Report Title:

School Finances; School Community Councils; Appeals Process

 

Description:

Requires fiscal accountability measures at the school level.  Requires the Board of Education to develop an appeals process for school community councils.  (HB985 HD1)

 


HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

985

TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2009

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT


 

 

RELATING TO EDUCATION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that, with the budgetary authority and flexibility granted to the public schools, it is in the public interest to ensure responsiveness and accountability to the school community.

     To achieve this, the legislature believes it is necessary to enhance communication between various stakeholders and develop a system of decision making that is transparent to all interested parties.

     SECTION 2.  Section 302A-1004, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

     "(a)  The department shall implement a comprehensive system of educational accountability to motivate and support the improved performance of students and the education system.  This accountability system shall:

     (1)  Include student accountability; school or collective accountability; individual professional accountability for teachers, principals, and other employees; and public accounting to parents, community members, businesses, higher education, media, and political leadership;

     (2)  Link authority and resources to responsibility;

     (3)  Define clear roles for all parties and lines of responsibility and mutual obligation and develop a collaborative process with stakeholders, including representatives of appropriate bargaining units, parents, administration, and students;

     (4)  Assess and track measures of academic achievement, safety and well-being, and civic responsibility of individual students at selected grade levels and report trend data on these measures over time annually;

     (5)  Invoke a full and balanced set of appropriate consequences for observed performance, including rewards and recognition for those schools that meet or exceed their goals, assistance to those that fall short, and sanctions for those that, given adequate assistance and ample time, continue to fail to meet goals;

     (6)  Involve an annual statewide assessment program that provides a report card containing trend data on school, school complex, and system performance at selected benchmark grade levels with performance indicators in areas relating to student achievement, safety and well-being, and civic responsibility.  These performance indicators shall include [but not be limited to]:

         (A)  Student performance relative to statewide content and performance standards; and

         (B)  School attendance and dropout rates;

     (7)  Require that teachers and administrators engage in the continuous professional growth and development that ensure their currency with respect to disciplinary content, leadership skill, knowledge, or pedagogical skill, as appropriate to their position.  This requirement may be established by the department in terms of credit hours earned or their equivalent in professional development activity certified by the department as appropriate in focus and rigor;

     (8)  Establish an explicit link between professional evaluation results and individual accountability through professional development of the knowledge, skill, and professional behavior necessary to the position, by requiring that results of the professional evaluation be used by the department to prescribe professional development focus and content, as appropriate;

     (9)  Include an annual statewide fiscal accountability program, which includes a published report card that contains trend data on school, school complex, and systemwide plans and results, including:

         (A)  Amounts allocated;

         (B)  Amounts expended;

         (C)  Amounts carried over; and

         (D)  Any significant changes to the budget, with an explanation for the change;

    (10)  Include an evaluation of the effectiveness of complex area superintendents and principals in supporting:

         (A)  Students' academic achievement, safety and well-being, and civic responsibility; and

         (B)  The satisfaction of stakeholders affected by the work of the complex area superintendents and principals, which may be measured by broadbased surveys; and

         (C)  Fiscal accountability[.], including implementation of section 302A-1308."

     SECTION 3.  Section 302A-1103, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§302A-1103  Principal; authority and responsibility.  The role of the principal shall include [but not be limited to] overseeing the day-to-day management of the school, the primary function of which is to develop and deliver instructional services to students in accordance with statewide educational policy and to enable students to meet or exceed statewide academic standards.  The principal shall:

     (1)  Ensure that the curriculum facilitates the achievement of the statewide student performance standards adopted for the public school system;

     (2)  Develop and present to the school community council for its review and approval, academic and financial plans relating to the school;

     (3)  Exercise authority over the implementation of the budget, policies, and operations of the school; [and]

     (4)  Develop and present to the school community council, in accordance with section 302A-1308, the school budget process as it aligns with the school's academic and financial plans; and

    [(4)] (5)  Collaborate with other principals in the principal's school complex to ensure that:

         (A)  Logical, sequential curricula are adopted within the school complex;

         (B)  Best practices are shared among and implemented by schools within the school complex;

         (C)  The goals and objectives of the school complex are being met;

         (D)  The use of school complex-based personnel and contractors who divide their time between more than one school in a school complex is coordinated to maximize efficiency; and

         (E)  The passage of students through the continuum of grades is coordinated in a manner consistent with section 302A-1004."

     SECTION 4.  Section 302A-1124, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (g) to read as follows:

     "(g)  The principal shall have the authority to set aside any decision made by the school community council if the principal determines it to be in the best interests of the school; provided that the principal notifies the school community council.  If the school community council opposes a decision of the principal, an appeal shall first be brought to the complex area superintendent for resolution and, if necessary, to the superintendent and, finally, to the board [of education].  The board shall develop an appeals process to implement the provisions of this subsection."

     SECTION 5.  Section 302A-1308, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§302A-1308  Use of resources by schools.  School principals shall exercise various means available, including electronic media and websites, to engage and consult with teachers, parents, and students to solicit [their] input and advice on the use of [moneys and positions.] money, positions, and other resources available to the school.  Prior to expending moneys and implementing position assignments, principals shall submit plans for the use of the moneys and positions to their complex area superintendents who shall review the plans for conformance with departmental policies and rules.  Upon approval of the plans, moneys may be expended by the principals for supplies, textbooks, equipment, and services. Positions may be used to meet the unique needs of the schools."

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.