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| 9 | 9 | | S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT |
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| 16 | 16 | | TEAMS |
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| 17 | 17 | | Introduced By: Representatives Cotter, Noret, Read, McNamara, Potter, Solomon, |
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| 18 | 18 | | Casimiro, Spears, Carson, and Kennedy |
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| 19 | 19 | | Date Introduced: January 24, 2025 |
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| 20 | 20 | | Referred To: House Education |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | |
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| 23 | 23 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 24 | 24 | | SECTION 1. Section 16-53.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-53.1 entitled "Rhode 1 |
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| 25 | 25 | | Island School Improvement Team Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 26 | 26 | | 16-53.1-2. Establishment of school improvement teams. 3 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (a)(1) The school board or school committees of the cities and towns shall establish a 4 |
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| 28 | 28 | | school improvement team for each school in the district, and shall develop procedures for the 5 |
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| 29 | 29 | | election and appointment of school improvement team members. Each school improvement team 6 |
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| 30 | 30 | | shall be composed of the principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, education 7 |
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| 31 | 31 | | support employees, students, parents, and other business and community citizens who are 8 |
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| 32 | 32 | | representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school, provided that 9 |
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| 33 | 33 | | vocational-technical center and high school school-improvement teams shall include students, and 10 |
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| 34 | 34 | | middle and junior high school school-improvement teams may include students. Members 11 |
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| 35 | 35 | | representing teachers, education support employees, students, and parents shall be selected by their 12 |
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| 36 | 36 | | peer groups at the school in a fair and equitable manner. At the middle and high school levels, 13 |
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| 37 | 37 | | where there are designated department heads, those department heads will also be included on the 14 |
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| 38 | 38 | | school improvement team. At a minimum, these school improvement teams at this middle and high 15 |
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| 39 | 39 | | school level shall include at least one department head from a humanities subject area and at least 16 |
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| 40 | 40 | | one department head from one of the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics subject 17 |
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| 41 | 41 | | areas. 18 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) Business and other community members shall be selected by the school according to a 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | procedure established by the school board. The school board shall review the membership 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | composition of each school improvement team. Should the school board determine that the 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | membership elected by the school is not representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | community served by the school, the board shall appoint additional members to achieve proper 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | representation. For the purposes of school improvement teams, the term “teacher” includes 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | classroom teachers, certified student services personnel, and media specialists. For purposes of this 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | subsection, “education support employee” means any person employed by a school who is not 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | defined as instructional or administrative personnel pursuant to law and whose duties require 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | twenty (20) or more hours in each normal working week. 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (3) The school board or school committees of the cities and towns shall establish a 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | districtwide student safety and behavioral health committee ("SSBHC"). Each committee shall 12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | have representation from administration (to be appointed by the superintendent), at least two (2) 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | certified staff (to be appointed by the local collective bargaining agent), and at least two (2) support 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | staff (to be appointed by the local collective bargaining agent), and may also include a school 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | resource officer to be appointed by the superintendent. The school board or school committee shall 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | strive to have staff representation from the elementary, middle, and high school level on the 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | SSBHC. The SSBHC shall be responsible for: 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (i) Ensuring that the district has a comprehensive policy to provide mental health support 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | to students in need and address student behaviors to minimize disruptions of the learning 20 |
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| 68 | | - | (iv) Discussing possible improvements to policies and procedures; 24 |
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| 69 | | - | (v) Making recommendations to the school board or school committee regarding potential 25 |
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| 70 | | - | policy changes; and 26 |
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| 71 | | - | (vi) Providing an annual report to the school board or school committee on student safety, 27 |
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| 72 | | - | mental health, and behaviors, including any recommendations to improve student safety and 28 |
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| 73 | | - | outcomes in a non-punitive manner while ensuring a stable learning environment for all students. 29 |
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| 74 | | - | The SSBHC shall work with the school improvement teams to improve student safety and 30 |
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| 75 | | - | behavioral outcomes at the school building level, but shall not have access to any personally 31 |
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| 76 | | - | identifiable student information. 32 |
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| 68 | + | (iv) Monitoring behavioral incidents and discussing possible improvements to policies and 24 |
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| 69 | + | procedures; 25 |
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| 70 | + | (v) Making recommendations to the school board or school committee regarding potential 26 |
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| 71 | + | policy changes; and 27 |
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| 72 | + | (vi) Providing an annual report to the school board or school committee on student safety, 28 |
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| 73 | + | mental health, and behaviors, including any recommendations to improve student safety and 29 |
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| 74 | + | outcomes while ensuring a stable learning environment for all students. The SSBHC shall work 30 |
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| 75 | + | with the school improvement teams to improve student safety and behavioral outcomes at the 31 |
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| 76 | + | school building level. 32 |
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