§ 6-15-2913 — Levels of school district support

(a) (1) The State Board of Education shall promulgate rules to establish: (A) (i) The process for determining the differentiated levels of support that the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will provide to school districts. (ii) The levels of support shall include: (a) Level 1 - General; (b) Level 2 - Collaborative; (c) Level 3 - Coordinated; (d) Level 4 - Directed; and (e) Level 5 - Intensive; and (B) The process for guiding, monitoring, or directing: (i) School-level improvement plans; (ii) Supports; (iii) Resources; (iv) Interventions; and (v) Reporting requirements. (2) The process established by the state board for determining the level of support provided to a public school district may include without limitation consideration of: (A) The performance levels of all students on statewide student assessments adopted in accordance with the consolidated state plan; (B) The performance levels of subgroup populations on statewide student assessments adopted in accordance with the consolidated state plan; (C) The schools identified as in need of targeted or comprehensive support, or both, pursuant to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Pub. L. No. 89-10, as reauthorized by the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114-95; and (D) Other criteria the state board determines appropriate, including without limitation: (i) Feeder pattern performance; (ii) Graduation rates; (iii) Growth calculations; and (iv) Other indicators of school success. (3) Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year, the division shall provide: (A) (i) Level 3 - Coordinated support to a public school district in which forty percent (40%) or more of the public school district's students score "in need of support" on the state's prior year summative assessment for reading. (ii) Level 3 - Coordinated support shall be provided in collaboration with the public school district's educational service cooperative; and (B) Level 4 - Directed support to a public school district in which fifty percent (50%) or more of its students score "in need of support" on the state's prior year summative assessment for reading. (b) (1) The state board may adopt, by rule, an alternate process of determining the level of support to be provided to public schools or school districts serving specific student populations, including without limitation: (A) A public school that is designated solely as an alternative learning environment; (B) An open-enrollment public charter school whose mission and enrollment are primarily focused on students who have dropped out of school or are identified as at risk of dropping out of school; (C) A conversion public charter school whose mission and enrollment are primarily focused on students who have dropped out of school or are identified as at risk of dropping out of school; (D) The Arkansas School for the Blind; (E) The Arkansas School for the Deaf; and (F) A public school or system of education that primarily serves adjudicated youth. (2) The alternate process adopted by the state board under subdivision (b)(1) of this section shall specify the method to measure student academic performance. (c) A public school district that fails to comply with requirements placed on the public school district by the state board under this subchapter is in violation of the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2019, No. 1082,§ 2, eff. 7/24/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 1304, eff. 7/1/2019. Added by Act 2017, No. 930,§ 2, eff. 8/1/2017.