1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education; establishing a student support
1.3 	services advisory committee; considering whether to
1.4 	adopt a student support services plan; amending
1.5 	Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.15, by adding a
1.6 	subdivision.
1.7 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.8 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 122A.15, is
1.9 	amended by adding a subdivision to read:
1.10 		Subd. 3.Student support services advisory committee;
1.11 	district plan. (a) A student support services advisory
1.12 	committee composed of ten members selected by the commissioner
1.13 	is established under section 15.059.  The commissioner must
1.14 	select one committee member from each of the following
1.15 	organizations:
1.16 	(1) the Minnesota Department of Education;
1.17 	(2) the Minnesota School Boards Association;
1.18 	(3) the Minnesota Association of School Administrators;
1.19 	(4) the Minnesota School Social Work Association;
1.20 	(5) the School Nurse Organization of Minnesota;
1.21 	(6) the Minnesota School Psychologists Association;
1.22 	(7) the Minnesota School Counselors Association;
1.23 	(8) the Minnesota Association of Resources for Recovery and
1.24 	Chemical Health;
1.25 	(9) the Minnesota Administrators for Special Education; and 
1.26 	(10) the Minnesota Parent Teachers Association.
2.1 	(b) The committee must:
2.2 	(1) establish a method for identifying student needs that
2.3 	are barriers to learning;
2.4 	(2) identify alternatives for integrating student support
2.5 	services into public schools;
2.6 	(3) recommend support staff to student ratios and best
2.7 	practices for providing student support services premised on
2.8 	evidence-based practice;
2.9 	(4) identify the substance and extent of the work that
2.10 	student support services staff are trained and licensed to
2.11 	provide and the characteristics of the student populations they
2.12 	serve;
2.13 	(5) recommend how school districts can most appropriately
2.14 	integrate student support services into the education program;
2.15 	and 
2.16 	(6) recommend public and nonpublic revenue sources that
2.17 	school districts can use to fund student support services
2.18 	including, among other sources, medical assistance
2.19 	reimbursements, private health insurance, local collaborative
2.20 	time study funds, federal funds, public health funds, and
2.21 	specifically designated funds such as school safety levies and
2.22 	district general funds, among other funds.
2.23 	(c) The committee must consider the oral and written
2.24 	testimony of school district personnel and parents and students
2.25 	in complying with paragraph (b).  The committee must submit
2.26 	periodic recommendations about student support services to the
2.27 	commissioner and to the committees of the legislature having
2.28 	jurisdiction over birth to age 21 education policy and budget
2.29 	issues.  The commissioner must consider the committee's
2.30 	recommendations in deciding whether to develop and maintain a
2.31 	model district plan for student support services.  If the
2.32 	commissioner develops and maintains a model plan, the
2.33 	commissioner also must decide whether to transmit the plan to
2.34 	school districts, whether to require the districts to adopt and
2.35 	maintain a district plan for providing student support services
2.36 	that meets the criteria recommended by the advisory committee,
3.1 	and whether to require the districts to submit the plan for
3.2 	biennial review.
3.3 	(d) Notwithstanding section 15.059, subdivision 5, the
3.4 	committee expires on June 30, 2016.
3.5 	
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day
3.6 	following final enactment and applies to the 2006-2007 school
3.7 	year and later.