HF 3905

as introduced - 85th Legislature (2007 - 2008) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to education; allowing potential school site to appeal school board
decision; amending Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 123B.04, subdivision 2.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 123B.04, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Agreement.

(a) Upon the request of 60 percent of the licensed employees
of a site or a school site decision-making team, the school board shall enter into
discussions to reach an agreement concerning the governance, management, or control of
the school. A school site decision-making team may include the school principal, teachers
in the school or their designee, other employees in the school, representatives of pupils
in the school, or other members in the community. A school site decision-making team
must include at least one parent of a pupil in the school. For purposes of formation of a
new site, a school site decision-making team may be a team of teachers that is recognized
by the board as a site. The school site decision-making team shall include the school
principal or other person having general control and supervision of the school. The site
decision-making team must reflect the diversity of the education site. At least one-half
of the members shall be employees of the district, unless an employee is the parent of a
student enrolled in the school site, in which case the employee may elect to serve as a
parent member of the site team.

(b) School site decision-making agreements must delegate powers, duties, and
broad management responsibilities to site teams and involve staff members, students as
appropriate, and parents in decision making.

(c) An agreement shall include a statement of powers, duties, responsibilities, and
authority to be delegated to and within the site.

(d) An agreement may include:

(1) an achievement contract according to subdivision 4;

(2) a mechanism to allow principals, a site leadership team, or other persons having
general control and supervision of the school, to make decisions regarding how financial
and personnel resources are best allocated at the site and from whom goods or services
are purchased;

(3) a mechanism to implement parental involvement programs under section
124D.895 and to provide for effective parental communication and feedback on this
involvement at the site level;

(4) a provision that would allow the team to determine who is hired into licensed
and nonlicensed positions;

(5) a provision that would allow teachers to choose the principal or other person
having general control;

(6) an amount of revenue allocated to the site under subdivision 3; and

(7) any other powers and duties determined appropriate by the board.

The school board of the district remains the legal employer under clauses (4) and (5).

(e) Any powers or duties not delegated to the school site management team in the
school site management agreement shall remain with the school board.

(f) Approved agreements shall be filed with the commissioner. If a school board
denies a request or the school site and school board fail to reach an agreement to enter
into a school site management agreement, deleted text begin the school board shall provide a copy of the
request and the reasons for its denial to the commissioner deleted text end new text begin either party may petition the
commissioner for a ruling on the decision new text end .

(g) A site decision-making grant program is established, consistent with this
subdivision, to allow sites to implement an agreement that at least:

(1) notwithstanding subdivision 3, allocates to the site all revenue that is attributable
to the students at that site;

(2) includes a provision, consistent with current law and the collective bargaining
agreement in effect, that allows the site team to decide who is selected from within the
district for licensed and nonlicensed positions at the site and to make staff assignments
in the site; and

(3) includes a completed performance agreement under subdivision 4.

The commissioner shall establish the form and manner of the application for a grant
and annually, at the end of each fiscal year, report to the house of representatives and
senate committees having jurisdiction over education on the progress of the program.