1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; modifying the definition of 
  1.3             parent for compulsory education and reporting; 
  1.4             permitting reporting to a county or state agency 
  1.5             providing services to a child; working to develop, 
  1.6             provide, and maintain an educational structure that 
  1.7             meets the needs of at-risk students; identifying 
  1.8             obstacles to student educational success; providing 
  1.9             for staff development and community training grants; 
  1.10            creating an advisory council to assist in analyzing 
  1.11            student performance data; emphasizing outcomes; 
  1.12            appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.13            sections 120A.22, subdivision 3; and 120A.26, 
  1.14            subdivision 3; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.15            Minnesota Statutes, chapter 124D. 
  1.16  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.17     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120A.22, 
  1.18  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 3.  [PARENT DEFINED; RESIDENCY DETERMINED.] (a) In 
  1.20  this section and sections 120A.24, 120A.26, and 120A.41, 
  1.21  "parent" means a parent, guardian, or other person having 
  1.22  legal or physical custody of a child.  
  1.23     (b) In sections 125A.03 to 125A.24 and 125A.65, "parent" 
  1.24  means a parent, guardian, or other person having legal custody 
  1.25  of a child under age 18.  For an unmarried pupil age 18 or over, 
  1.26  "parent" means the pupil unless a guardian or conservator has 
  1.27  been appointed, in which case it means the guardian or 
  1.28  conservator. 
  1.29     (c) For purposes of sections 125A.03 to 125A.24 and 
  1.30  125A.65, the school district of residence for an unmarried pupil 
  2.1   age 18 or over who is a parent under paragraph (b) and who is 
  2.2   placed in a center for care and treatment, shall be the school 
  2.3   district in which the pupil's biological or adoptive parent or 
  2.4   designated guardian resides. 
  2.5      (d) For a married pupil age 18 or over, the school district 
  2.6   of residence is the school district in which the married pupil 
  2.7   resides. 
  2.8      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 120A.26, 
  2.9   subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subd. 3.  [NOTICE TO PARENTS.] (a) The superintendent or 
  2.11  the superintendent's designee must notify the parent, in 
  2.12  writing, if a child is alleged to be receiving instruction in 
  2.13  violation of sections 120A.22 and 120A.24, is failing to make 
  2.14  satisfactory progress, or to complete teacher assigned work.  
  2.15  The written notification must include a list of the specific 
  2.16  alleged violations.  The parent must be notified within 24 hours 
  2.17  of a child's failure to make satisfactory progress or to 
  2.18  complete teacher assigned work. 
  2.19     (b) If a county or state agency, providing at least one of 
  2.20  the services under section 124D.705, subdivision 2, paragraph 
  2.21  (a), to a child or the child's family, requests notice under 
  2.22  paragraph (a), the district must provide the information to that 
  2.23  county or state agency. 
  2.24     Sec. 3.  [124D.705] [EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURE TO MEET THE 
  2.25  NEEDS OF AT-RISK STUDENTS.] 
  2.26     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner of 
  2.27  children, families, and learning shall establish a program for 
  2.28  elementary and secondary at-risk students who are failing the 
  2.29  state's basic skills tests, failing to make satisfactory 
  2.30  progress on or to complete teacher assigned work, or failing to 
  2.31  make satisfactory progress toward completing the graduation rule 
  2.32  requirements under section 120B.02, that encourages students to 
  2.33  reach their maximum potential, and integrates and coordinates 
  2.34  human services for students. 
  2.35     Subd. 2.  [PROGRAM ACTIVITIES.] (a) The commissioner of 
  2.36  children, families, and learning shall collaborate with up to 
  3.1   five school districts selected by the commissioner, to develop 
  3.2   elementary and secondary programs, strategies, and staff 
  3.3   development training models for school districts to use in 
  3.4   assisting school, corrections, social service, and juvenile 
  3.5   justice personnel and other individuals working to meet the 
  3.6   education needs of at-risk students.  At-risk students are those 
  3.7   elementary and secondary public school students who are at risk 
  3.8   of failing to meet the state's basic requirements under section 
  3.9   120B.02, and meet at least one of the following criteria: 
  3.10     (1) are receiving social services to prevent an out-of-home 
  3.11  placement; 
  3.12     (2) receiving diversionary services to prevent adjudication 
  3.13  of delinquency; 
  3.14     (3) have been placed out of the home by the department of 
  3.15  human services; 
  3.16     (4) have been placed out of the home by the judicial 
  3.17  system; and 
  3.18     (5) have been placed on probation by the local juvenile 
  3.19  justice system. 
  3.20     (b) The programs, strategies, and staff development 
  3.21  training models shall: 
  3.22     (1) include culturally sensitive content that is consistent 
  3.23  with the requirements of the state high school graduation rule 
  3.24  under section 120B.02; 
  3.25     (2) reflect the statewide testing and reporting 
  3.26  requirements under section 120B.30; 
  3.27     (3) offer at-risk elementary and secondary students 
  3.28  sufficient and meaningful age and grade-appropriate 
  3.29  opportunities to achieve applicable state and local educational 
  3.30  requirements; and 
  3.31     (4) better enable at-risk students to match the educational 
  3.32  performance, including but not limited to, achievement levels, 
  3.33  attendance rates, and graduation rates, of students of the same 
  3.34  age or grade who are not considered to be at-risk students. 
  3.35     (c) The programs, strategies, and staff development 
  3.36  training models also shall focus on assisting school, 
  4.1   corrections, social service, and juvenile justice personnel and 
  4.2   other individuals working with schools, including mandated 
  4.3   reporters of child neglect or endangerment, community-based 
  4.4   social services providers serving at-risk children or youth and 
  4.5   their families, and local juvenile justice professionals, to use 
  4.6   effective, collaborative strategies and better combine financial 
  4.7   and other resources to meet the needs of at-risk students.  
  4.8   Where appropriate, the commissioner and the school districts 
  4.9   selected under this subdivision shall seek the assistance of the 
  4.10  departments of human services and corrections in complying with 
  4.11  this section. 
  4.12     Subd. 3.  [PROGRAM CONTENT.] The commissioner, with the 
  4.13  collaboration of the school districts selected under subdivision 
  4.14  2, shall use the data under section 120B.30, the data and 
  4.15  experiences of other states undertaking kindergarten through 
  4.16  grade 12 educational reform, and national educational data to 
  4.17  determine and address the educational obstacles preventing 
  4.18  at-risk students from meeting state and local educational 
  4.19  requirements.  The commissioner shall use the results of the 
  4.20  data to develop, implement, and refine programs, strategies, and 
  4.21  staff development training models to improve the academic 
  4.22  performance of at-risk children and strengthen the abilities of 
  4.23  families to: 
  4.24     (1) understand student individual academic needs; 
  4.25     (2) advocate on behalf of students to ensure student 
  4.26  individual academic needs in schools are being addressed; 
  4.27     (3) assist in determining the appropriate and culturally 
  4.28  sensitive programs needed to overcome the educational obstacles 
  4.29  facing students and meet students' individual academic needs; 
  4.30     (4) advocate on behalf of the schools to ensure that 
  4.31  students' academic responsibilities are being met; and 
  4.32     (5) assist in determining the interventions required to 
  4.33  overcome any obstacles faced by schools in meeting students' 
  4.34  needs. 
  4.35     Subd. 4.  [OUTREACH EFFORTS.] The commissioner with the 
  4.36  collaboration of the school districts selected under subdivision 
  5.1   2, shall provide sufficient and appropriate community outreach 
  5.2   efforts and assistance to meet the goals of this section.  The 
  5.3   commissioner shall focus on providing understanding about the 
  5.4   factors that negatively affect students' education performance 
  5.5   and on developing and better integrating educational and other 
  5.6   community resources that assist at-risk students to improve 
  5.7   their educational performance. 
  5.8      Subd. 5.  [ADVISORY COUNCIL.] The commissioner with the 
  5.9   collaboration of the school districts selected under subdivision 
  5.10  2, shall establish a 15-member advisory council of interested 
  5.11  and qualified individuals to consider short-term and long-term 
  5.12  summary data measuring the educational performance of at-risk 
  5.13  students and recommend to the commissioner effective state and 
  5.14  local policies affecting the educational performance of at-risk 
  5.15  students.  The advisory council shall regularly convene 
  5.16  meetings. The terms and compensation of council members shall be 
  5.17  as described in section 15.059, subdivision 6. 
  5.18     Subd. 6.  [REPORTS; DATA.] (a) The commissioner, with the 
  5.19  collaboration of the school districts selected under subdivision 
  5.20  2, and the advisory council under subdivision 5, shall report 
  5.21  annually beginning November 15, 2000, to the governor, the 
  5.22  commissioners of human services and corrections, the minority 
  5.23  affairs councils, and the education committees of the 
  5.24  legislature on matters related to the purposes of this section.  
  5.25  The report shall include, among other things, current research 
  5.26  analyzing the educational performance of at-risk students, 
  5.27  programs and strategies to improve the educational performance 
  5.28  of at-risk students, the financial and other resources currently 
  5.29  available to at-risk students under this section, and the 
  5.30  short-term and long-term impact of ongoing efforts to improve 
  5.31  the educational performance of at-risk students. 
  5.32     (b) Government data on individuals that is maintained under 
  5.33  the programs are confidential data on individuals as defined in 
  5.34  section 13.02, subdivision 3, but may be shared among 
  5.35  institutions participating in the program for purposes of 
  5.36  providing services under the program. 
  6.1      Sec. 4.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  6.2      $....... is appropriated from the general fund in fiscal 
  6.3   year 2000 to the commissioner of children, families, and 
  6.4   learning for the purposes of section 3.  The commissioner, in 
  6.5   collaboration with the school districts selected under Minnesota 
  6.6   Statutes, section 124D.705, subdivision 2, shall use the 
  6.7   appropriation to research, plan, design, develop, monitor, and 
  6.8   implement programs, and strategies to improve the educational 
  6.9   performance of at-risk students and provide financial and other 
  6.10  resources and training.  No more than 1.5 percent of this 
  6.11  appropriation is available to pay indirect administrative costs 
  6.12  and no more than ten percent of this appropriation is available 
  6.13  to pay administrative, accounting, and evaluation costs.  This 
  6.14  appropriation is available until expended. 
  6.15     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  6.16     Section 2 is effective for the 1999-2000 school year for 
  6.17  children who are attending a public school in a school district 
  6.18  participating in the program under section 3 and are receiving 
  6.19  services from a state or county agency or whose family is 
  6.20  receiving services.  Section 2 is effective for the 2000-2001 
  6.21  school year and later for all children attending a public school.