Section 16-6B-3 Assistance Programs.

(a) Student strategy. The superintendent of the local board of education along with the staff of each school shall develop an assistance program at each school for at-risk students performing below the standards set by the State Board of Education. The standards shall include the results of the required assessment program adopted by the State Board of Education with emphasis on students who are found to be at one or more grade levels below the prescribed norm. The local board of education shall budget at least one hundred dollars ($100) per student so identified to be expended on tutorial assistance programs including, but not limited to, after-school, Saturday school, or summer school, or any combination of these programs. These funds may be budgeted from state or federal funds. However, federal funds already budgeted for at-risk students may not be counted toward the minimum one hundred dollars ($100) requirement set aside to be expended for at-risk students as defined in this chapter. In addition, these funds may be expended for any of the following purposes: (1) Programs to encourage at-risk five-year olds to attend an approved preschool program. (2) Programs to identify at-risk students in the first grade. (3) Programs to ensure strict enforcement of truancy laws. (4) Programs to create alternative or disciplinary schools in which children who consistently exhibit behaviors or patterns of behaviors that interfere with the learning environment of other students would be placed and would be provided counseling and instruction in basic skills. (5) Programs to encourage parental involvement of parents of at-risk children. (6) Programs to encourage literacy of parents of at-risk children. (b) School strategy. The State Board of Education shall develop an assistance program for a school in need of assistance. A school in need of assistance shall mean any school which has a majority of its students scoring one or more grade levels below the prescribed norm on the state adopted student assessments. Local superintendents and local boards of education will be expected to make the effort and commit the resources necessary to improve the instructional program for a school in need of assistance and shall be required to budget all funds earned by that school in the cost calculations of the Foundation Program. Local superintendents and local boards of education are encouraged to use assistance from the State Department of Education, colleges of education, accrediting agencies and other sources. The State Board of Education’s plan for an assistance program shall consist of the following components: (1) The faculty and staff of each school in need of assistance shall engage in a self-study to examine the problem of low achievement within that school and shall develop steps which may be taken to improve student achievement. Parents of students in the schools shall be consulted as part of this self-study. (2) If, after two years, student achievement has not improved, the State Superintendent of Education shall designate a team of practicing professionals to visit the school, conduct a study, consult with parents of students in the school, analyze causes of poor student achievement, and make specific recommendations which shall become a part of a school improvement plan for the succeeding year. (3) As a final step, when insufficient or no improvement as determined by the State Board of Education is evident from the implementation of steps one and two above, the State Superintendent of Education is required to intervene and to appoint a person or persons to run the day-to-day operation of the school. In considering intervention, the State Board of Education shall consider factors which may have affected the prescribed norm test score. Factors shall include drop-out rates, attendance rates, special education enrollment, and any other data necessary to properly interpret student achievement in each school. (c) School system strategy. The State Board of Education shall develop an assistance program for a local board of education identified as being in need of assistance. A local board of education in need of assistance shall mean any local board of education which has a majority of its schools, or a majority of the students in a system, in which the students are scoring one or more grade levels below the prescribed norm. The State Board of Education shall require a local board of education in need of assistance to do the following: (1) The local board of education and the local superintendent with input from other administrators, teachers, staff, parents of students in the school, and the local community shall engage in a self-study to examine the problem of low achievement within the system and to develop steps which may be taken to improve student achievement. (2) If, after two years, student achievement has not improved, the state superintendent shall develop a system-wide school improvement plan in consultation with teachers, parents of students in the school, and the local community. This school improvement plan shall become a part of the local board of education’s program and financial operations for the succeeding year. (3) If, after the implementation of the school improvement plan, student achievement has not sufficiently improved, relative to the previous year’s performance, the State Board of Education shall require the State Superintendent of Education to intervene and assume the direct management and day-to-day operation of the local board of education for such period of time as may be necessary for student achievement to improve. In considering intervention, the State Board of Education shall consider factors which may have affected the prescribed norm test score. Factors shall include drop-out rates, attendance rates, special education enrollment, and any other data necessary to properly interpret student achievement in each system. (d) It is the intent of the Legislature that intervention is not to occur when a school or school system scores below the prescribed average. Intervention by the State Board of Education is to occur only after the three-year period provided in this chapter during which a school or school system fails to show improvement. So long as improvement is being shown, the State Board of Education shall not intervene but shall continue to encourage the school to improve.