Bill Text: MS HB1120 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mississippi School for Reading and the Arts; create.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2013-02-05 - Died In Committee [HB1120 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2013-HB1120-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2013 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Dixon
House Bill 1120
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR READING AND THE ARTS; TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS USED IN THE ACT; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SCHOOL SHALL BE A RESIDENTIAL FACILITY FOR TALENTED STUDENTS IN GRADES EIGHT THROUGH TWELVE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SCHOOL SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO DEVELOP A PLAN FOR THE OPENING, OPERATION AND FUNDING OF THE SCHOOL TO BE PRESENTED TO THE 2014 LEGISLATURE; TO ESTABLISH AN ADVISORY PANEL TO ASSIST IN DEVELOPING THE PLAN FOR THE SCHOOL; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO HIRE A DIRECTOR OF THE SCHOOL; TO REQUIRE THE BOARD TO DEVELOP RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE SCHOOL AND TO PREPARE THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THE SCHOOL; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO ACCEPT CONTRIBUTIONS FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE SCHOOL; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD TO ENTER INTO AGREEMENTS WITH CERTAIN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS FOR INSTRUCTION AND EDUCATIONAL SERVICES AT THE SCHOOL AND OTHER PUBLIC SCHOOLS; TO ESTABLISH THE "ELEMENTARY READING ACADEMY" TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS' READING SKILLS SO THAT EVERY STUDENT READS AT OR ABOVE GRADE LEVEL; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PROVIDE INTENSIVE READING INSTRUCTION TO STUDENTS EXHIBITING A SUBSTANTIAL DEFICIENCY IN READING IN KINDERGARTEN AND GRADES 1 THROUGH 3; TO PROHIBIT THE PROMOTION OF STUDENTS WHOSE READING DEFICIENCY IS NOT REMEDIED BEFORE THE END OF THIRD GRADE; TO REQUIRE NOTICE TO BE GIVEN TO PARENTS OF STUDENTS EXHIBITING A READING DEFICIENCY; TO SPECIFY CERTAIN ACTIONS SCHOOL DISTRICTS MUST TAKE IN IMPLEMENTING THE ELEMENTARY READING ACADEMY; TO REQUIRE SCHOOL BOARDS TO SUBMIT ANNUAL REPORTS TO PARENTS ON THEIR RESPECTIVE STUDENT'S PROGRESS IN SCHOOL; TO REQUIRE THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO ADOPT POLICIES NECESSARY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTION 37-3-13, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROVIDE THAT THE SALARIES OF EMPLOYEES OF THE MISSISSIPPI SCHOOL FOR READING AND THE ARTS SHALL BE SET BY THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. As used in this act, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed in this section unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(a) "Board" means the State Board of Education.
(b) "School" means the Mississippi School for Reading and the Arts.
SECTION 2. (1) There is created the Mississippi School for Reading and the Arts, which shall be a residential school for eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and twelfth grade students to be located in Hinds County, Mississippi, at a site to be determined by the State Board of Education. The purpose of the school shall be to provide a more challenging educational experience for artistically talented and gifted students of the state to develop their full potential, including the teaching of humanities, reading, creative writing and literature, and the school's curriculum and admissions policies shall reflect that purpose.
(2) The 2015-2016 school year shall be the first year that the school shall admit students for enrollment, which shall be limited to students in the eleventh grade during the school's first year.
SECTION 3. (1) The school shall be governed by the State Board of Education. The board shall develop a plan relating to the opening, operation and funding of the school to be presented to the Legislature during the 2014 Regular Session. The plan shall include an equitable and reasonable plan for student recruitment without regard to race, creed or color.
(2) The State Superintendent of Public Education shall appoint an advisory panel to assist the board in developing the plan relating to the school. The advisory panel shall consist of the following eleven (11) appointed or designated members:
(a) Three (3) licensed school teachers or administrators, one (1) to be appointed from each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court Districts;
(b) Three (3) citizens or professionals representing the areas of reading, creative writing and literature, one (1) to be appointed from each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court Districts;
(c) Three (3) citizens knowledgeable in business, personnel management or public administration, with at least three (3) years' actual experience therein, one (1) to be appointed from each of the three (3) Mississippi Supreme Court Districts.
(d) One (1) member shall be a representative of the Mississippi Humanities Council to be designated by the council, and one (1) member shall be a representative of the state institutions of higher learning in Mississippi which offer degrees in literary arts, to be designated by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning.
Appointments to the advisory panel shall be made within ninety (90) days after passage of this act. The advisory panel shall meet upon the call of the State Superintendent of Public Education and shall organize for business by selecting a chairman and vice chairman/secretary for keeping records of the panel. Members of the advisory panel shall receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses and mileage for attending meetings and necessary business of the panel, in the amount authorized for state employees under Section 25-3-41.
(3) The board may utilize the staff of the State Department of Education and other state agencies as may be required for the implementation of this act. The department may employ any personnel deemed necessary by the board for assisting in the development and implementation of the plan relating to the opening, operation and funding of the school. The board also may contract or enter into agreements with other agencies or private entities which it deems necessary to carry out its duties and functions relating to the opening and operation of the school.
(4) To the extent possible, the board shall enter into agreements with the board of trustees of the school district wherein the school shall be located for the dual enrollment of students for the purpose of teaching academic courses to students attending the school, and the local school board shall be fully authorized to offer any such courses to students attending the school. The State Board of Education may develop and issue necessary regulations for the coordination of such courses for these students, the preparation and transfer of transcripts, and the reimbursement of any costs incurred by the school district for providing those services.
(5) The board may enter into agreements with public school districts to authorize students enrolled in such school districts to participate in the literary arts programs at the school to the extent that adequate space is available. The parent or guardian of any student participating in programs at the school under this subsection shall be responsible for transporting the student to and from the school.
SECTION 4. Subject to the availability of funding appropriated therefor, the board may hire a director of the school, who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the board. The director shall be the chief administrative officer of the school and shall administer the school in accordance with the policies established by the board. The director shall be responsible for those administrative duties and functions prescribed by the board, and the board, in its discretion, may delegate to the director such powers and duties as it deems appropriate.
SECTION 5. The board shall be the exclusive governing body of the school and shall promulgate rules and regulations required for the administration and operation of the school. The emphasis of the school shall be on the education and training of students in the literary arts and in the humanities, but this emphasis shall not preclude the teaching of those liberal arts and science courses, math and science deemed necessary by the board to provide students with a well-rounded education.
SECTION 6. The board shall prepare the annual budget for the school. For the operation and support of the school, the board may receive contributions, donations, gifts, bequests of money, other forms of financial assistance and property, equipment, materials or manpower from persons, foundations, trust funds, corporations, organizations and other sources, public or private, to be expended and utilized by the board in carrying out this act.
SECTION 7. All expenditures for the school shall be paid by the State Treasurer on warrants issued by the State Fiscal Officer, and the State Fiscal Officer shall issue his warrants upon requisition signed by the proper person, officer or officers.
SECTION 8. The State Board of Education is encouraged to enter into contractual agreements with professional arts organizations, including the Mississippi Museum of Art, New Stage Theatre and the Mississippi Reading Association, for providing instruction, exhibits, performances and other outreach programs at the Mississippi School for Reading and the Arts or at any other public school facility in Mississippi.
SECTION 9. (1) There is established a program to be known as the "Elementary Reading Academy," the purpose of which is to improve the reading skills of students enrolled in the public schools so that every student is able to read at or above grade level. It is the intent of the Legislature, in establishing this program, to ensure that: each student's progression is determined, in part, upon the student's proficiency in reading; the policies of local school boards facilitate this proficiency; and each student and the student's parent or legal guardian is informed of the student's academic progress.
(2) Each student who exhibits a substantial deficiency in reading, as demonstrated through the observation of the student's teacher or through locally determined or statewide assessments conducted in kindergarten and Grades 1 through 3, must be given intensive reading instruction immediately following the identification of the reading deficiency.
(3) At the beginning of the grade following the school year during which a student is given intensive reading instruction, the student's reading proficiency must be reassessed by locally determined assessments or through teacher observations. If it is determined that the student continues to have a reading deficiency, the student must be provided with intensive reading instruction by the school district until the reading deficiency is remedied.
SECTION 10. The parent or legal guardian of a student who exhibits a substantial deficiency in reading must be notified in writing of the following:
(a) That the student has been identified as having a substantial deficiency in reading;
(b) A description of the services that the school district currently is providing to the student;
(c) A description of the proposed supplemental instructional services and supports that are designed to remediate the identified area of reading deficiency which the school district plans to provide the student;
(d) That if the student's reading deficiency is not remediated before the end of the student's third grade year, the student will not be promoted to fourth grade;
(e) Strategies for parents and guardians to use in helping the student to succeed in reading proficiency; and
(f) That while the state annual accountability assessment is the initial determinate, the assessment is not the sole determiner and that additional evaluations, portfolio reviews and assessments are available.
SECTION 11. Students not promoted to the next succeeding grade level must be provided intensive interventions in reading to ameliorate the student's specific reading deficiency, as identified by a valid and reliable diagnostic assessment. The intensive intervention must include effective instructional strategies, participation in any summer reading camp made available by the school district, and appropriate teaching methodologies necessary to assist those students in becoming successful readers, able to read at or above grade level, and ready for promotion to the next grade level.
SECTION 12. Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, each school district shall take the following actions in implementing the Elementary Reading Academy:
(a) Conduct a review of student progress monitoring plans for all students who did not score above Level 1 on the reading portion of the state exam. The review must address additional supports and services, as described in this section, necessary to remediate the identified areas of reading deficiency. The school district shall require a student portfolio to be completed for each student.
(b) Provide students who are not promoted with intensive instructional services and supports to remediate the identified areas of reading deficiency, including a minimum of ninety (90) minutes of daily, uninterrupted, scientifically research-based reading instruction and other strategies prescribed by the school district, which may include, but are not necessarily limited to:
(i) Small group instruction;
(ii) Reduced teacher - student ratios;
(iii) More frequent progress monitoring;
(iv) Tutoring or mentoring;
(v) Transition classes containing third and fourth grade students;
(vi) Extended school day, week or year; and
(vii) Summer reading camps.
(c) Provide written notification to the parent or legal guardian of any student who is retained that the student has not met the proficiency level required for promotion and the reasons the student is not eligible for a good cause exemption. The notification must include a description of proposed interventions and supports that will be provided to the child to remediate the identified areas of reading deficiency.
(d) Provide students who are retained with a high-performing teacher, as determined by student performance data and above-satisfactory performance appraisals.
(e) Provide parents and legal guardians of students to be retained with at least one (1) of the following instructional options to be used in addition to the required reading enhancement and acceleration strategies:
(i) Supplemental tutoring in scientifically research-based reading services in addition to the regular reading block, including tutoring before or after school, or both;
(ii) A "Read at Home" plan outlined in a parental contract, including participation in parent training workshops and regular parent-guided home reading; or
(iii) A mentor or tutor with specialized reading instruction.
(f) Establish a Reading Enhancement and Acceleration Development (READ) Initiative, the focus of which must be to prevent the retention of third grade students and to offer intensive accelerated reading instruction to third grade students who failed to meet standards for promotion to fourth grade and to students in kindergarten and first, second and third grades who are assessed as exhibiting a reading deficiency. The READ Initiative must:
(i) Be provided to all kindergarten and first, second and third grade students at risk of retention, as identified by the statewide assessment system used in Reading First schools. The assessment must measure phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension;
(ii) Be provided during regular school hours in addition to the regular reading instruction; and
(iii) Provide a state-identified reading curriculum that, at minimum, meets the following specifications:
1. Assists students assessed as exhibiting a reading deficiency in developing the ability to read at grade level;
2. Provides skills development in phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension;
3. Provides a scientifically based and reliable assessment;
4. Provides initial and ongoing analyses of each student's reading progress;
5. Is implemented during regular school hours;
6. Provides a curriculum in core academic subjects to assist the student in maintaining or meeting proficiency levels for the appropriate grade in all academic subjects;
7. Establishes at each school, where applicable, an Intensive Acceleration Class for retained third grade students who subsequently score at Level 1 on the reading portion of the state accountability exam. The focus of the Intensive Acceleration Class must be to increase a student's reading level at least two (2) grade levels during one (1) school year. The Intensive Acceleration Class must:
a. Be provided to any student in third grade who scores at Level 1 on the reading portion of the state accountability exam and who was retained in third grade the preceding year because of scoring at Level 1 on the reading portion of the state accountability exam;
b. Have a reduced teacher - student ratio;
c. Provide uninterrupted reading instruction for the majority of student contact time each day and incorporate opportunities to master the fourth grade standards in other core subjects;
d. Use a reading program that is scientifically research-based and has proven results in accelerating student reading achievement within the same school year;
e. Provide intensive language and vocabulary instruction using a scientifically research-based program, including use of a speech-language therapist;
f. Include weekly progress monitoring measures to ensure progress is being made; and
g. Report to the State Department of Education, in the manner required by the department, the progress of students in the class at the end of the first semester;
8. Reports to the State Board of Education, as requested, on the specific intensive reading interventions and supports implemented at the school district level. The State Superintendent of Public Education shall prescribe the required components of requested reports; and
9. Provides a student who has been retained in third grade and has received intensive instructional services but is still not ready for grade promotion, as determined by the school district, the option of being placed in a transitional instructional setting that is designed specifically to produce learning gains sufficient to meet fourth grade performance standards while continuing to remediate the areas of reading deficiency.
SECTION 13. The school board of each school district shall report annually to the parent or legal guardian of each student on the progress of the student toward achieving state and district expectations for proficiency in reading, writing, science and mathematics. The school board also must report to the parent or legal guardian the student's results on each annual state accountability assessment. The evaluation of each student's work must be based upon the student's classroom work, observations, tests, district and state assessments, and other relevant information. Progress reporting must be provided to the parent or legal guardian in writing, in a format adopted by the school board.
SECTION 14. (1) The State Board of Education shall adopt such policies, rules and regulations as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.
(2) The State Department of Education shall provide such technical assistance as may be needed to aid local school districts in administering the provisions of Sections 9 through 13 of this act.
SECTION 15. Section 37-3-13, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-3-13. (1) Until July 1, 1984, the Assistant State Superintendent of Public Education, the directors, supervisors, clerical assistants, and employees shall be selected by, and hold office subject to the will of, the State Superintendent, except as provided in Section 37-3-17. The Assistant State Superintendent may be authorized to act in the absence or disability of the State Superintendent and shall perform such other duties as may be assigned to him by the State Superintendent. The State Superintendent shall have the power to assign to any division such clerical help as he may deem necessary and to discharge such clerical help among the divisions at any time necessity requires, except as provided in Section 37-3-17.
(2) From and after July 1, 1984, the deputy superintendents, associate superintendents and directors shall be selected by and hold office subject to the will of the State Superintendent of Public Education subject to the approval of the State Board of Education. All other personnel shall be competitively appointed by the State Superintendent and shall be dismissed only for cause in accordance with the rules and regulations of the State Personnel Board. The State Board of Education shall set the salary of the deputy superintendents, associate superintendents and divisional directors, * * * the members of the teaching staffs and employees of the Mississippi School of the Arts, and the members of the teaching staff and employees of the Mississippi School for Reading and the Arts. The State Superintendent, subject to the approval of the State Personnel Board, shall fix the amount of compensation of all other employees of the State Department of Education. All salaries, compensation or expenses of any of the personnel of the department shall be paid upon the requisition of the State Superintendent of Public Education and warrant issued thereunder by the State Auditor out of funds appropriated by the Legislature in a lump sum upon the basis of budgetary requirements submitted by the State Superintendent of Public Education or out of funds otherwise made available. The entire expense of administering the department shall never exceed the amount appropriated therefor, plus funds received from other sources other than state appropriations. For a violation of this provision, the superintendent shall be liable, and he and the sureties on his bond shall be required to restore any such excess.
SECTION 16. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.
