1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; establishing a grant program 
  1.3             for UnCommon schools; appropriating money. 
  1.4   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.5      Section 1.  [UNCOMMON SCHOOLS; GRANT PROGRAM.] 
  1.6      Subdivision 1.  [UNCOMMON SCHOOLS.] The commissioner of 
  1.7   children, families, and learning shall develop and administer a 
  1.8   grant program for schools that provide a four-year comprehensive 
  1.9   secondary academic program for students who have been assessed 
  1.10  chemically dependent and who have completed the primary phase of 
  1.11  treatment for chemical dependency. 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [ELIGIBILITY FOR GRANTS.] To be eligible for a 
  1.13  grant, a school must: 
  1.14     (1) be a contract alternative school under Minnesota 
  1.15  Statutes, section 124D.68, subdivision 3, and a 501(c)(3) 
  1.16  corporation under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; 
  1.17     (2) be accredited by the north central association of 
  1.18  colleges and schools; 
  1.19     (3) limit student enrollment to 45 students and not exceed 
  1.20  a student/teacher ratio of 12 to 1; 
  1.21     (4) be a separate facility that, when first opened for 
  1.22  classes, is no closer than one mile to any other secondary 
  1.23  school; 
  1.24     (5) have raised or committed $250,000 in nonstate funds for 
  2.1   capital and start-up costs; 
  2.2      (6) provide an environment that supports recovery from 
  2.3   chemical dependency and requires: 
  2.4      (i) student participation in a recovery support program 
  2.5   outside the school; 
  2.6      (ii) a contract signed by the student, the students's 
  2.7   parent or guardian, and the school faculty declaring that the 
  2.8   student will remain sober while enrolled in the school; and 
  2.9      (iii) daily student participation in peer group counseling 
  2.10  of at least 45 minutes; and 
  2.11     (7) meet or exceed the following performance standards 
  2.12  averaged over any three-year period: 
  2.13     (i) at least an 85 percent student attendance rate; 
  2.14     (ii) at least a 70 percent student retention rate; and 
  2.15     (iii) at least an 80 percent student graduation rate. 
  2.16  A school must be in operation for at least three years before it 
  2.17  must meet the requirements in clause (7). 
  2.18     Subd. 3.  [APPLICATION; AWARDS.] A school must submit an 
  2.19  application to the commissioner in the form and manner the 
  2.20  commissioner establishes.  The application must describe how the 
  2.21  applicant meets the eligibility criteria under subdivision 2.  
  2.22  The commissioner shall award annual grants of $5,000 per pupil 
  2.23  units adjusted annually by a consumer price index determined by 
  2.24  the commissioner. 
  2.25     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.26     $525,000 in fiscal year 2002 and $745,000 in fiscal year 
  2.27  2003 are appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner 
  2.28  of children, families, and learning for grants to UnCommon 
  2.29  schools under section 1.