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art.011/8/011/7/011/6/011/5/011/4/011/3/011/2/011/1
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ARTICLE 11 AS AMENDED
RELATING TO STRENGTHENING NEIGHBORHOOD SCHOOLS

     SECTION 1. Section 16-2-9.4 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-2 entitled "School
Committees and Superintendents" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-2-9.4. School district accounting compliance. -- (a) The office of auditor general
and the department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate a uniform system of
accounting, including a chart of accounts based on the recommendations of the advisory council
on school finances, and require all accounts of the school districts, regional school districts, state
schools, and charter schools to be kept in accordance therewith; provided, that in any case in
which the uniform system of accounting is not practicable, the office of auditor general, in
conjunction with the department of elementary and secondary education, shall determine the
manner in which the accounts shall be kept. The uniform chart of accounts (UCOA) must allow
for both school-to-school and school district-to-school district comparisons. The structure of the
UCOA shall ensure that data is captured and presented by, at a minimum, position, program, and
school location in order to facilitate such comparisons. The uniform system of accounting shall
also include a standardized budget process to ensure districts can annually assess investment
priorities and incorporate long-range planning.
     (b) For the purpose of securing a uniform system of accounting and a chart of accounts
the advisory council on school finances, as defined in § 16-2-9.2 9.3, may make such surveys of
the operation of any school districts, regional school district, state school, or charter school as
they shall deem necessary.
     (c) Upon completion of the implementation of the uniform chart of accounts, all the
school districts, regional school districts, state schools, and/or charter schools, shall implement a
regents department of elementary and secondary education-approved budget model, that shall
include a distinct line item for payments to charter schools and use best practices established by
the department of elementary and secondary education for long-range planning, budget
development, and budget administration and reporting.
     (d) Commencing July 1, 2017, and on a continuing basis thereafter, each local education
agency shall submit a "budget-only" file that conforms with UCOA requirements to the
department of elementary and secondary education within 30 days of the city/town adoption of
the budget.
     (e) Using data from the uniform chart of accounts, on an annual basis, the department of
elementary and secondary education shall publish on its website, and provide the general
assembly with, a performance dashboard indicating the per-pupil expenditures of each public
school and school district broken down by revenue sources and expenditure categories. Further,
the department shall provide, within the same dashboard, student-performance indicators for each
public school and school district.
     (f) Commencing July 1, 2017, and on a continuing basis thereafter, each local education
agency shall post the following information on its website, in a downloadable format, for free
public access:
     (1) The local education agency's annual budget, commencing with the budget for the
2017-18 budget year, that includes, at a minimum, information at the program and school levels;
     (2) The local education agency shall post a link to the statewide website operated by the
department of elementary and secondary education that will publish the school- and district-level
"budget only" and UCOA expenditure data.
     (3) Each local education agency shall update the information specified in subdivision (f)
(1) within sixty (60) days after adoption and/or making any changes to the local education
agency's budget, including any changes made to the budgets of an individual program or school.
     (d)(g) If any school district, regional school district, state school, or charter school fails to
install and maintain the uniform system of accounting, including a chart of accounts and
approved budget model, or fails to keep its accounts and interdepartmental records, or refuses or
neglects to make the reports and to furnish the information in accordance with the method
prescribed by the office of auditor general and the department of education, or hinders or prevents
the examination of accounts and financial records, the auditor general and the commissioner of
education, and/or their respective designee(s), shall make a report to the superintendent of schools
of the local education agency, the school committee chairperson, the mayor or town manager, and
the president of the town council, and/or for a charter school, to the board of trustees or directors,
as applicable, in writing, specifying the nature and extent of the failure, refusal, neglect,
hindrance, or prevention, and the commissioner is hereby authorized and directed to review the
matter so reported. If the commissioner shall find that failure, refusal, neglect, hindrance, or
prevention exists and that the school district, regional school district, state school, or charter
school should properly comply in the matter so reported, the commissioner shall direct the school
district, regional school district, state school, or charter school, in writing, to so comply. If the
failure, refusal, neglect, hindrance, or prevention shall continue for a period of ten (10) days
following the written direction, the commissioner may request the board of education for
approval to withhold distribution of state aid to said school district, regional school district, state
school, or charter school. The board shall hold a hearing and provide the subject school and/or
district notice and an opportunity to be heard at said hearing. After hearing thereon, the board
may authorize the commissioner to withhold the distribution of state aid to said school district,
regional school district, state school, or charter school, if the board determines such sanction is
appropriate.
     (e)(h) The department of elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the
division of municipal finance, shall conduct periodic reviews and analysis of school revenues and
expenses. The department shall also review and monitor compliance with the approved budget
model and best practices. The department shall identify those local education agencies considered
to be at risk of a year-end deficit or a structural deficit that could impact future years. Such
potential deficits shall be identified based on the periodic reviews, which may also include on-site
visits and reporting in accordance with the provisions of § 45-12-22.2. Potential deficits shall be
reported to the office of municipal finance, office of auditor general, superintendent, chairman
chairperson of the school committee, mayor or town manager, and the president of the town
council, of the applicable school district, regional school district, or state school, and/or for a
charter school, to the board of trustees or directors, as applicable.
     SECTION 2. Sections 16-7.2-3, 16-7.2-4, 16-7.2-5, and 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in
Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" are hereby amended
to read as follows:
     16-7.2-3. Permanent foundation education aid established. -- (a) Beginning in the
2012 fiscal year, the following foundation education-aid formula shall take effect. The foundation
education aid for each district shall be the sum of the core instruction amount in subdivision
(a)(1) and the amount to support high-need students in subdivision (a)(2), which shall be
multiplied by the district state-share ratio calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-4 to determine the
foundation aid.
     (1) The core-instruction amount shall be an amount equal to a statewide, per-pupil core-
instruction amount as established by the department of elementary and secondary education,
derived from the average of northeast regional expenditure data for the states of Rhode Island,
Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire from the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES) that will adequately fund the student instructional needs as described in the
basic education program and multiplied by the district average daily membership as defined in §
16-7-22. Expenditure data in the following categories: instruction and support services for
students, instruction, general administration, school administration, and other support services
from the National Public Education Financial Survey, as published by NCES, and enrollment data
from the Common Core of Data, also published by NCES, will be used when determining the
core-instruction amount. The core-instruction amount will be updated annually. For the purpose
of calculating this formula, school districts' resident average daily membership shall exclude
charter school and state-operated school students.
     (2) The amount to support high-need students beyond the core-instruction amount shall
be determined by multiplying a student success factor of forty percent (40%) by the core
instruction per-pupil amount described in § 16-7.2-3 subdivision (a)(1) and applying that
amount to all resident children eligible for USDA reimbursable school meals for each resident
child whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal
poverty guidelines, hereinafter referred to as "poverty status."
     (b) LEAs Local education agencies (LEA) may set aside a portion of funds received
under subsection (a) to expand learning opportunities such as after school and summer programs,
full-day kindergarten and/or multiple pathway programs, provided that the basic education
program and all other approved programs required in law are funded.
     (c) The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate such
regulations as are necessary to implement fully the purposes of this chapter.
     16-7.2-4. Determination of state's share. -- (a) For each district, the state's share of the
foundation education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3(a) shall use a calculation that
considers a district's revenue-generating capacity and concentration of high-need students. The
calculation is the square root of the sum of the state-share ratio for the community calculation,
(SSRC), pursuant to § 16-7-20, squared plus the district's percentage of students eligible for
USDA reimbursable school meals in grades PK-6 in poverty status (PK6FRPL) squared, divided
by two.
     (b) For purposes of determining the state's share, school district student data used in this
calculation shall include charter school and state school students. These ratios are used in the
permanent foundation education aid formula calculation described in § 16-7.2-5.
     16-7.2-5. Charter public schools, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical
High School, and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center. -- (a) Charter
public schools, as defined in chapter 77 of this title, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and
Technical High School (Davies), and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (the
Met Center) shall be funded pursuant to § 16-7.2-3. If the October 1 actual enrollment data for
any charter public charter public school shows a ten percent (10%) or greater change from the
prior year enrollment which is used as the reference year average daily membership, the last six
(6) monthly third and fourth quarter payments to the charter public school will be adjusted to
reflect actual enrollment. The state share of the permanent foundation education aid shall be paid
by the state directly to the charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center pursuant to § 16-
7.2-9 and shall be calculated using the state-share ratio of the district of residence of the student
as set forth in § 16-7.2-4. The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide
the general assembly with the calculation of the state share of permanent foundation education aid
for charter public schools delineated by school district.
     The department shall also provide the general assembly a performance dashboard
indicating the per-pupil expenditures of each school district and charter school broken down by
revenue sources and expenditure categories. The department shall provide, within the same
dashboard, student performance indicators for each school district or charter school. (b) The local
share of education funding, as defined by the department of elementary and secondary education
and approved by the General Assembly, shall be paid to the charter public school, Davies, and the
Met Center by the district of residence of the student and shall be the local, per-pupil cost
calculated by dividing the local appropriation to education from property taxes, net of debt
service, and capital projects, as defined in the uniform chart of accounts by the average daily
membership for each city and town, pursuant to § 16-7-22, for the reference year.
     (c) Beginning in FY 2017, there shall be a reduction to the local per pupil funding paid by
the district of residence to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center. This reduction
shall be equal to the greater (i) Of seven percent (7%) of the local, per-pupil funding of the
district of residence pursuant to subsection (b) or (ii) The per-pupil value of the district's costs for
non-public textbooks, transportation for non-public students, retiree health benefits, out-of-district
special-education tuition and transportation, services for students age eighteen (18) to twenty-one
(21) years old, pre-school screening and intervention, and career and technical education, tuition
and transportation costs, debt service and rental costs minus the average expenses incurred by
charter schools for those same categories of expenses as reported in the uniform chart of accounts
for the prior preceding fiscal year pursuant to §16-7-16(11) and verified by the department of
elementary and secondary education. In the case where audited financials result in a change in the
calculation after the first tuition payment is made, the remaining payments shall be based on the
most recent audited data. For those districts whose greater reduction occurs under the calculation
of (ii), there shall be an additional reduction to payments to mayoral academies with teachers who
do not participate in the state teacher's retirement system under chapter 8 of title 36 equal to the
per-pupil value of teacher retirement costs attributable to unfunded liability as calculated by the
state's actuary for the prior preceding fiscal year.
     (b)(d) Local district payments to charter public schools, Davies, and the Met Center for
each district's students enrolled in these schools shall be made on a quarterly basis in July,
October, January, and April; however, the first local-district payment shall be made by August
15, instead of July. Failure of the community to make the local-district payment for its student(s)
enrolled in a charter public school, Davies, and/or the Met Center may result in the withholding
of state education aid pursuant to § 16-7-31.
     (e) Beginning in FY 2017, school districts with charter public school, Davies, and the
Met Center enrollment, that, combined, comprise five percent (5%) or more of the average daily
membership as defined in §16-17-22, shall receive additional aid for a period of three (3) years.
Aid in FY 2017 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools,
Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in §16-7-16 times a per-
pupil amount of one hundred seventy-five dollars ($175). Aid in FY 2018 shall be equal to the
number of charter public school, open-enrollment schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as
of the reference year as defined in §16-7-16 times a per-pupil amount of one hundred dollars
($100). Aid in FY 2019 shall be equal to the number of charter public school, open-enrollment
schools, Davies, or the Met Center students as of the reference year as defined in §16-7-16 times
a per-pupil amount of fifty dollars ($50.00). The additional aid shall be used to offset the adjusted
fixed costs retained by the districts of residence.
     16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. -- In addition to the foundation
education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent foundation education-aid program
shall provide direct state funding for:
     (a) Excess costs associated with special education students. - Excess costs are defined
when an individual special education student's cost shall be deemed to be "extraordinary.".
Extraordinary costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on
an amount above five times the core foundation amount (total of core-instruction amount plus
student success amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the
funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for
which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in
any fiscal year; and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data
on those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above
four (4) times the core-foundation amount.
      (b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements
needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education
programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher-
than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies
necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the
state. The department shall develop recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all
career and technical education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual
basis. The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for
distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school
districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year;
     (c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten
programs. The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early
childhood program funds as may be determined by the general assembly;
     (d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to assure
that appropriate funding is available to support their the community, including students.
Additional support for Central Falls is needed from the community that attend the charter schools,
Davies, and the Met Center pursuant to § 16-7.2-5, due to concerns regarding the city's capacity
to meet the local share of education costs. This fund requires that education aid calculated
pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside the permanent foundation education-aid
formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, facility maintenance, and retiree health
benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of Central Falls. The fund shall be annually
reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city appropriation. The state's share of this
fund may be supported through a reallocation of current state appropriations to the Central Falls
school district. At the end of the transition period defined in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will
continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional support for the Davies and the Met
Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a stand-alone high school offering both
academic and career and technical coursework. The department shall recommend criteria for the
purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as may be determined by the general
assembly; and
     (e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public
schools and within regional school districts. (1) This fund will provide state funding for the costs
associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools, pursuant to title 16,
Chapter 21.1 chapter 21.1 of title 16. The state will assume the costs of non-public out-of-
district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system; and (2) This fund
will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students within
regional school districts, established pursuant to title 16, chapter 3 chapter 3 of title 16. This
fund requires that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation
costs net any federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary
and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible
school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement
exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year.
     (f) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization
bonus as set forth below.
     (1) As used herein, the term "regionalized" shall be deemed to refer to a regional school
district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of title 16-3 including the Chariho Regional
School district.
     (2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus
shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the
regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a
regionalized school district as set forth section 16-3 in chapter 3 of title 16, including the
Chariho Regional School District.
     (3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year shall be two percent (2.0%) of the
state's share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to
§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year.
     (4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the
state's share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to
§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year.
     (5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year.
     (6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to
the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns.
     (7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds
available for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved
costs for which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the
amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year.
     (g) Additional state support for English learners (EL). For FY 2017 only, the amount to
support EL students shall be determined by multiplying an EL factor of ten percent (10%) by the
core-instruction per-pupil amount defined in §16-7.2-3(a)(1) and applying that amount of
additional state support to EL students identified using widely adopted, independent standards
and assessments identified by the Commissioner. All categorical funds distributed pursuant to this
subsection must be used to provide high-quality, research-based services to EL students and
managed in accordance with requirements set forth by the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education. The department of elementary and secondary education shall collect
performance reports from districts and approve the use of funds prior to expenditure. The
department of elementary and secondary education shall ensure the funds are aligned to activities
that are innovative and expansive and not utilized for activities the district is currently funding.
The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for
distribution among eligible recipients if the total calculated costs exceed the amount of funding
available in any fiscal year.
     (g)(h) Categorical programs defined in (a) through (f) shall be funded pursuant to the
transition plan in § 16-7.2-7.
     SECTION 3. Section 16-77.2-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-77.2 entitled "District
Charter School" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-77.2-5. Budgets and funding. -- (a) It is the intent of the general assembly that
funding pursuant to this chapter shall be neither a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive
to the establishment of a district charter school. Funding for each district charter school shall
consist of state revenue and municipal or district revenue in the same proportions that funding is
provided for other schools within the sending school district(s).
     (b) The amount of funding which shall be allocated to the district charter school by the
sending school district(s) shall be equal to a percentage of the total budgeted expenses of the
sending school district(s) which is determined by dividing the number of students enrolled in the
district charter school by the total resident average daily number of students in the sending school
district(s).
     (c)(b) Funding additional to that authorized from the sending school district(s) by
subsection (b) may be allocated to the district charter school from the sending school district(s) to
the extent that the combined percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch,
students with limited English proficiency, and students requiring special education exceed the
combined percentage of those students in the sending school district(s) as a whole. The
commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with this section regarding the
allocation of funds from sending school districts to district charter schools.
     (d)(c) All services, centrally or otherwise provided by the school district in which the
district charter school is located, which that the district charter school decides to utilize
including, but not limited to, transportation, food services, custodial services, maintenance,
curriculum, media services, libraries, nursing, and warehousing, shall be subject to negotiation
between a district charter school and the school district in which the district charter school is
located and paid for out of the revenues of the district charter school. Disputes with regard to cost
of services requested from the school district in which the district charter school is located will be
adjudicated by the commissioner.
     (e)(d) A district charter school shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants, Medicaid
revenue, and other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school district.
Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in the charter public school, if
the school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.
     (f)(e) A district charter school may negotiate and contract directly with third parties for
the purchase of books, instructional materials, and any other goods and services which that are
not being provided by the sending school district(s) pursuant to the charter.
     (g) Any career echnical charter public school enrolling special education students from
outside school districts with verifiable individual education program (IEP) designations shall
receive from the sending school district(s) the average per pupil special education cost of the
sending district, in accordance with standards established by the Rhode Island department of
secondary and elementary education.
     SECTION 4. Section of 16-77.3-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-77.3 entitled
"Independent Charter Schools" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-77.3-5. Budgets and funding. -- (a) It is the intent of the general assembly that
funding pursuant to this chapter shall be neither a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive
to the establishment of an independent charter school. Funding for each independent charter
school shall consist of state revenue and municipal or district revenue in the same proportions that
funding is provided for other schools within the sending school district(s).
     (b) The amount of funding which shall be allocated to the independent charter school by
the sending school district(s) shall be equal to a percentage of the total budgeted expenses of the
sending school district(s) which is determined by dividing the number of students enrolled in the
district charter school by the total resident average daily number of students in the sending school
district(s).
     (c)(b) Funding additional to that authorized from the sending school district(s) by
subsection (b) may be allocated to the independent charter school from the sending school
district(s) to the extent that the combined percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost
lunch, students with limited English proficiency, and students requiring special education exceed
the combined percentage of those students in the sending school district(s) as a whole. The
commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations consistent with this section regarding the
allocation of funds from sending school districts to independent charter schools.
     (d)(c) An independent charter school shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants,
Medicaid revenue, and other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school
district. Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in the independent
charter school, if the school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.
     (e)(d) An independent charter school may negotiate and contract directly with third
parties for the purchase of books, instructional materials, and any other goods and services which
that are not being provided by the sending school district(s) pursuant to the charter.
     (f) Any career/technical charter public school enrolling special education students from
outside school districts with verifiable individual education program (IEP) designations shall
receive from the sending school district(s) the average per pupil special education cost of the
sending district, in accordance with standards established by the Rhode Island department of
elementary and secondary education.
     SECTION 5. Section 16-77.4-5 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-77.4 entitled
"Mayoral Academies" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-77.4-5. Budgets and funding. -- (a) It is the intent of the general assembly that
funding pursuant to this chapter shall be neither a financial incentive nor a financial disincentive
to the establishment of a mayoral academy. Funding for each mayoral academy shall consist of
state revenue and municipal or district revenue in the same proportions that funding is provided
for other schools within the sending school district(s).
     (b) The amount of funding which shall be allocated to the mayoral academy by the
sending school district(s) shall be equal to a percentage of the total budgeted expenses of the
sending school district(s) which is determined by dividing the number of students enrolled in the
mayoral academy by the total resident average daily number of students in the sending school
district(s).
     (c)(b) Funding additional to that authorized from the sending school district(s) by
subsection (b) may be allocated to the mayoral academy from the sending school district(s) to the
extent that the combined percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-cost lunch, students
with limited English proficiency, and students requiring special education exceed the combined
percentage of those students in the sending school district(s) as a whole. The commissioner shall
promulgate rules and regulations consistent with this section regarding the allocation of funds
from sending school districts to mayoral academies.
     (d)(c) A mayoral academy shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants, Medicaid
revenue, and other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school district.
Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in a mayoral academy, if the
school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.
     (e)(d) A mayoral academy may negotiate and contract directly with third parties for the
purchase of books, instructional materials, and any other goods and services which that are not
being provided by the sending school district(s) pursuant to the charter.
     (f) Any career/technical charter public school enrolling special education students from
outside school districts with verifiable individual education program (IEP) designations shall
receive from the sending school district(s) the average per pupil special education cost of the
sending district(s), in accordance with standards established by the Rhode Island department of
elementary and secondary education.
     SECTION 6. Section 16-64-1.1 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-64 entitled
"Residence of Children for School Purposes" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-64-1.1. Payment and reimbursement for educational costs of children placed in
foster care, group homes, or other residential facility by a Rhode Island state agency. -- (a)
Children placed in foster care by a Rhode Island-licensed child-placing agency or a Rhode Island
governmental agency shall be entitled to the same free, appropriate public education provided to
all other residents of the city or town where the child is placed. The city or town shall pay the cost
of the education of the child during the time the child is in foster care in the city or town.
      (b) Children placed by the department of children, youth and families (DCYF) in a
group home or other residential facility that does not include the delivery of educational services
are to be educated by the community in which the group home or other residential facility is
located, and those children shall be entitled to the same free, appropriate public education
provided to all other residents of the city or town where the child is placed. For purposes of
payment and reimbursement for educational costs under this chapter, the term "group home or
other residential facility" shall not include independent-living programs. Each city and town that
contains one or more group homes or other residential facilities that do not include delivery of
educational services will receive funds as part of state aid to education in accordance with the
following provisions:
      (1) On December 31 of each year, the DCYF shall provide the department of elementary
and secondary education with a precise count of how many group home or other residential
facility "beds" exist in each Rhode Island city or town, counting only those "beds" in facilities
that do not include the delivery of educational services. The number of "beds" in each group
home or other residential facility shall be equal to the maximum number of children that who
may be placed in that group home or other residential facility on any given night according to the
applicable licensure standards of the DCYF.
      (2) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2007, if the number of beds certified by the
Department of Children, Youth and Families DCYF for a school district by December 31,
2007, is greater than the number certified March 14, 2007, upon which the education aid for FY
2008 was appropriated, the education aid for that district will be increased by the number of
increased beds multiplied by fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). Notwithstanding the provisions
of this section or any law to the contrary, the education aid for all group home or other residential
facility "beds" located or associated with the Children's Residential and Family Treatment
(CRAFT) program located on the East Providence campus of Bradley Hospital shall be twenty-
two thousand dollars ($22,000) per bed. The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
shall include the additional aid in equal payments in March, April, May, and June, and the
Governor's budget recommendations pursuant to § 35-3-8 shall include the amounts required to
provide the increased aid.
      For all fiscal years beginning after June 30, 2008 2016, education aid for each school
district shall include fifteen seventeen thousand dollars ($15,000) ($17,000) for each bed certified
by the Department of Children, Youth and Families DCYF by the preceding December 31.
Notwithstanding the provisions of this section or any law to the contrary, the education aid for all
group home or other residential facility "beds" located or associated with the Children's
Residential and Family Treatment (CRAFT) program located on the East Providence campus of
Bradley Hospital shall be twenty-two thousand dollars ($22,000) twenty-six thousand dollars
($26,000) per bed. For all fiscal years beginning after June 30, 2008, whenever the number of
beds certified by the Department of Children, Youth and Families DCYF for a school district
by December 31 is greater than the number certified the prior December 31 upon which the
education aid for that fiscal year was appropriated, the education aid for that district as enacted by
the assembly during the prior legislative session for that fiscal year will be increased by the
number of increased beds multiplied by the amount per bed authorized for that fiscal year. The
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall include the additional aid in equal
payments in March, April, May, and June, and the Governor's budget recommendations pursuant
to § 35-3-8 shall include the amounts required to provide the increased aid.
      (c) Children placed by DCYF in a residential-treatment program, group home, or other
residential facility, whether or not located in the state of Rhode Island, which includes the
delivery of educational services, provided by that facility (excluding facilities where students are
taught on grounds for periods of time by teaching staff provided by the school district in which
the facility is located), shall have the cost of their education paid for as provided for in subsection
(d) of this section and § 16-64-1.2. The city or town determined to be responsible to DYCF for a
per-pupil special-education cost pursuant to § 16-64-1.2 shall pay its share of the cost of
educational services to DCYF or to the facility providing educational services.
      (d) Children placed by DCYF in group homes, child-caring facilities, community
residences, or other residential facilities shall have the entire cost of their education paid for by
DCYF if:
      (1) The facility is operated by the state of Rhode Island or the facility has a contract with
DCYF to fund a pre-determined number of placements or part of the facility's program;
      (2) The facility is state-licensed state licensed; and
      (3) The facility operates an approved, on-grounds educational program, whether or not
the child attends the on-grounds program.
     SECTION 7. Title 16 of the General Laws entitled "EDUCATION" is hereby amended
by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER 3.2
SCHOOL AND FAMILY EMPOWERMENT ACT
     16-3.2-1. Declaration of policy. – As part of the effort to transform education in Rhode
Island, the general assembly is committed to developing and supporting strategies that foster
cultures of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement in Rhode Island schools. The
general assembly believes that all district schools benefit from effective leadership, strong
labor/management collaboration, strong community support and engagement, and the autonomy
and flexibility to continuously improve instruction and implement and adopt strategies that meet
the needs of their students. The general assembly therefore in this act establishes empowerment
schools, which shall remain within a public-school district, under the district leadership of the
superintendent and school committee, but which shall be managed collaboratively on site by the
principal and the faculty, as an additional opportunity for supporting more high-performing and
innovative schools within the Rhode Island system of public education. A school that volunteers
to be an empowerment school, as defined in this chapter, shall have unprecedented levels of
regulatory and statutory flexibility; school-based autonomy, including autonomy over budget;
flexibility in school-based instructional policies and professional practices defined through shared
leadership; and be uniquely positioned to create compelling learning environments responsive to
increased student and parent/family empowerment. Similarly, in this act, the general assembly
establishes the affirmative right for students and their parents/families to enroll in an
empowerment school that is different than their assigned school based on residence, in order to
seek innovative instructional policies and practices that best match their learning needs, so long
as the empowerment school has elected, as part of its empowerment plan, to accept students from
other schools within the student's district of residence.
     16-3.2-2. The empowerment school. – (a) The following entities may be designated as
an empowerment school: a school in a public-school district, a school within a school in a public-
school district, a career and technical education program within a public-school district, a state
school.
     (b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, all statutes, regulations, and collective
bargaining agreement terms and conditions shall apply to empowerment schools.
     (c) Notwithstanding §§16-2-9 and 16-2-11, the principal and professional staff of a
empowerment school, acting in concert as a school leadership team, shall make decisions
regarding the school's policies and practices, including, but not limited to, curriculum,
instructional practices, policies and procedures, calendar and schedule, allocation of resources,
staffing, and professional development, consistent with the district collective bargaining
agreement and school-based amendments as defined in §16-3.2-4(f). Leadership teams shall
determine methods to document and communicate the latest decisions that emerge through the
leadership team process. Noncertified staff, parents, students, and community members may also
be members of the school leadership team at the school's discretion. The principal shall have final
authority in all instructional, personnel, managerial, and operational matters, except for those
matters expressly delegated to the school leadership team through the participatory leadership
process, consistent with the district collective bargaining agreement and school-based
amendments as defined in §16-3.2-4(f).
     (d) Students from the district in which the empowerment school is located shall be funded
either pursuant to §§16-3.2-7 and 16-7.2-5 or, based on mutual, written agreement between the
superintendent and the principal of the empowerment school, in accordance with an alternative
agreement with the school district.
     (e) Teachers and other staff who work in empowerment schools shall maintain their full
status as members of their respective bargaining unit and as employees of the district and service
in an empowerment school shall not be deemed to be an interruption of service in the school
district for purposes of seniority and teachers' retirement.
     (f) Although existing collective bargaining agreements shall apply to an empowerment
school, empowerment schools shall be eligible to amend the existing districtwide collective
bargaining agreement through an expedited and timely process, subject to approval of the
superintendent, district union membership, and school committee. School-based amendments to
the districtwide collective bargaining agreement shall be non-precedent setting for future district
bargaining or contract administration. In all instances, final approval or non-approval by all
parties of school-based amendments to the districtwide collective bargaining agreement shall be
made within ninety (90) days of submission of such request.
     16-3.2-3. Procedure for creation of an empowerment school. – (a) The commissioner
of elementary and secondary education shall develop a process for a public school, with the
approval of its superintendent and school committee, to be designated as an empowerment school
with the duties, responsibilities, and autonomies set forth in this chapter. Said process shall also
address the manner in which a school and its school committee can convert an empowerment
school back to a traditional public school. No existing public school shall be converted into an
empowerment school or back to a traditional public school unless two-thirds (2/3) of the full-time
professional staff currently assigned to the eligible entity described in §16-3.2-4 approve the
proposal. The empowerment school application process and timeline shall be determined by the
commissioner and include information including, but not limited to, the vision for the
empowerment school; the means it will use to improve school performance and student
achievement; performance criteria that will be used to measure student learning at least sufficient
to participate in the state accountability plan; a plan for the governance, administration, and
operation of the empowerment school; whether the school will be funded via §§16-3.2-7 and 16-
7.2-5 or through an alternative written agreement between the superintendent and the principal of
the empowerment school; and the state statutes, state regulations, contract provisions, and school
district rules from which variances or waivers are sought in order to facilitate operation of the
empowerment school. The application shall include a description of the authority of the principal
and how employment decisions of the principal would impact the teacher and staff assignment
process within a school district.
     In order to facilitate statewide innovation, approved empowerment school plans shall be
posted publicly.
     (b) Upon deeming an application to be satisfactory, the superintendent and school
committee shall transmit its approval of the designation to the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education, who shall then register the school as an empowerment school subject to the
duties, responsibilities, and autonomies of this chapter.
     Nothing in this chapter shall require an empowerment school to include all of the
provisions of this chapter in its locally approved plan. In other words, empowerment plans may
include only a locally determined subset of the provisions made possible by this chapter.
     Nothing in this chapter shall prevent the creation of school-based amendment to the
district collective bargaining agreement, as defined in §16-3.2-4 (f), to incorporate all or part of
the empowerment plan into the local collective bargaining agreement.
     (c) If the designation of an empowerment school is approved by the superintendent and
school committee, it shall be authorized to operate for a period of up to three (3) years. The
empowerment school plan may be modified as necessary during its period of authorization and
may be renewed for increments up to three (3) years utilizing the same process outlined herein for
initial designation and registration.
     (d) Upon registration of the empowerment school designation by the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education, the commissioner shall be deemed to have authorized all
necessary variances from statutes and regulations enumerated in the application.
     16-3.2-4. Empowerment school principal. – (a) Principals of empowerment schools
shall be the educational leaders and administrators of their schools and shall supervise the
operation and management of their schools and school property. It shall be the responsibility of
the principal to promote participatory decision-making among all professional staff for the
purposes of developing educational policy and practices. The term professional staff shall include
all teachers, administrators, instructional leaders, specialists, and related service providers who
are certified by the state as education professionals. Principals employed under this section shall
be responsible for recommending the hiring and assigning all teachers and other professional
staff, athletic coaches, instructional, or administrative aides and any other personnel assigned to
the school and for terminating all such personnel, subject to this chapter and the review and
approval of the superintendent. Any assignment to an empowerment school of a teacher
previously employed in another school in the district, including, but not limited to, voluntary
transfer, involuntary transfer, reduction in force, and recall, shall be subject to the approval of the
principal, consistent with the district collective bargaining agreement and school-based
amendments as defined in §16-3.2-4(f). No teacher or staff may be laid-off, suspended, or
terminated by a school district who would not otherwise have been laid-off, suspended, or
terminated except for an employment decision by an empowerment school principal pursuant to
this section.
     (b) The principal of the empowerment school shall serve at the pleasure of the
superintendent with the advice and consent of the school committee, through a written contract
not to exceed three (3) years.
     16-3.2-5. Budgets and funding. – (a) All services, centrally or otherwise, provided by
the school district in which the empowerment school is located that the empowerment school
decides to utilize, including, but not limited to, financial services, transportation, food services,
custodial services, maintenance, curriculum, professional development, media services, libraries,
nursing, and warehousing, shall be subject to negotiation between the empowerment school and
the school district in which the empowerment school is located and paid for out of the revenues of
the empowerment school.
     Nothing in this chapter shall prevent empowerment schools from electing to receive the
same district services as it did prior to the empowerment school designation.
     (b) An empowerment school shall be eligible to receive other aids, grants, Medicaid
revenue, and other revenue according to Rhode Island law, as though it were a school district.
Federal aid received by the state shall be used to benefit students in the empowerment school, if
the school qualifies for the aid, as though it were a school district.
     (c) An empowerment school may negotiate and contract directly with third parties for the
purchase goods and services, consistent with applicable law.
     16-3.2-6. Review of empowerment schools. – Each empowerment school shall be
reviewed by the department of elementary and secondary education on a schedule determined by
the commissioner. Based on an evaluation of the empowerment school's plan, its impact on
student achievement, or its impact on the health and welfare of its students or staff, the
commissioner may, in extreme circumstances and at any time during the empowerment school's
authorized period of operation, recommend to the council on elementary and secondary education
that the empowerment school's designation and registration, and/or its open-enrollment
designation, be revoked. Prior to recommending to the council that a empowerment school's
designation and registration be revoked, the commissioner shall provide the school,
superintendent, and school committee with specific notice of the reasons for revocation and grant
the school and school committee an opportunity to be heard in accordance with the process set
forth in chapter 39 of this title.
     16-3.2-7. Portions of title 16 applicable to empowerment schools. – In addition to
federal law and this chapter, the following provisions of this title shall be binding on
empowerment schools. Accordingly, school committees may not endorse, nor may the
commissioner approve, any request for waiver of the following provisions pursuant to this
chapter:
     (1) Section 16-2-2 (minimum length of school year);
     (2) Section 16-2-17 (right to a safe school);
     (3) Section 16-8-10 (federal funds for school lunch);
     (4) Section 16-12-3 (duty to cultivate principles of morality);
     (5) Section 16-12-10 (immunity for report of suspected substance abuse);
     (6) Sections 16-13-2, 16-13-3 (teachers' tenure)
     (7) Section 16-16-2 (teachers' retirement);
     (8) Section 16-19-1 (compulsory attendance);
     (9) Section 16-20-1 (school holidays enumerated);
     (10) Sections 16-21-3 and 16-21-4 (fire safety);
     (11) Sections 16-21-10, 16-21-14, and 16-21-16 (health screenings);
     (12) Section 16-22-9 (uniform testing);
     (13) Section 16-24-2 (regulations of state board pertaining to children with disabilities);
     (14) Section 16-38-1 (discrimination because of race or age);
     (15) Section 16-38-1.1 (discrimination because of sex);
     (16) Section 16-38-2 (immunizations);
     (17) Section 16-38-4 (exclusive clubs);
     (18) Section 16-38-6 (commercial activities prohibited);
     (19) Section 16-38-9 (misconduct of school officers);
     (20) Section 16-38-10 (power of officials to visit schools);
     (21) Section 16-39-1 (appeal of matters of dispute to commissioner);
     (22) Section 16-39-2 (appeal of school committee actions to commissioner);
     (23) Section 16-39-3 (appeal to state board);
     (24) Section 16-39-3.1 (enforcement of final decision);
     (25) Section 16-39-3.2 (interim protective orders);
     (26) Section 16-39-8 (subpoena power of commissioner);
     (27) Section 16-40-16 (student records);
     (28) Section 16-71-1 (Educational Record Bill of Rights Act);
     (29) Section 16-21-21.1 (Penalties for drug, alcohol or weapons offenses);
     (30) Chapter 21.5 of title 16 (Student interrogations).
     Although waivers for §16-11-1 (teacher certification) are permissible, consistent with the
locally approved plan, teachers in an empowerment school must hold at least one teacher
certification, which may be different than the certification associated with their assignment,
unless such teacher is assigned to teach in a shortage area, whereby the teacher shall be provided
with school-based support and work toward a certification to be awarded within five years of the
date of assignment at the empowerment school.
     16-3.2-8. Appropriation. – The general assembly may annually appropriate funds to
support empowerment schools. This appropriation shall be managed by the department of
elementary and secondary education.
     16-3.2-9. Regulations. – The department of elementary and secondary education shall
promulgate such regulations as are necessary to implement fully the purposes of this chapter.
     SECTION 8. Section 16-95-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-95 entitled "The
Recovery High Schools Act [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education
Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows:
     16-95-4. Transfer of aid. -- (a) Any school district in Rhode Island that may have a
student, or students, who are currently or were last enrolled in said district and who are
considered by the sending district to be both clinically and academically appropriate for referral
diagnosed with substance-use disorder or dependency, as defined by the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR, may be referred to a Rhode Island recovery high
school may be referred by a clinician licensed pursuant to chapter 69 of title 5 for voluntary
enrollment in such school. If said student is admitted to said school, the sending school district
shall ensure that payment, pursuant to subsection (b) herein for students who attend the recovery
high school, is paid, and further, that upon completion of all other graduation requirements, said
student or students shall receive a diploma.
      (b) A sending school district shall transfer the per-pupil allotment it receives core-
instructional amount, pursuant to chapter 16-7.2 of title 16 ("The Education Equity and Property
Tax Relief Act") to a recovery high school for any student attending the recovery high school and
meeting the following criteria: (1) The student is currently enrolled in the district or currently
resides in the municipality in which the district is located; (2) The student is considered by a
clinician, licensed pursuant to 42-35 chapter 69 of title 5, to be clinically appropriate, using the
criteria for substance-use disorders as defined in the dDiagnostic and sStatistical mManual of
mMental dDisorders IV-TR; and (3) The student meets all matriculation criteria as outlined by
the sending district and the department of elementary and secondary education, with
determination of academic eligibility based on existing documentation provided by the district.
The district and the recovery high school shall arrange to confer a diploma when a student
completes state- and district-mandated graduation requirements. The local share of education
funding shall be paid to the recovery high school in the same manner as the local share of
education funding is paid to charter public schools, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and
Technical High School, and the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, as outlined
in § 16-7.2-5.
     (c) For FY 2017, the state shall appropriate no less than five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000) for the administration and programmatic costs of each recovery high school.
      (c)(d) A recovery high school shall submit to the board of regents council on elementary
and secondary education academic data considered necessary by the board to provide information
regarding each student's academic performance, subject to applicable health confidentiality laws
and regulations.
      (d)(e) The board of regents council on elementary and secondary education, in
consultation with the department of behavioral health, developmental disabilities and hospitals
shall promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement and carry out the intent of this
chapter.
     SECTION 9. This article shall take effect upon passage.