10
HB 907/AP
House
Bill 907 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Casas of the
103rd,
Coleman of the
97th,
Maxwell of the
17th,
Kaiser of the
59th,
Neal of the
1st,
and others
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the "Quality Basic Education Act," so as to revise
certain provisions relating to organization of schools, middle school programs,
and scheduling; to amend Article 33 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the scholarship program for special needs
students, so as to provide for additional notification of the program; to amend
Article 33 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the scholarship program for special needs students, so as to provide
for application deadlines; to provide deadlines for scholarship payments to
parents; to provide for related matters; to provide for an effective date; to
repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
6 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the "Quality Basic Education Act," is amended by revising Code Section
20-2-290, relating to the organization of schools, middle school programs, and
scheduling, as follows:
"20-2-290.
(a)(1)
The board of education of any local school system is authorized to organize or
reorganize the schools and fix the grade levels to be taught at each school in
its jurisdiction.
Local
school systems which have organized their schools in such a manner that
facilities
Schools
which house grades six, seven,
and eight
or grades seven and
or
eight, or any
combination thereof, shall qualify for the
middle school program for
students in
grade levels so housed. A school which houses grades other than six, seven, or
eight shall only be eligible if it has a full-time principal for grades seven
and eight or six, seven, and eight and another full-time principal for grades
above or below the middle school grades;
provided, however, that such schools also meet all other provisions of this Code
section and
criteria and standards prescribed by the State Board of
Education.
Schools
with students in the sixth grade shall not be eligible for the middle school
program if the sixth grades are not housed in middle schools which also contain
both grades seven and eight. Further, two
or more adjacent local school systems shall qualify for the middle school
program if through their contractual arrangement they jointly meet the
requirements of this Code section and the criteria and standards prescribed by
the state board.
(2)
The board of education of any local school system shall be authorized to employ
school administrative managers in lieu of or in addition to assistant
principals. Such school administrative managers shall not be required to be
certificated by the Professional Standards Commission but shall have such
qualifications as determined by the local board with a minimum requirement of a
bachelor's degree. The duties of school administrative managers shall be to
oversee and manage the financial and business affairs of the school. The
principal shall retain authority over the curriculum and instructional areas.
The school administrative manager shall report directly to the principal. In
the event that a local board considers hiring or utilizing school administrative
managers pursuant to this subsection, it shall receive and give all due
consideration to recommendations by the school council as to whether or not to
utilize such position and as to selection of the manager. Existing employees of
the local board shall be eligible to serve as school administrative managers if
they meet other qualifications and requirements established by the local board
for such position. For purposes of earning funds for such positions, school
administrative managers shall be treated in all respects the same as assistant
principals.
(b)
Except as
otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, local
Local
boards of education shall schedule each middle school so as to provide the
following:
(1)
A minimum of five hours of instruction in English and language arts, reading,
mathematics, science, social studies, and such other academic subjects as the
State Board of Education shall
prescribe.
For students not performing on grade level, as defined by the Office of Student
Achievement, the minimum of five hours shall include such remedial academic
instruction in English and language arts, reading, mathematics, science, or
social studies as required to bring such students to grade level performance
with the priority for such remediation being placed on reading and mathematics
or as otherwise determined by the student's team of academic teachers; provided
that, in making such a determination the team shall consider the student's
performance on the criterion-referenced assessments authorized in Code Section
20-2-181;
(2)
Beyond the minimum of five hours of academic instruction, the local board shall
have the authority to schedule for the remainder of the day such academic or
exploratory classes as the State Board of Education shall prescribe; provided,
however, that a student shall be allowed to take additional academic classes
instead of exploratory classes if the parent or guardian of such a student
requests such assignment, subject to availability; and
(3)
An interdisciplinary team of academic teachers with common planning time of a
minimum of 55 minutes.
(c)
Local schools may apply to the state board for an exception to the schedule set
out in subsection (b) of this Code section in order to schedule a minimum of 4.5
hours of academic instruction. If the local school has achieved an acceptable
rating for the preceding year, the state board shall grant the application for
an exception.
(d)(c)
Local school systems shall comply with subsection (b)
or (c)
of this Code section in order to qualify
for the middle school program.
(e)(d)
If a local school system has a combination of qualified and nonqualified
schools, it shall qualify for the middle school program only for those students
counted in the full-time equivalent count for the middle school program in
qualified middle schools."
SECTION
1A.
Article 33 of Chapter 2 of Title 20 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to the scholarship program for special needs students, is amended in
Code Section 20-2-2113, relating to annual notification of options available to
parents of special needs children, by revising subsection (a) as
follows:
"(a)
The resident school system shall
annually
notify prior to the beginning of each school year the parent
of
provide the
following notice to the parents of all enrolled
students
a student
with a disability by letter,
by
electronic means,
or by such
other reasonable means in a timely manner of the options available to the parent
under this article.
and, if the
school system utilizes automated telephone calls, by such automated system in
each January and April:
'Your
child may be eligible for a Georgia Special Needs Scholarship to attend a
private school or another public school if your child has an Individualized
Education Program (IEP). Information may be found at www.specialedoptions.com
relating to eligibility requirements.'
In
addition, the resident school system shall ensure that a student with a
disability is notified at each individualized education program (IEP)
meeting."
SECTION
1B.
Said
article is further amended in Code Section 20-2-2114, relating to qualifications
for scholarship, by revising paragraphs (3) and (5) of subsection (a) as
follows:
"(3)
The student has spent the prior school year in attendance at a Georgia public
school and
shall have
had an
has a
current Individualized Education Program
(IEP) written by the school in accordance with federal and state laws and
regulations,
regardless of when such IEP was put into
place;"
"(5)
The parent submits an application for a scholarship to the department no later
than the deadline established by the
department;
provided, however, that the department shall provide application deadline
opportunities on August 1, October 1, and March 1 of each school year for a
student to transfer."
SECTION
1C.
Said
article is further amended in Code Section 20-2-2116, relating to amount of
scholarship, by revising subsection (e) as follows:
"(e)
Upon proper documentation received by the department, the department shall make
equal
quarterly scholarship payments to the parents of scholarship students
on dates
established by the department
or, for
students who have been enrolled in a participating school for at least ten days
in the prior quarter if such students enrolled in the participating school after
the school's start date, the department shall make scholarship payments to the
parents of such students beginning on the next payment date included in this
subsection. The department shall make payments on or before September 1,
November 1, February 1, and April 1 for periods corresponding, respectively, to
July 1 through September 30, October 1 through December 31, January 1
through February 28, and March 1 through June
30 during each academic year in which the
scholarship is in force.
In the event
that a quarterly payment date is missed due to a student not having been
enrolled for at least ten days in the prior quarter, the full or prorated
scholarship amount, as applicable, for that deadline shall be included in the
payment on the next following payment deadline. The state auditor shall cite as
an audit exception any failure by the department to meet any such payment
deadlines and shall include such audit exceptions on the website established
pursuant to Code Section 50-6-32. The
initial payment shall be made upon evidence of admission to the participating
school, and subsequent payments shall be made on evidence of continued
enrollment and attendance at the participating school."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.