HF 303

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; exploring disciplinary policies 
  1.3             to address classroom misbehavior and provide 
  1.4             continuing instruction; providing grants to implement 
  1.5             and evaluate behavior intervention and prevention 
  1.6             strategies; appropriating money. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  [GRANTS TO IMPLEMENT CONSTRUCTIVE SCHOOL 
  1.9   DISCIPLINE POLICIES.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [POLICY.] The legislature acknowledges the 
  1.11  importance of teaching students in a regular classroom setting 
  1.12  where possible.  Students in an educational setting should 
  1.13  expect to behave in a manner that is appropriate for learning.  
  1.14  When students misbehave, school discipline policies should 
  1.15  penalize students' misbehavior, with the ultimate goal of 
  1.16  returning students to their regular classrooms.  Schools should 
  1.17  involve parents in collaborative efforts to alter students' 
  1.18  classroom misbehavior.  Schools and parents should find ways to 
  1.19  ensure that students' misbehavior does not become chronic, 
  1.20  necessitating long-term intervention and the need for special 
  1.21  services. 
  1.22     Subd. 2.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A grant program for fiscal year 
  1.23  1998 is established to develop, implement, and evaluate school 
  1.24  discipline policies, consistent with the Pupil Fair Dismissal 
  1.25  Act under Minnesota Statutes, sections 127.26 to 127.48.  
  1.26  Discipline policies, developed under this section, should be 
  2.1   designed to enable students to successfully return to the 
  2.2   regular classroom setting after being disciplined for 
  2.3   misbehavior.  Discipline policies should focus on early 
  2.4   intervention strategies that limit the need to provide regular 
  2.5   education students with additional special programs or services. 
  2.6      Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY.] An applicant for a grant must be a 
  2.7   school site, a school district, a charter school, or a provider 
  2.8   of an alternative education program.  To be eligible for a 
  2.9   grant, the grant applicant must meet all of the following 
  2.10  criteria: 
  2.11     (1) develop a plan to establish a school site mediation 
  2.12  board under Minnesota Statutes, sections 127.411 to 127.42, to 
  2.13  mediate issues relating to district or school site codes of 
  2.14  conduct that apply to students; 
  2.15     (2) include in the code of conduct a plan to remove from 
  2.16  the regular classroom setting those students who violate the 
  2.17  code; 
  2.18     (3) provide students who violate the code with an 
  2.19  alternative education setting within the school or program site; 
  2.20  and 
  2.21     (4) make the alternative education setting a constructive 
  2.22  experience by using instructional materials tied to educational 
  2.23  standards, placing students in an alternative setting outside 
  2.24  the normal school day, involving parents in effecting 
  2.25  discipline, or developing intervention techniques such as time 
  2.26  outs, among other alternatives. 
  2.27     Subd. 4.  [APPLICATION PROCESS.] To obtain a grant to 
  2.28  implement constructive school discipline policies, a grant 
  2.29  applicant must submit an application to the commissioner of 
  2.30  children, families, and learning in the form and manner the 
  2.31  commissioner establishes.  The application must describe how the 
  2.32  applicant will meet the eligibility criteria under subdivision 
  2.33  3.  The commissioner may require the applicant to provide 
  2.34  additional information. 
  2.35     Subd. 5.  [GRANT AWARDS.] The commissioner may award up to 
  2.36  .. grants of up to $........  Grant recipients must be located 
  3.1   throughout the state and have diverse experiences with student 
  3.2   disciplinary matters.  The amount of the grant shall be based on 
  3.3   the number of students the grant recipient anticipates will be 
  3.4   disciplined and on the alternative education settings the grant 
  3.5   recipient proposes to use.  Grant recipients must use the grant 
  3.6   proceeds to accomplish the purposes of this section. 
  3.7      Subd. 6.  [EVALUATION.] The commissioner shall evaluate the 
  3.8   grant sites and selected control sites to determine the impact 
  3.9   of the constructive discipline policy grant program on measures 
  3.10  of student behavior and performance, including at least, student 
  3.11  achievement and attendance, and the impact of the program on the 
  3.12  school site, the student body, the classroom, and the school 
  3.13  faculty.  The evaluation must also address the financial impact 
  3.14  of the program on the district and the school site.  Upon 
  3.15  implementing a student code of conduct consistent with this 
  3.16  section, the grant recipient must cooperate in evaluating the 
  3.17  impact of code policies.  As a part of the evaluation process, 
  3.18  the grant recipient must document student and parent response to 
  3.19  code policies over at least a three-year period.  The 
  3.20  commissioner shall compile for the education committees of the 
  3.21  legislature a progress report by February 1, 1999, and a final 
  3.22  report by February 1, 2001, on the effectiveness and impact of 
  3.23  discipline policies. 
  3.24     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.25     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.26  commissioner of children, families, and learning in fiscal year 
  3.27  1998 for the purposes of section 1.  Grant recipients may expend 
  3.28  grant proceeds over a three-year period.  Of this amount, 
  3.29  $....... is for the evaluation under section 1, subdivision 6.