101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
SB1303

 

Introduced 2/7/2019, by Sen. Andy Manar

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new

    Amends the School Code. Requires the State Board of Education to create the Freshman Success pilot program. Provides that, subject to appropriation, the State Board must award grants to school districts to implement Freshman Success plans; specifies grant eligibility requirements. Provides that, on or before December 1, 2019 and on or before each December 1 thereafter, the State Board shall make grant applications available and issue a list of all school districts eligible to apply. Requires each grant applicant to describe its plan and how the grant funds will be allocated; provides for allowable grant uses. Provides that the State Board must review all submitted applications to determine if an applicant has developed a promising plan to increase on-track freshman rates and has demonstrated the leadership and capacity to implement its plan with the grant assistance. If so, provides that the State Board may award the applicant a grant of up to $100,000 per qualifying high school in the school district. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1    AN ACT concerning education.
 
2    WHEREAS, The freshman year of high school is a critically
3important year for getting students started on the right foot
4in high school; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Students who complete freshman year on track,
6where they earn 6 credits and fail no more than one core
7course, are 3 times more likely to graduate from high school;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, Illinois is the birthplace of extensive research
10on the value of focusing on keeping freshmen on track, building
11from a 2008 report of the University of Chicago Consortium on
12School Research; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Illinois' new accountability system incorporates
14on-track freshman rates for high schools across the State; and
 
15    WHEREAS, This Act may be referred to as the Freshman
16Success Act; therefore
 
17    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
18represented in the General Assembly:
 
19    Section 5. The School Code is amended by adding Section

 

 

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12-3.176 as follows:
 
2    (105 ILCS 5/2-3.176 new)
3    Sec. 2-3.176. Freshman Success pilot program.
4    (a) In this Section, "qualifying high school" means a high
5school that has a 5-year graduation rate and an on-track
6freshman rate of 80% or less on its most recent school report
7card.
8    (b) The State Board shall create a Freshman Success pilot
9program. Subject to appropriation, the State Board must award
10grants to school districts under this Section to implement
11Freshman Success plans. To be eligible for a grant, a school
12district must meet all of the following criteria:
13        (1) The district must be identified as a Tier 1 or Tier
14    2 Organizational Unit under Section 18-8.15.
15        (2) The district must have at least one qualifying high
16    school within the district.
17    (c) On or before December 1, 2019 and on or before each
18December 1 thereafter, the State Board must make grant
19applications available and issue a list of all school districts
20eligible to apply. Each applicant must describe its Freshman
21Success plan and how the grant funds will be allocated.
22Allowable uses for grant funds include, but are not limited to,
23all of the following:
24        (1) Hiring a dedicated staff member to support freshmen
25    students.

 

 

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1        (2) Providing professional development to existing
2    staff members to integrate practices that improve freshman
3    attendance.
4        (3) Increasing tutoring or other support services for
5    freshmen students who are failing a core course.
6        (4) Providing in-school mentoring opportunities to
7    freshmen students to boost the number of students who have
8    a strong relationship with an adult in the school building.
9        (5) Any other practice that is likely to lead to
10    improved freshman success.
11    (d) The State Board must review all submitted applications
12to determine if an applicant has developed a promising plan to
13increase on-track freshman rates and has demonstrated the
14leadership and capacity to implement its plan with the grant
15assistance. If so, the State Board may award the applicant a
16grant of up to $100,000 per qualifying high school in the
17school district.
18    (e) As a condition of receiving a grant under this Section,
19an applicant must agree to produce and submit a report to the
20State Board and the General Assembly that accounts for the
21expenditure of the grant funds and the results of the school
22district's effort to increase on-track freshman rates.
 
23    Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
24becoming law.