HF 3033

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) 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 inappropriate classroom behavior and 
  1.4             provide continuing instruction; providing grants to 
  1.5             implement and evaluate prevention behavior 
  1.6             intervention; 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  to the extent possible.  Students in an educational setting are 
  1.13  expected to behave in a manner that is appropriate for learning 
  1.14  to take place.  When students fail to meet behavioral 
  1.15  expectations, school discipline policies should penalize 
  1.16  students' inappropriate behavior, with the ultimate goal of 
  1.17  returning students to their regular classrooms.  Schools should 
  1.18  involve parents in collaborative efforts to alter students' 
  1.19  inappropriate classroom behavior.  Schools and parents should 
  1.20  find ways to ensure that students' inappropriate behavior does 
  1.21  not become chronic, necessitating long-term intervention and the 
  1.22  need for special services. 
  1.23     Subd. 2.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A grant program for fiscal year 
  1.24  1997 is established to develop, implement, and evaluate school 
  1.25  discipline policies, consistent with the pupil fair dismissal 
  1.26  act under Minnesota Statutes, sections 127.26 to 127.48.  
  2.1   Discipline policies, developed under this section, should be 
  2.2   designed to enable students to successfully return to the 
  2.3   regular classroom setting after being sanctioned for 
  2.4   inappropriate behavior.  Discipline policies should focus on 
  2.5   early intervention strategies to limit the need for providing 
  2.6   regular education students with additional special programs and 
  2.7   services. 
  2.8      Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY.] An applicant for a grant must be a 
  2.9   school site, a school district, a charter school, or a provider 
  2.10  of an alternative education program.  To be eligible for a 
  2.11  grant, the grant applicant must meet all of the following 
  2.12  criteria: 
  2.13     (1) develop a plan to establish a school site mediation 
  2.14  board under Minnesota Statutes, sections 127.411 to 127.42, to 
  2.15  mediate issues relating to district or school site codes of 
  2.16  conduct that apply to students; 
  2.17     (2) include in the code of conduct a plan to remove from 
  2.18  the regular classroom setting those students who violate the 
  2.19  code; 
  2.20     (3) provide students who violate the code with an 
  2.21  alternative education setting within the school or program site; 
  2.22  and 
  2.23     (4) make the alternative education setting a constructive 
  2.24  experience by using instructional materials tied to educational 
  2.25  standards, placing students in an alternative setting outside 
  2.26  the normal school day, involving parents in effecting 
  2.27  disciplinary measures, or developing intervention techniques 
  2.28  such as time outs, among other alternatives. 
  2.29     Subd. 4.  [APPLICATION PROCESS.] To obtain a grant to 
  2.30  implement constructive school discipline policies, a grant 
  2.31  applicant must submit an application to the commissioner of 
  2.32  children, families, and learning in the form and manner the 
  2.33  commissioner establishes.  The application must describe how the 
  2.34  applicant will meet the eligibility criteria under subdivision 
  2.35  3.  The commissioner may require the applicant to provide 
  2.36  additional information. 
  3.1      Subd. 5.  [GRANT AWARDS.] The commissioner may award up to 
  3.2   .. grants of up to $........  Grant recipients must be located 
  3.3   throughout the state and have diverse experiences with student 
  3.4   disciplinary matters.  The amount of the grant shall be based on 
  3.5   the number of students the grant recipient anticipates may 
  3.6   receive disciplinary sanctions and on the alternative education 
  3.7   settings the grant recipient proposes to use.  Grant recipients 
  3.8   must use the grant proceeds to accomplish the purposes of this 
  3.9   section. 
  3.10     Subd. 6.  [EVALUATION.] The commissioner shall evaluate the 
  3.11  grant sites and selected control sites to determine the impact 
  3.12  of the constructive discipline policy grant program on measures 
  3.13  of student behavior and performance, including, but not limited 
  3.14  to, student achievement and attendance, and the impact of the 
  3.15  program on the school site, the student body, the classroom, and 
  3.16  the school faculty.  The evaluation must also address the 
  3.17  financial impact of the program on the district and the school 
  3.18  site.  Upon implementing a student code of conduct consistent 
  3.19  with this section, the grant recipient must cooperate in 
  3.20  evaluating the impact of code policies.  As a part of the 
  3.21  evaluation process, the grant recipient must document student 
  3.22  and parent response to code policies over at least a three-year 
  3.23  period.  The commissioner shall compile for the education 
  3.24  committees of the legislature a progress report by February 1, 
  3.25  1998, and a final report by February 1, 2000, on the 
  3.26  effectiveness and impact of discipline policies. 
  3.27     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  3.28     $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.29  commissioner of children, families, and learning in fiscal year 
  3.30  1997 for the purposes of section 1.  Grant recipients may expend 
  3.31  grant proceeds over a three-year period.  Of this amount, 
  3.32  $....... is for the evaluation under section 1, subdivision 6.