later than January 1, 2022.
301301 I. Except as provided for in subsection J of this section,
302302 beginning with the 2019 -2020 school year, evaluations of schools to
303303 determine whether they meet the accreditation standards set forth in
304304 accordance with this section shall occur once every four (4) years
305305 on a schedule adopted by the State Board of Education. The Board
306306 may interrupt the evaluation schedule provided in this subsection
307307 for reasons including a change in the superintendent of the school
308308 district; determination that one or more school district board
309309 members have not met the continuing education requirements as
310310 defined by this title; determination that the school district
311311 falsified information submitted to any public city, county, state or
312312 federal official or agency; initiation of an investigation by the
313313 Board or a law enforcement agency; or other determination by the
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340340 Board that standards for accreditation are not being met by the
341341 school district. The schedule adopted by the Board shall allow for
342342 school districts receiving no deficiencies for two (2) consecutive
343343 years to be reviewed for accreditation less than annually.
344344 Provided, however, that schools shall be evaluated annually for the
345345 purposes of:
346346 1. Local, state and federal funding;
347347 2. Health and safety;
348348 3. Certification requirements for teachers, principals and
349349 superintendents;
350350 4. School board governance, including instructional and
351351 continuing education requirements for school board members; and
352352 5. Any other requirements under state or federal law.
353353 J. Beginning with the 2019 -2020 school year, if a public school
354354 receives a deficiency on its accreditation report, the public school
355355 shall be evaluated annually to determine if it meets the
356356 accreditation standards set forth in accordance with this s ection.
357357 If the public school receives no deficiencies for two (2)
358358 consecutive years, the public school shall be subject to the
359359 evaluation timeline established in subsection I of this section.
360360 SECTION 2. This act shall become effective Nov ember 1, 2021.
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362362 58-1-6849 EK 01/13/21