SB0446ham002 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Rep. Cynthia Soto

Filed: 5/19/2017

10000SB0446ham002 LRB100 04888 MLM 26633 a

AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 446

AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 446 by replacing line 23 on page 5 through line 8 on page 7 with the following:

"(4) For the 2017-2018 school year and each school year thereafter, in a school district or educational service region with a high school dropout rate that is at least 2 times the State high school dropout rate as calculated for the latest school year, a school district or educational service region shall receive an incentive weighting of 2 times the full Foundation Level of support of $6,119 for each high school dropout who has been dropped from the school enrollment rolls for at least one calendar month and has been reenrolled into a best practices school for high school dropouts. If a school district or educational service region is eligible for funding under this Section, the district or educational service region shall receive funding under this Section for a minimum of 3 years following the last year for which the district or educational service region had a high school dropout rate above 2 times the State average. The school district or educational service region may run the school directly or subcontract with a not-for-profit organization or school to provide the comprehensive services for the reenrolled dropouts. Any State funds authorized pursuant to this Section must be expended on purposes related to reenrolling high school dropouts. The school district or educational service region shall provide the services commensurate to the reenrolled student's need. The reenrolled student shall also be supported by existing local and other funding that is provided for a currently enrolled student. These existing local and other sources of funding shall also provide for services commensurate to the reenrolled student's need. The school district or educational service region shall provide the same local and other funding for each reenrolled dropout that is provided for other students already enrolled in the school district or educational service region. A school may be developed as a new school or may be an existing school that is expanded. New schools that are developed shall have a minimum of 50 reenrolled high school dropouts. These schools shall operate with this increased incentive, 2 times the full Foundation Level funding, using the best school practices that successfully reengage, educate, graduate, and transition high school dropouts, as developed through successful experience and research. These practices include, but are not limited to, strong leadership, small school size, small class size, local school decision-making, comprehensive programming, strong staff teamwork, strong professional development for all staff, and employment and career preparation, with a more complete list detailed in the January 2008 Final Report of the State Task Force on Re-enrolling Students Who Dropped Out of School, Appendix E. The reimbursement for a new or expanded school shall be made in the school year in which the school is operating; a payment of one-fourth of the annual projected budget shall be made in the first month, and subsequent payments of one-fourth of the annual budget shall be made at the beginning of the second, third, and fourth quarters. If the overall enrollment falls below 75% in the third quarter, then an adjustment shall be made for the payment in the fourth quarter to whatever the actual percentage of enrollment was in the third quarter, applied to the fourth quarter projected payment. High school students who have left school and are off the school district reimbursement rolls are considered enrolled when they reenroll back into a best practices school, as provided in this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly. The student must remain in school in the first or second semester, depending on when the student enrolls, as verified by the school district database. These schools shall be held to outcomes that are at appropriate levels for reenrolling and graduating high school dropouts. These outcomes include enrollment, attendance, skill gains, credit gains, graduation or promotion to the next grade level, and the transition to college, training, or employment, with an emphasis on progressively increasing the overall attendance and enrollment to 75% by the sixth month of the school year of the best practices school that the reenrolled students have entered into. In a school district organized under Article 34 of this Code, the outcomes for any school that reenrolls high school dropouts shall utilize best school practices to reenroll high school dropouts and shall be measured by the general assessment tool used by the school district to provide a strong framework for accountability.".