Bill Text: NY A08622 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the exemplary district mentorship program, determines exemplary districts and mandates an exemption.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - referred to education [A08622 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A08622-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8622 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY October 2, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. D'URSO -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to establishing the exem- plary district mentorship program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 3 of the education law is amended by adding a new 2 part 2 to read as follows: 3 PART II 4 EXEMPLARY DISTRICTS 5 Section 150. Legislative intent. 6 151. Determination of exemplary districts. 7 152. Exemplary district mentorship program. 8 153. Mandate exemption. 9 § 150. Legislative intent. It is the intent of the legislature to 10 foster the development and codification of a best practice model for 11 student success and fiscal responsibility by determining certain 12 districts to be exemplary districts and by establishing an exemplary 13 district mentorship program. To allow certain highly successful schools 14 to help other schools achieve success, the highly successful schools 15 shall receive exemptions from testing and paperwork requirements set 16 forth by the state in exchange for mentoring certain other schools. It 17 is the intent of this program that more districts will become exemplary 18 districts each year and that the criteria for determining exemplary 19 districts shall become more rigorous as student achievement gains are 20 made. 21 § 151. Determination of exemplary districts. 1. Any school district 22 with a sustained graduation rate over ninety-five percent for a five 23 year period shall be an exemplary district. 24 2. The commissioner, in consultation with the New York state council 25 of school superintendents, shall group school districts by their needs EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD13856-01-9A. 8622 2 1 profile, as determined by considering the percentage of students eligi- 2 ble for free or reduced price lunches, the percentage of English 3 language learners, and census and financial data provided by the 4 department of taxation and finance. School districts within the top ten 5 percent of their needs profile grouping within each established regents 6 area and/or with twenty percent higher graduation rates than other 7 districts within the same needs profile grouping may be determined to 8 be exemplary districts at the discretion of the commissioner. 9 3. Exemplary districts shall be reviewed every three years to deter- 10 mine whether such districts shall retain the status of being an exem- 11 plary district. 12 § 152. Exemplary district mentorship program. 1. Exemplary districts 13 may establish local criteria for evaluation of students and staff. Any 14 exemplary district establishing such local criteria shall submit such 15 criteria to the department to be published on a best practices section 16 of the official website of the department. 17 2. Any exemplary district establishing local criteria for evaluation 18 of students and staff shall be required to work with other districts 19 within their geographic area and needs profile, as determined pursuant 20 to subdivision two of section one hundred fifty-one of this part, or the 21 district of their choice as a mentor. The exemplary district shall 22 provide the resources needed to help evaluate the district being 23 mentored and shall provide guidance on any best practices that may help 24 the students. 25 3. An exemplary district mentoring another district and a district 26 being mentored by an exemplary district shall each be eligible for chal- 27 lenge grants to help implement the program. 28 4. An exemplary district mentoring another district and a district 29 being mentored by an exemplary district shall collaborate and prepare a 30 report to be submitted to the department summarizing the best practices 31 of the exemplary district and recommending processes to ensure more 32 successful outcomes. 33 § 153. Mandate exemption. 1. The commissioner shall establish 34 exemptions from testing and paperwork requirements set forth by the 35 state for exemplary districts for each three-year period that such 36 school is determined to be an exemplary district as an incentive for 37 exemplary districts to participate in the exemplary district mentorship 38 program. 39 2. The commissioner shall consider the following criteria when deter- 40 mining which exemptions an exemplary district shall be eligible for: 41 (a) sixty percent of the determination shall be based on the gradu- 42 ation rate, drop-out rate and college acceptance rate of the district 43 being mentored as compared to other districts within the same needs 44 profile grouping. 45 (b) forty percent of the determination shall be based on consideration 46 of whether the school board is affiliated with the New York state school 47 boards association or a local affiliate, whether the school superinten- 48 dent is affiliated with the New York state council of school superinten- 49 dents, and the number and variety of extra-curricular and co-curricular 50 activities offered by the district. 51 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
