Senate File 391 - Enrolled
Senate File 391
AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION, INCLUDING MODIFYING PROVISIONS
RELATED TO COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLANS, TEACHER
LIBRARIANS AND GUIDANCE COUNSELORS, REQUIRED DAYS OR
HOURS OF INSTRUCTION IN ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS,
AGREEMENTS BETWEEN SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES
TO TEACH CERTAIN COURSES, AND REQUIRED COURSES IN SCHOOL
DISTRICTS AND ACCREDITED NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND AUTHORIZING
SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO OFFER SEQUENTIAL UNITS IN ONE CLASSROOM.
9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 DIVISION I
2 ELIMINATION OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT PLAN
3 Section 1. Section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph a, Code
4 2023, is amended to read as follows:
5 a. Requirements that all school districts and accredited
6 nonpublic schools develop, implement, and file with the
7 department a comprehensive school improvement plan report that
8 includes but is not limited to demonstrated school, parental,
9 and community involvement in assessing educational needs,
10 establishing local education standards and student achievement
11 levels, and, as applicable, the consolidation of federal and
12 state planning, goal-setting, and reporting requirements
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13 information necessary for the department of education to submit
14 to the United States secretary of education the plan required
15 pursuant to the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
16 as amended by the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, Pub. L.
17 No. 114-95. Each school district and accredited nonpublic
18 school shall include in its comprehensive school improvement
19 plan a list and description of the online coursework offered
20 by the school district or accredited nonpublic school to which
21 the student is enrolled.
22 Sec. 2. Section 279.61, subsection 5, Code 2023, is amended
23 to read as follows:
24 5. For the school year beginning July 1, 2016, and each
25 succeeding school year, the board of directors of each
26 school district shall submit to the local community, and
27 to the department as a component of the school district’s
28 comprehensive school improvement plan required by section
29 256.7, subsection 21, an annual report on student utilization
30 of the district’s career information and decision-making
31 system.
32 Sec. 3. Section 279.68, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
33 2023, is amended to read as follows:
34 a. To ensure all children are reading proficiently by the
35 end of third grade, each school district shall address reading
1 proficiency as part of its comprehensive school improvement
2 plan, drawing upon information about students from assessments
3 and reassessments conducted pursuant to subsection 1 and the
4 prevalence of areas in which students are persistently at risk
5 in reading identified by classroom, elementary school, and
6 other student characteristics. As part of its comprehensive
7 school improvement plan, each Each school district shall
8 review chronic early elementary absenteeism for its impact
9 on literacy development. If more than fifteen percent of an
10 attendance center’s students are not reading proficiently and
11 are persistently at risk in reading by the end of third grade,
12 the comprehensive school improvement plan shall include school
13 district shall develop and implement strategies to reduce that
14 percentage, including school and community strategies to raise
15 the percentage of students who are reading at grade level.
16 Sec. 4. Section 280.19, Code 2023, is amended to read as
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17 follows:
18 280.19 Plans for at-risk children.
19 The board of directors of each public school district shall
20 incorporate, into the kindergarten admissions program, criteria
21 and procedures for identification and integration of at-risk
22 children and their developmental needs. This incorporation
23 shall be part of the comprehensive school improvement plan
24 developed and implemented in accordance with section 256.7,
25 subsection 21, paragraph “a”.
26 Sec. 5. Section 280.28, subsection 7, Code 2023, is amended
27 to read as follows:
28 7. Integration of policy and reporting Reporting. The board
29 of directors of a school district and the authorities in charge
30 of each nonpublic school shall integrate its antiharassment and
31 antibullying policy into the comprehensive school improvement
32 plan required under section 256.7, subsection 21, and shall
33 report data collected under subsection 6, as specified by the
34 department, to the department and to the local community.
35 Sec. 6. Section 284.5, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended
1 to read as follows:
2 3. Each school district and area education agency that
3 provides a beginning teacher mentoring and induction program
4 under this chapter shall develop a plan for the program. A
5 school district shall include its plan in the school district’s
6 comprehensive school improvement plan submitted pursuant to
7 section 256.7, subsection 21. The plan shall, at a minimum,
8 provide for a two-year sequence of induction program content
9 and activities to support the Iowa teaching standards and
10 beginning teacher professional and personal needs; mentor
11 training that includes, at a minimum, skills of classroom
12 demonstration and coaching, and district expectations for
13 beginning teacher competence on Iowa teaching standards;
14 placement of mentors and beginning teachers; the process for
15 dissolving mentor and beginning teacher partnerships; district
16 organizational support for release time for mentors and
17 beginning teachers to plan, provide demonstration of classroom
18 practices, observe teaching, and provide feedback; structure
19 for mentor selection and assignment of mentors to beginning
20 teachers; a district facilitator; and program evaluation.
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21 Sec. 7. Section 284.6, subsections 3, 4, and 7, Code 2023,
22 are amended to read as follows:
23 3. A school district shall incorporate develop a district
24 professional development plan into the district’s comprehensive
25 school improvement plan submitted to the department in
26 accordance with section 256.7, subsection 21. The district
27 professional development plan shall include a description of
28 the means by which the school district will provide access
29 to all teachers in the district to professional development
30 programs or offerings that meet the requirements of subsection
31 1. The plan shall align all professional development with
32 the school district’s long-range student learning goals and
33 the Iowa teaching standards. The plan shall indicate the
34 school district’s approved professional development provider
35 or providers.
1 4. In cooperation with the teacher’s evaluator, the
2 career teacher employed by a school district shall develop
3 an individual teacher professional development plan. The
4 evaluator shall consult with the teacher’s supervisor on the
5 development of the individual teacher professional development
6 plan. The purpose of the plan is to promote individual and
7 group professional development. The individual plan shall
8 be based, at minimum, on the needs of the teacher, the Iowa
9 teaching standards, and the student achievement goals of the
10 attendance center and the school district as outlined in the
11 comprehensive school improvement plan. The individual plan
12 shall include goals for the individual which are beyond those
13 required under the attendance center professional development
14 plan developed pursuant to subsection 7.
15 7. Each attendance center shall develop an attendance
16 center professional development plan. The purpose of the plan
17 is to promote group professional development. The attendance
18 center plan shall be based, at a minimum, on the needs of the
19 teachers, the Iowa teaching standards, district professional
20 development plans, and the student achievement goals of the
21 attendance center and the school district as set forth in the
22 comprehensive school improvement plan.
23 Sec. 8. Section 284.14, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
24 2023, is amended to read as follows:
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25 a. Commencing with the school year beginning July 1,
26 2007, the commission shall initiate planning pilots, in
27 selected kindergarten through grade twelve schools, to test
28 the effectiveness of the pay-for-performance program. The
29 purpose of the planning pilots is to identify the strengths
30 and weaknesses of various pay-for-performance program designs,
31 evaluate cost effectiveness, analyze student achievement
32 needs, select formative and summative student achievement
33 measures that align to identify needs, consider necessary
34 supports related to the student achievement goals in the school
35 district’s comprehensive school improvement plan, review
1 assessment needs, identify mechanisms to account for existing
2 teacher contract provisions within the proposed career ladder
3 salary increments, allow thorough review of data, and make
4 necessary adjustments before proposing implementation of the
5 pay-for-performance program statewide.
6 Sec. 9. Section 284A.5, subsection 3, Code 2023, is amended
7 to read as follows:
8 3. Each school board shall establish an administrator
9 mentoring program for all beginning administrators. The school
10 board may adopt the model program developed by the department
11 pursuant to subsection 2. Each school board’s beginning
12 administrator mentoring and induction program shall, at a
13 minimum, provide for one year of programming to support the
14 Iowa standards for school administrators adopted pursuant to
15 section 256.7, subsection 27, and beginning administrators’
16 professional and personal needs. Each school board shall
17 develop and implement a beginning administrator mentoring and
18 induction plan. The plan shall describe the mentor selection
19 process, describe supports for beginning administrators,
20 describe program organizational and collaborative structures,
21 provide a budget, provide for sustainability of the program,
22 and provide for program evaluation. The school board
23 employing an administrator shall determine the conditions and
24 requirements of an administrator participating in a program
25 established pursuant to this section. A school board shall
26 include its plan in the school district’s comprehensive
27 school improvement plan submitted pursuant to section 256.7,
28 subsection 21.
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29 Sec. 10. Section 284A.6, subsection 2, Code 2023, is amended
30 to read as follows:
31 2. In cooperation with the administrator’s evaluator, the
32 administrator who has a professional administrator license
33 issued by the board of educational examiners pursuant to
34 chapter 272 and is employed by a school district or area
35 education agency in a school district administrative position
1 shall develop an individual administrator professional
2 development plan. The purpose of the plan is to promote
3 individual and group professional development. The individual
4 plan shall be based, at a minimum, on the needs of the
5 administrator, the Iowa standards for school administrators
6 adopted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 27, and the
7 student achievement goals of the attendance center and the
8 school district as outlined in the comprehensive school
9 improvement plan.
10 DIVISION II
11 TEACHER LIBRARIANS AND GUIDANCE COUNSELORS
12 Sec. 11. Section 256.11, subsections 9 and 9A, Code 2023,
13 are amended to read as follows:
14 9. a. Beginning July 1, 2006 2023, each school district
15 shall have employ either a qualified teacher librarian who
16 shall be licensed by the board of educational examiners under
17 chapter 272 or a person previously employed as a librarian by a
18 public library. The board of educational examiners shall not
19 require an applicant for a teacher librarian license to have
20 a master’s degree.
21 b. The state board shall establish in rule standards for
22 school district library programs, which shall be designed to
23 provide for methods to improve library collections to meet
24 student needs, include a current and diverse collection of
25 fiction and nonfiction materials in a variety of formats
26 to support student curricular needs, and include a plan
27 for annually updating and replacing library materials and
28 equipment.
29 c. The state board shall establish in rule a definition
30 of and standards for an articulated sequential kindergarten
31 through grade twelve media program.
32 d. A school district that entered into a contract with an
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33 individual for employment as a media specialist or librarian
34 prior to June 1, 2006, shall be considered to be in compliance
35 with this subsection until June 30, 2011, if the individual
1 is making annual progress toward meeting the requirements
2 for a teacher librarian endorsement issued by the board of
3 educational examiners under chapter 272. A school district
4 that entered into a contract with an individual for employment
5 as a media specialist or librarian who holds at least a
6 master’s degree in library and information studies shall be
7 considered to be in compliance with this subsection until the
8 individual leaves the employ of the school district.
9 9A. Beginning July 1, 2007, each school district shall
10 have a qualified guidance counselor who shall be licensed by
11 the board of educational examiners under chapter 272. Each
12 school district shall work toward the goal of having one
13 qualified guidance counselor for every three hundred fifty
14 students enrolled in the school district. The state board
15 shall establish in rule a definition of and standards for
16 an articulated sequential kindergarten through grade twelve
17 guidance and counseling program. The program shall be designed
18 to ensure that the guidance counselor can work collaboratively
19 with students, teachers, support staff, and administrators
20 to support the curricular goals of the school by offering
21 responsive services that address the growth and development
22 needs of students and the attainment of student competencies in
23 academic, career, and social areas.
24 DIVISION III
25 REQUIRED ATTENDANCE —— SCHOOL DISTRICTS, ACCREDITED NONPUBLIC
26 SCHOOLS, CHARTER SCHOOLS, AND INNOVATION ZONE SCHOOLS
27 Sec. 12. Section 279.10, subsection 1, Code 2023, is amended
28 to read as follows:
29 1. The school year for each school district and accredited
30 nonpublic school shall begin on July 1 and the school calendar
31 shall begin no sooner than August 23 and no later than the
32 first Monday in December. The school calendar shall include
33 not less than one hundred eighty days or one thousand eighty
34 hours of instruction during the calendar year, of which not
35 more than five days or thirty hours of instruction may be
1 delivered primarily over the internet except as otherwise
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2 provided in section 256.43 or in rules adopted by the state
3 board of education pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 32.
4 The board of directors of a school district and the authorities
5 in charge of an accredited nonpublic school shall determine the
6 school start date for the school calendar in accordance with
7 this subsection and shall set the number of days or hours of
8 required attendance for the school year as provided in section
9 299.1, subsection 2, but the board of directors of a school
10 district shall hold a public hearing on any proposed school
11 calendar prior to adopting the school calendar. If the board
12 of directors of a district or the authorities in charge of an
13 accredited nonpublic school extends the school calendar because
14 inclement weather caused the school district or accredited
15 nonpublic school to temporarily close during the regular school
16 calendar, the school district or accredited nonpublic school
17 may excuse a graduating senior who has met district or school
18 requirements for graduation from attendance during the extended
19 school calendar. A school corporation may begin employment
20 of personnel for in-service training and development purposes
21 before the date to begin elementary and secondary school.
22 DIVISION IV
23 EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS —— AGREEMENTS WITH COMMUNITY COLLEGES
24 Sec. 13. Section 279.50A, Code 2023, is amended to read as
25 follows:
26 279.50A Educational standards —— agreements for mathematics
27 and science units with community colleges.
28 1. If a school district’s total enrollment exceeds six
29 hundred pupils, the A school district may enter into an
30 agreement with a community college under which the community
31 college may offer, or provide a community college-employed
32 instructor to teach, one of the units in accordance with
33 section 256.1