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1 H.179
2 Introduced by Representatives Elder of Starksboro, Cina of Burlington,
3 Gregoire of Fairfield, Ode of Burlington, Page of Newport City,
4 Satcowitz of Randolph, and Sims of Craftsbury
5 Referred to Committee on
6 Date:
7 Subject: Education; State Board of Education; Secretary of Education
8 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to transfer
9 certain responsibilities of the State Board of Education to the Secretary of
10 Education.
11 An act relating to reforming the State Board of Education
12 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
13 * * * Transfer of Certain Responsibilities of the State Board of Education to
14 the Secretary of Education * * *
15 Sec. 1. 16 V.S.A. § 164 is amended to read:
16 § 164. STATE BOARD; GENERAL POWERS AND DUTIES
17 The State Board shall engage local school board members and the broader
18 education community and, consistent with the provisions of this title, its own
19 rules, and rules adopted by the Secretary, establish and regularly update a long-
20 term strategic vision for the delivery of educational services in Vermont;
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1 advise the General Assembly, the Governor, and the Secretary of Education on
2 high-priority educational policies and issues as they arise; and act in
3 accordance with legislative mandates, including the adoption of rules and
4 executing special assignments. In addition to other specified duties, the Board
5 shall:
6 (1) Establish such advisory commissions as in the judgment of the
7 Board will be of assistance to it in carrying out its duties. Advisory
8 commission members shall serve with or without compensation at the
9 discretion of the Board but shall receive actual expenses incurred in pursuance
10 of their duties.
11 (2) Have the authority to enter into agreements with school districts,
12 municipalities, states, the United States, foundations, agencies, or individuals
13 for service, educational programs, or research projects.
14 (3) Examine and determine all appeals that by law are made to it and
15 prescribe rules of practice in respect thereto, not inconsistent with law.
16 (4) [Repealed.]
17 (5) [Repealed.]
18 (6) Make regulations governing the attendance and records of
19 attendance of all students and the deportment of students attending public
20 schools. [Repealed.]
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1 (7) Adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A. chapter 25 to carry out the powers
2 and duties of the Board as directed by the General Assembly, within the
3 limitations of legislative intent., including rules concerning:
4 (A) the operation and administration of the State Board of Education;
5 (B) educational quality standards;
6 (C) independent school program approval, including:
7 (i) approval of distance learning schools;
8 (ii) post-secondary schools; and
9 (iii) private kindergarten approval;
10 (D) special education, including special education finance and
11 census-based funding;
12 (E) a school accountability system based on student achievement;
13 (F) supervisory union and school district organization; and
14 (G) proposals for alternative structures under 2015 Acts and Resolves
15 No. 46.
16 (8) Review and comment on rules proposed by the Agency of Education
17 prior to prefiling the proposed rules with the Interagency Committee on
18 Administrative Rules under 3 V.S.A. § 837.
19 (9) Implement Develop and continually update standards for student
20 performance in appropriate content areas and at appropriate intervals in the
21 continuum from kindergarten prekindergarten to grade 12 and methods of
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1 assessment to determine attainment of the standards for student performance.
2 The standards shall be rigorous, challenging, and designed to prepare students
3 to participate in and contribute to the democratic process and to compete in the
4 global marketplace. The standards shall include a standard for reading level
5 proficiency for students completing grade three.
6 (10) [Repealed.]
7 (11) If deemed advisable, determine educational standards for admission
8 to and graduation from the public schools. [Repealed.]
9 (12) [Repealed.]
10 (13) Be the State Board for the program of adult education and literacy
11 and perform all the duties and powers prescribed by law pertaining to adult
12 education and literacy and to act as the State approval agency for educational
13 institutions conducting programs of adult education and literacy. [Repealed.]
14 (14) Adopt rules for approval of independent schools. [Repealed.]
15 (15) Establish criteria governing the establishment of a system for the
16 receipt, deposit, accounting, and disbursement of all funds by supervisory
17 unions and school districts. [Repealed.]
18 (16) In cooperation with the Secretary, ensure that the Agency develops
19 information, plans, and assistance to aid in making technology and
20 telecommunications available and coordinated in all school districts. The State
21 Board shall develop guidelines for distribution of federal, State, or private VT LEG #365891 v.1
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1 funds designated for the development or expansion of distance learning
2 technologies. The guidelines shall encourage, consistent with any terms or
3 conditions established by the funding source, collaboration between schools
4 and school districts to realize economic and educational efficiencies.
5 [Repealed.]
6 (17) Report annually on the condition of education statewide and on a
7 supervisory union and school district basis. The report shall include
8 information on attainment of standards for student performance adopted under
9 subdivision (9) of this section, number and types of complaints of hazing,
10 harassment, or bullying made pursuant to chapter 9, subchapter 5 of this title
11 and responses to the complaints, financial resources and expenditures, and
12 community social indicators. The report shall be organized and presented in a
13 way that is easily understandable by the general public and that enables each
14 school, school district, and supervisory union to determine its strengths and
15 weaknesses. To the extent consistent with State and federal privacy laws and
16 regulations, data on hazing, harassment, or bullying incidents shall be
17 disaggregated by incident type, including disaggregation by ethnic groups,
18 racial groups, religious groups, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity,
19 disability status, and English language learner status. The Secretary shall use
20 the information in the report to determine whether students in each school,
21 school district, and supervisory union are provided educational opportunities VT LEG #365891 v.1
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1 substantially equal to those provided in other schools, school districts, and
2 supervisory unions pursuant to subsection 165(b) of this title. [Repealed.]
3 (18) Ensure that Vermont’s students, including students enrolled in
4 secondary career technical education, have access to a substantially equal
5 educational opportunity by developing a system to evaluate the equalizing
6 effects of Vermont’s education finance system and education quality standards
7 under section 165 of this title. [Repealed.]
8 (19) [Repealed.]
9 (20) Pursuant to section 806g of this title, constitute the State Council for
10 the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children and
11 appoint to the Council a Compact Commissioner and Military Family
12 Education Liaison, who may be the same person. The Board may appoint
13 additional members. [Repealed.]
14 (21) Report annually to the Governor and the General Assembly on the
15 progress the Board has made on the development of education policy for the
16 State current condition and future prospects of education in Vermont.
17 Sec. 2. 16 V.S.A. § 212 is amended to read:
18 § 212. SECRETARY’S DUTIES GENERALLY
19 The Secretary shall execute those policies adopt rules pursuant to 3 V.S.A.
20 chapter 25 necessary to execute the powers and responsibilities given to the
21 Secretary under this title or otherwise required or authorized by State or federal VT LEG #365891 v.1
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1 law and as directed by the General Assembly, except that the Secretary shall
2 not adopt rules in areas reserved to the State Board of Education under section
3 164 of this title, implement rules adopted by the Secretary and the State Board
4 in the legal exercise of its their powers, and shall:
5 ***
6 (23) Make rules governing the attendance and records of attendance of
7 all students and the deportment of students attending public schools.
8 (24) Establish criteria governing the establishment of a system for the
9 receipt, deposit, accounting, and disbursement of all funds by supervisory
10 unions and school districts.
11 (25) Provide guidance to school districts to make technology and
12 telecommunications available and coordinated in all school districts, including
13 guidelines for the distribution of federal, State, and private funds designated
14 for the development or expansion of distance learning technologies. The
15 guidelines shall encourage, consistent with any terms or conditions established
16 by the funding source, collaboration between schools and among school
17 districts to realize economic and educational efficiencies.
18 (26) Report annually on the condition of education statewide and on a
19 supervisory-union and school-district basis. The report shall include
20 information on attainment of standards for student performance adopted under
21 subdivision 164(9) of this title, number and types of complaints of hazing,
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1 harassment, or bullying made pursuant to chapter 9, subchapter 5 of this title.
2 The report shall also include information on the and responses to the
3 complaints, financial resources and expenditures, and community social
4 indicators. The report shall be organized and presented in a way that is easily
5 understandable by the general public and that enables each school, school
6 district, and supervisory union to determine its strengths and weaknesses. To
7 the extent consistent with State and federal privacy laws and regulations, data
8 on hazing, harassment, or bullying incidents shall be disaggregated by incident
9 type, including disaggregation by ethnic groups, racial groups, religious
10 groups, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, and
11 English language learner status. The Secretary shall use the information in the
12 report to determine whether students in each school, school district, and
13 supervisory union are provided educational opportunities substantially equal to
14 those provided in other schools, school districts, and supervisory unions
15 pursuant to subsection 165(b) of this title.
16 (27) Ensure that Vermont’s students, including students enrolled in
17 secondary career technical education, have access to a substantially equal
18 educational opportunity by developing a system to evaluate the equalizing
19 effects of Vermont’s education finance system and education quality standards
20 under section 165 of this title.
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1 (28) Be responsible for the program of adult education and literacy and
2 perform all the duties and powers prescribed by law pertaining to adult
3 education and literacy and to act as the State approval agency for educational
4 institutions conducting programs of adult education and literacy.
5 (29) Submit proposed rules to the State Board for review and comment
6 prior to prefiling them with the Interagency Committee on Administrative
7 Rules under 3 V.S.A. § 837 within a time frame that accommodates the State
8 Board’s review of the proposed rules and the Secretary’s ability to respond to
9 the State Board’s comments.
10 * * * Conforming Changes to Law in 16 V.S.A. chapter 3
11 (State Board of Education) * * *
12 Sec. 3. 16 V.S.A. § 167 is amended to read:
13 § 167. HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCE CERTIFICATE
14 The State Board Secretary is authorized to grant high school equivalency
15 certificates to any person who has not been graduated from a high school on
16 the basis of credits earned in the U.S. Armed Forces, credits earned in
17 approved schools for adults, or satisfactory scores obtained on approved
18 examinations.
19 Sec. 4. 16 V.S.A. § 175 is amended to read:
20 § 175. POSTSECONDARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS; CLOSING
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1 (a) When an institution of higher education, whether or not chartered in this
2 State, proposes to discontinue the regular course of instruction, either
3 permanently or for a temporary period other than a customary vacation period,
4 the institution shall:
5 (1) promptly inform the State Board Secretary;
6 (2) prepare the academic record of each current and former student in a
7 form satisfactory to the State Board Secretary and including interpretive
8 information required by the Board; and
9 (3) deliver the records to a person designated by the State Board
10 Secretary to act as permanent repository for the institution’s records, together
11 with the reasonable cost of entering and maintaining the records.
12 ***
13 (d) When an institution of higher education is unable or unwilling to
14 comply substantially with the record preparation and delivery requirements of
15 subsection (a) of this section, the State Board Secretary shall bring an action in
16 Superior Court to compel compliance with this section, and may in a proper
17 case obtain temporary custody of the records.
18 (e) When an institution of higher education is unable or unwilling to
19 comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, the State Board
20 Secretary may expend State funds necessary to ensure the proper storage and
21 availability of the institution’s records. The Attorney General shall then seek VT LEG #365891 v.1
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1 recovery under this subsection, in the name of the State, of all of the State’s
2 incurred costs and expenses, including attorney’s fees, arising from the failure
3 to comply. Claims under this subsection shall be a lien on all the property of a
4 defaulting institution, until all claims under this subsection are satisfied. The
5 lien shall take effect from the date of filing notice thereof in the records of the
6 town or towns where property of the defaulting institution is located.
7 (f) The State Board shall adopt rules under this section for its proper
8 administration. The rules may include provisions for preparing and
9 maintaining transferred records. Persons acting as a repository of records are
10 bound only by maintenance provisions to which they agreed before receiving
11 transferred records.
12 ***
13 Sec. 5. 16 V.S.A. § 176 is amended to read:
14 § 176. POSTSECONDARY SCHOOLS CHARTERED IN VERMONT
15 ***
16 (d) Exemptions. The following are exempt from the requirements of this
17 section except for the requirements of subdivision (c)(1)(C) of this section:
18 ***
19 (4) Postsecondary schools that are ac