SF 2898

as introduced - 89th Legislature (2015 - 2016) Posted on 03/18/2016 11:11am

A bill for an act
relating to education; affecting student inclusion and engagement; making
nonexclusionary policies and practices a central focus of pupil discipline;
appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2014, sections 120B.11,
subdivision 1a; 120B.35, subdivision 3; 121A.41, by adding subdivisions;
121A.42; 121A.45; 121A.46; 121A.47, subdivisions 2, 13, 14, by adding a
subdivision; 121A.53; 121A.55; 121A.61; 121A.67, by adding a subdivision;
123B.147, subdivision 3; Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement, sections
122A.60, subdivision 1a; 124E.11.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1. CITATION.

Sections 1 to 17 may be cited as "The Student Inclusion and Engagement Act."

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 120B.11, subdivision 1a, is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Performance measures.

Measures to determine school district and
school site progress in striving to create the world's best workforce must include at least:

(1) student performance on the National Assessment of Education Progress where
applicable;

(2) the size of the academic achievement gap, rigorous course taking under section
120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (c), clause (2), student engagement and connection
under section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (d), and enrichment experiences, by
student subgroup;

(3) student performance on the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments;

(4) high school graduation rates; and

(5) career and college readiness under section 120B.30, subdivision 1; and

(6) pupil dismissal and removal rates by student subgroup.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 120B.35, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

State growth target; other state measures.

(a) The state's educational
assessment system measuring individual students' educational growth is based on
indicators of achievement growth that show an individual student's prior achievement.
Indicators of achievement and prior achievement must be based on highly reliable
statewide or districtwide assessments.

(b) The commissioner, in consultation with a stakeholder group that includes
assessment and evaluation directors, district staff, experts in culturally responsive teaching,
and researchers, must implement a model that uses a value-added growth indicator and
includes criteria for identifying schools and school districts that demonstrate medium and
high growth under section 120B.299, subdivisions 8 and 9, and may recommend other
value-added measures under section 120B.299, subdivision 3. The model may be used
to advance educators' professional development and replicate programs that succeed in
meeting students' diverse learning needs. Data on individual teachers generated under the
model are personnel data under section 13.43. The model must allow users to:

(1) report student growth consistent with this paragraph; and

(2) for all student categories, report and compare aggregated and disaggregated state
growth data using the nine student categories identified under the federal 2001 No Child
Left Behind Act and two student gender categories of male and female, respectively
2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, including racial and ethnic groups, economically
disadvantaged status, English proficiency status, gender, migrant status, homeless and
foster youth, and students with a parent in the military, following appropriate reporting
practices to protect nonpublic student data.

The commissioner must report measures of student growth, consistent with this
paragraph, including the English language development, academic progress, and oral
academic development of English learners and their native language development if the
native language is used as a language of instruction.

(c) When reporting student performance under section 120B.36, subdivision 1, the
commissioner annually, beginning July 1, 2011, must report two core measures indicating
the extent to which current high school graduates are being prepared for postsecondary
academic and career opportunities:

(1) a preparation measure indicating the number and percentage of high school
graduates in the most recent school year who completed course work important to
preparing them for postsecondary academic and career opportunities, consistent with
the core academic subjects required for admission to Minnesota's public colleges and
universities as determined by the Office of Higher Education under chapter 136A; and

(2) a rigorous coursework measure indicating the number and percentage of high
school graduates in the most recent school year who successfully completed one or more
college-level advanced placement, international baccalaureate, postsecondary enrollment
options including concurrent enrollment, other rigorous courses of study under section
120B.021, subdivision 1a, or industry certification courses or programs.

When reporting the core measures under clauses (1) and (2), the commissioner must also
analyze and report separate categories of information using the nine student categories
identified under the federal 2001 No Child Left Behind Act and two student gender
categories of male and female, respectively 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act, following
appropriate reporting practices to protect nonpublic student data.

(d) When reporting student performance under section 120B.36, subdivision 1, the
commissioner annually, beginning July 1, 2014, must report summary data on school
safety and students' engagement and connection at school. The summary data under this
paragraph are separate from and must not be used for any purpose related to measuring
or evaluating the performance of classroom teachers. The commissioner, in consultation
with qualified experts on student engagement and connection and classroom teachers,
must identify highly reliable variables that generate summary data under this paragraph.
The summary data may be used at school, district, and state levels only. Any data on
individuals received, collected, or created that are used to generate the summary data
under this paragraph are nonpublic data under section 13.02, subdivision 9.

(e) For purposes of statewide educational accountability, the commissioner must
identify and report measures that demonstrate the success of learning year program
providers under sections 123A.05 and 124D.68, among other such providers, in improving
students' graduation outcomes. The commissioner, beginning July 1, 2015, must annually
report summary data on:

(1) the four- and six-year graduation rates of students under this paragraph;

(2) the percent of students under this paragraph whose progress and performance
levels are meeting career and college readiness benchmarks under section 120B.30,
subdivision 1; and

(3) the success that learning year program providers experience in:

(i) identifying at-risk and off-track student populations by grade;

(ii) providing successful prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk students;

(iii) providing successful recuperative and recovery or reenrollment strategies for
off-track students; and

(iv) improving the graduation outcomes of at-risk and off-track students.

The commissioner may include in the annual report summary data on other education
providers serving a majority of students eligible to participate in a learning year program.

(f) The commissioner, in consultation with recognized experts with knowledge and
experience in assessing the language proficiency and academic performance of English
learners, must identify and report appropriate and effective measures to improve current
categories of language difficulty and assessments, and monitor and report data on students'
English proficiency levels, program placement, and academic language development,
including oral academic language.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

Subd. 12.

Positive behavior interventions and support.

"Positive behavior
interventions and support" has the meaning given in section 125A.0941, paragraph (d),
and is consistent with section 125A.0942, subdivision 6.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.41, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

Subd. 13.

Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices; alternatives to
pupil removal and dismissal.

"Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices"
means those policies and practices that are alternatives to removing a pupil from class
or dismissing a pupil from school, including positive behavior interventions and support
and alternative education services, which require school officials to intervene in, redirect,
and support a pupil's behavior before removing a pupil from class or beginning dismissal
proceedings. Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices include those policies
and practices under sections 121A.575, clause (1) or (2); 121A.031, subdivision 4,
paragraph (a), clause (1); 121A.61, subdivision 3, paragraph (q); 125A.0941; and
125A.0942, subdivision 6, among other such related policies and practices.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.42, is amended to read:

121A.42 POLICY.

(a) No public school shall deny due process or equal protection of the law to any
public school pupil involved in a dismissal proceeding which may result in suspension,
exclusion, or expulsion.

(b) School officials must use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices,
including positive behavior interventions and support, and attempt to provide alternatives
under section 121A.575, clause (1) or (2), among other interventions and strategies, before
beginning dismissal proceedings and, to the extent practicable, must limit pupil dismissals,
consistent with section 121A.45, subdivision 1.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.45, is amended to read:

121A.45 GROUNDS FOR DISMISSAL.

Subdivision 1.

Provision of Providing alternative programs.

No school shall
dismiss any pupil without first attempting to use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and
practices, including positive behavior interventions and support, and provide alternative
educational services interventions and strategies, including those under section 121A.575,
clause (1) or (2), before beginning dismissal proceedings, except where it appears that the
pupil will create an immediate and substantial danger to self or to surrounding persons or
property.

Subd. 2.

Grounds for dismissal.

(a) A pupil may be dismissed on any of the
following grounds for:

(a) willful violation of any (1) willfully violating a reasonable school board
regulation. Such regulation must be that is specific and sufficiently clear and definite to
provide notice to notify pupils that they must to conform their conduct to its requirements
and no school board regulation may include a "zero-tolerance" policy requiring a school
official to automatically dismiss a pupil, except under clause (2); or

(b) (2) willful conduct that significantly disrupts the rights of others to an
education, or the ability of school personnel to perform their duties, or school sponsored
extracurricular activities; or

(c) willful conduct that endangers the pupil or other pupils, or surrounding persons,
including school district employees, or property of the school consistent with the Student
Inclusion and Engagement Act.

(b) A pupil may not be dismissed for disruptive or disorderly conduct,
insubordination, or other similarly named conduct except where it appears the pupil will
create an immediate and substantial danger to self or to surrounding persons.

Subd. 3.

Parent notification and meeting.

If a pupil's total days of removal
from school exceeds ten cumulative days in a school year, the school district shall After
removing a pupil from a class under section 121A.61 or dismissing a pupil from school
under section 121A.41, subdivision 2, school officials must notify the pupil's parent or
guardian of the removal or dismissal and make reasonable attempts to convene a meeting
with the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian before subsequently removing the pupil
from school and, with the permission of the parent or guardian, arrange for a mental health
screening for the pupil. The district is not required to pay for the mental health screening.
The purpose of this meeting is to develop a plan for using nonexclusionary practices,
including positive behavior interventions and support, and to attempt to determine the
pupil's need for assessment or other services or whether the parent or guardian should
have the pupil assessed or diagnosed to determine whether the pupil needs treatment for
a mental health disorder.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 8.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.46, is amended to read:

121A.46 SUSPENSION PROCEDURES.

Subdivision 1.

Informal Administrative conference before suspension.

(a)
The school administration shall not suspend a pupil from school without an informal
administrative conference with the pupil. School officials must inform the pupil of the
pupil's right to have an adult advocate participate in the administrative conference and,
if the pupil informs a school official verbally or in writing that the pupil wants an adult
advocate to participate, school officials must make documented efforts to contact and
include that adult advocate in the administrative conference. All pupils through grade 5
and all pupils with disabilities must identify and have an adult advocate present at an
administrative conference. If the pupil is unable to identify an adult advocate, school
officials must assign an adult advocate that, to the extent practicable, the pupil trusts. The
informal administrative conference shall take place before the suspension, except where
it appears that the pupil will create an immediate and substantial danger to self or to
surrounding persons or property, in which case the conference shall take place as soon
as practicable following the suspension.

(b) An adult advocate under paragraph (a) is a supportive person over age 18 who
helps the pupil subject to suspension understand the grounds for the suspension or other
discipline and secure the best interventions and strategies or other outcomes for the pupil
that are appropriate for meeting the pupil's needs.

Subd. 1a.

Nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices.

(a) To the extent
practicable, school officials must use nonexclusionary practices, including positive
behavior interventions and support, and attempt to provide alternative interventions and
strategies under section 121A.575, clause (1) or (2), among other interventions and
strategies, before suspending a pupil.

(b) A school superintendent annually must work with school administrators,
consistent with sections 122A.60 and 122A.61, to provide district educators with
professional development opportunities to acquire the knowledge and skills to use
nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices under section 121A.41, subdivision
13, and to use more serious forms of discipline involving dismissal only if the pupil's
conduct endangers the pupil or other pupils, or surrounding persons, including school
district employees.

Subd. 2.

Administrator notifies pupil of grounds for suspension.

At the informal
administrative conference, a school administrator shall notify the pupil of the grounds for
the suspension, provide an explanation of and explain the evidence the authorities have,
and. A school administrator must inform the pupil that the pupil may is not required to
present the pupil's version of the facts, and any testimony the pupil provides can be used
against the pupil in a subsequent court proceeding.

Subd. 3.

Written notice of grounds for suspension.

A written notice containing
the grounds for suspension, a brief statement of the facts, a description of the testimony,
documents indicating the nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices initially
used with the pupil, why school administrators are suspending the pupil, the length of
the suspension, a readmission re-engagement plan, and a copy of sections 121A.40 to
121A.56, shall be personally served upon the pupil at or before the time the suspension
is to take effect, and upon the pupil's parent or guardian by mail within 48 hours of
the conference. The district shall make reasonable efforts to notify the parents of the
suspension by telephone or electronically as soon as possible following suspension. In
the event If a pupil is suspended without an informal administrative conference on the
grounds that the pupil will create an immediate and substantial danger to surrounding
persons or property, the written notice shall be served upon the pupil and the pupil's parent
or guardian within 48 hours of the suspension. Service by mail is complete upon mailing.

Subd. 3a.

Appeals of suspension.

The school board must establish a process that
permits a teacher, a representative, a parent or guardian, or a party to a suspension decision
made under this section to appeal the decision to an appropriate entity in the district with
the authority to reverse the decision and remove the suspension from the pupil's education
record. The process must provide for notice and establish procedures and substantive
standards for the appeal process.

Subd. 4.

Suspension pending expulsion or exclusion hearing.

Notwithstanding
the provisions of subdivisions 1, 1a, and 3, the pupil may be suspended pending the
school board's decision in the expulsion or exclusion hearing; provided that alternative
educational services are implemented to the extent that suspension exceeds five three days.

Subd. 5.

Minimum education services.

School officials must give each suspended
pupil the opportunity to complete all school work assigned during the period of the pupil's
suspension and to receive full credit for satisfactorily completing the assignments. The
school principal or other person having administrative control of the school building
or program must designate a district or school employee as a liaison to work with the
pupil's teachers to allow the suspended pupil to receive timely course materials and other
information, complete daily and weekly assignments, and receive teachers' feedback,
and to otherwise interact with the pupil and the pupil's family to address concerns about
the pupil and the school.

Subd. 6.

Re-engagement plan.

(a) Consistent with section 121A.55, each pupil who
is suspended or transferred to an alternative learning program must have a re-engagement
plan, developed in collaboration with the pupil's family, to the extent practicable, to
re-engage and reconnect the pupil with the school and its learning opportunities and help
the pupil avoid future suspensions or other discipline.

(b) The district must provide district educators with staff development opportunities
under sections 122A.60 and 122A.61 to acquire the knowledge and skills to implement
paragraph (a), consistent with subdivision 1a, paragraph (b).

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 9.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.47, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

Subd. 1a.

Nonexclusionary practices required first.

A school superintendent
annually must work with school administrators, consistent with sections 122A.60 and
122A.61 to: provide district educators with professional development opportunities to
understand the significance, severity, and short- and long-term consequences of excluding
and expelling pupils, including the impact on pupils' learning and career and college
opportunities; initially use nonexclusionary disciplinary policies and practices under
section 121A.41, subdivision 13, including positive behavior interventions and support;
and use more serious forms of discipline, including exclusion and expulsion, only if the
pupil's conduct endangers the pupil or other pupils, or surrounding persons, including
school district employees.

Sec. 10.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.47, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Written notice.

Written notice of intent to take action shall:

(a) (1) be served upon the pupil and the pupil's parent or guardian personally or
by mail;

(b) (2) contain a complete statement of the facts, a list of the witnesses and a
description of their testimony;

(c) (3) explain the rationale for excluding or expelling the pupil instead of imposing
nonexclusionary disciplinary practices under section 121A.41, subdivision 13, and the
term of the exclusion or expulsion;

(4) state the date, time, and place of the hearing;

(d) (5) be accompanied by a copy of sections 121A.40 to 121A.56;

(e) (6) describe alternative educational services accorded the pupil in an attempt to
avoid the exclusion or expulsion proceedings; and

(f) (7) inform the pupil and parent or guardian of the right to:

(1) (i) have a representative of the pupil's own choosing, including legal counsel,
at the hearing., and have the district shall advise the pupil's parent or guardian that free
or low-cost legal assistance may be available and that a legal assistance resource list is
available from the Department of Education department;

(2) (ii) examine the pupil's records before the hearing;

(3) (iii) present evidence; and

(4) (iv) confront and cross-examine witnesses.

Sec. 11.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.47, subdivision 13, is amended to read:

Subd. 13.

Basis of school board decision; opportunity for comment.

The
school board shall base its decision upon the recommendation of the hearing officer
or school board member or committee and shall render its decision at a meeting held
within five days after receiving the recommendation. The school board may provide the
parties with the opportunity to present exceptions and comments to the hearing officer's
recommendations provided that neither party presents any evidence not admitted at the
hearing. The decision by the school board must:

(1) be based on the record, must;

(2) be in writing, and must;

(3) explain the rationale for excluding or expelling the pupil instead of imposing
nonexclusionary disciplinary practices under section 121A.41, subdivision 13; and

(4) state the controlling facts on which the decision is made in sufficient detail to
apprise the parties and the commissioner of education of the basis and reason for the
decision.

Sec. 12.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.47, subdivision 14, is amended to read:

Subd. 14.

Admission or readmission Re-engagement plan.

(a) A school
administrator, after making efforts to the extent practicable to contact and solicit input
from the affected pupil's parent or guardian, and in consultation with the affected pupil's
teachers, shall prepare and enforce an admission or readmission a re-engagement plan
for any pupil who is excluded or expelled from school. The plan may include measures
to improve the pupil's behavior, including completing a character education program,
consistent with section 120B.232, subdivision 1, and require parental involvement in the
admission or readmission process, and may indicate the consequences to the pupil of not
improving the pupil's behavior must address and work to remedy the factors and other
circumstances leading to the pupil's exclusion or expulsion.

(b) The definition of suspension under section 121A.41, subdivision 10, does
not apply to a student's dismissal from school for one school day or less, except as
provided under federal law for a student with a disability. Each suspension action may
exclusion and expulsion must include a readmission re-engagement plan. A readmission
re-engagement plan must be consistent with section 121A.46, subdivision 6, and provide,
where appropriate, alternative education services, which must not be used to extend the
student's pupil's current suspension dismissal period. Consistent with section 125A.091,
subdivision 5, a readmission re-engagement plan must not obligate a parent or guardian to
provide psychotropic drugs to their student pupil as a condition of readmission. School
officials must not use the refusal of a parent or guardian to consent to the administration
of psychotropic drugs to their student pupil or to consent to a psychiatric evaluation,
screening or examination of the student pupil as a ground, by itself, to prohibit the student
pupil from attending class or participating in a school-related activity, or as a basis of a
charge of child abuse, child neglect or medical or educational neglect.

(c) Districts and schools must provide teachers, school administrators, other licensed
professionals working with pupils, school board members, and school resources officers
with professional development opportunities to acquire and improve the knowledge and
skills needed to effectively provide positive behavior interventions and support, among
other nonexclusionary interventions and strategies used, and alternative educational
services.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 13.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.53, is amended to read:

121A.53 REPORT TO COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION.

Subdivision 1.

Exclusions and expulsions.

(a) Consistent with subdivision 2, the
school board must report through use the department electronic reporting system to report
to the commissioner each exclusion or expulsion and each verbal or written agreement of a
parent or guardian to withdraw a pupil from the school or district instead of having the pupil
excluded or expelled within 30 days of the effective date of the action to the commissioner
of education. This report must include a statement of alternative educational services
given the pupil and the reason for, indicate the pupil's behavior being disciplined; the
positive behavior interventions and support, among other nonexclusionary interventions
and strategies used, and the attempts to provide the pupil with alternative education
services before excluding or expelling the pupil and explain why these interventions,
strategies, and services were inadequate; the effective date, of the action; and the duration
of the exclusion or expulsion. The report must also include the student's pupil's age, grade,
gender, race, and ethnicity, whether the pupil is homeless or highly mobile, whether the
pupil qualifies for a meal subsidy, whether a law enforcement agency or a school resource
officer participated in disciplining the pupil or a referral to a law enforcement agency or
school resource officer was made, and the special education status of the pupil.

(b) Consistent with the requirements of paragraph (a) and subdivision 2, the school
board also must report to the commissioner each removal of a pupil from class or dismissal
of a pupil from school.

Subd. 2.

Report to include both pupil dismissals from school and removals
from class; annual publication required.

(a) Consistent with the requirements under
subdivision 1, the school board must report the pupils removed from class and the
reason for and the date and length of the removal, and must include state student pupil
identification numbers of affected pupils on all state-required removal and dismissal
reports required by the department. The department must report annually to the
commissioner summary data on the number of pupil removals and dismissals by age,
grade, gender, race, and ethnicity, whether the pupil is homeless or highly mobile, whether
the pupil qualifies for a meal subsidy, whether a law enforcement agency or a school
resource officer participated in disciplining the pupil or a referral to a law enforcement
agency or school resource officer was made, and special education status of the affected
pupils. The school board must submit all removal and dismissal reports must be submitted
through the department electronic reporting system.

(b) The commissioner annually by October 31 must electronically publish on
the department Web site and otherwise make publicly available a longitudinal report
containing the summary data collected under this section. The commissioner must use
the summary data to compare and report the number of disciplinary incidents by type and
district in the three immediately preceding school years. Each school district must post on
its Web site at least that portion of the report concerning the district, ensuring the identity
of individual pupils is not ascertainable.

Subd. 3.

Training.

The commissioner, upon request, must provide technical
assistance and training to districts to facilitate the districts' ability to comply with the
reporting requirements under this section.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 14.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.55, is amended to read:

121A.55 POLICIES TO BE ESTABLISHED.

(a) The commissioner of education shall promulgate guidelines to assist each school
board. Each school board shall establish uniform criteria for dismissal and adopt written
policies and rules to effectuate the purposes of sections 121A.40 to 121A.56. The policies
shall emphasize preventing dismissals through early detection of problems and shall must
be designed to address students':

(1) avoid removing pupils from class or dismissing pupils from school before
attempting to use nonexclusionary programs, interventions, and strategies except where
the pupil's conduct endangers the pupil or other pupils, or surrounding persons, including
school district employees;

(2) prevent pupils' inappropriate behavior from recurring;

(3) re-engage and reconnect pupils with school and learning, including pupils who
were dismissed from school;

(4) engender positive pupil behavior;

(5) let pupils learn from and overcome their inappropriate behavior;

(6) give educators and other school officials discretion to determine appropriate
pupil discipline based on a pupil's individual capabilities and circumstances, consistent
with this act; and

(7) keep pupils in class and school in order to graduate from high school and become
career and college ready.

(b) The policies also shall recognize the continuing responsibility of the school for
the education of providing alternative education services to the pupil during the dismissal
period and during any prescribed period when a parent or guardian voluntarily agrees to
withdraw the pupil as an alternative to dismissal. The alternative educational services, if
the pupil wishes to take advantage of them, must be adequate to allow the pupil to make
progress towards meeting the graduation standards adopted under section 120B.02 and
help prepare the pupil for readmission and re-engagement. The school or district, in
collaboration with the affected parent or guardian to the extent practicable, must have a
re-engagement plan for each pupil subject to discipline who is dismissed or transferred
from and subsequently returns to the school or district.

(b) (c) A school board or an area learning center under section 123A.05 may not
prohibit an expelled or excluded pupil from enrolling solely because a district expelled or
excluded the pupil. The board of the area learning center may use the provisions of the
Pupil Fair Dismissal Act to exclude a pupil or to require an admission plan.

(c) (d) Each school district shall develop a policy enter into a written memorandum
of understanding with its peace or school resource officers regarding the officers' role in
the school, and report it to the commissioner on the district's appropriate use of peace and
school officers and crisis teams to help with pupil discipline and to remove students pupils
who have an individualized education program from school grounds. The district also
must transmit to the commissioner a copy of its written memorandum of understanding.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 15.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.61, is amended to read:

121A.61 DISCIPLINE AND REMOVAL OF STUDENTS PUPILS FROM
CLASS.

Subdivision 1.

Required policy.

Each school board must adopt a written
districtwide school discipline policy which includes written rules of conduct for students,
minimum consequences for violations of the rules, pupils and grounds and procedures for
removal of removing a student pupil from class. The board must develop the policy must
be developed in consultation with administrators, teachers, employees, pupils, parents,
community members, law enforcement agencies, county attorney offices, social service
agencies, and such other individuals or organizations as the board determines appropriate.
A school site council may adopt additional provisions to the policy subject to the approval
of the school board.

Subd. 2.

Grounds for removal from class.

The policy must establish the various
grounds for which a student pupil may be removed from a class in the district for a period
of time under the procedures specified in the policy and establish a protocol for notifying
the commissioner, consistent with section 121A.53. The policy must include a procedure
for notifying and meeting with a student's pupil's parent or guardian as soon as practicable
after a pupil is removed from class to discuss the problem that is causing the student to
be removed pupil's removal from class after the student has been removed from class
more than ten times in one school year and to foster communication between the pupil's
family and the school to help the pupil remain in the classroom and succeed in school.
The grounds in the policy must include at least the following provisions as well as other
grounds determined appropriate by the board address:

(a) (1) willful conduct that significantly disrupts the rights of others to an education,
including conduct that interferes with a teacher's ability to teach or communicate
effectively with students pupils in a class or with the ability of other students pupils to learn;

(b) (2) willful conduct that endangers surrounding persons, including school district
employees, the student or other students, or the property of the school; and

(c) (3) willful violation of any rule of conduct specified in the discipline
board-adopted policy adopted by the board.

Subd. 3.

Policy components.

The policy must at least include at least the following
components:

(a) (1) rules governing student pupil conduct and procedures for informing students
pupils of the rules;

(b) (2) the grounds for removal of removing a student pupil from a class;

(c) (3) the authority of the classroom teacher to remove students pupils from the
classroom pursuant to under the procedures and rules established in the district's policy;

(d) (4) the procedures for removal of a student from a class by a teacher, school
administrator, or other school district employee to remove a pupil from a class;

(e) (5) the period of time for which a student pupil may be removed from a class,
which may must not exceed five two class periods for a violation of violating a rule of
conduct;

(f) (6) provisions relating to the responsibility for and custody of a student pupil
removed from a class;

(g) (7) the procedures for return of a student pupil to return to the specified class
from which the student has been pupil was removed;

(h) (8) the procedures for notifying a student pupil and the student's pupil's parents
or guardian of violations of the rules of conduct and of resulting in disciplinary actions
and soliciting parents' participation in creating a plan to help the pupil remain in the
classroom and succeed in school;

(i) (9) any appropriate procedures determined appropriate for encouraging early
involvement of involving parents or guardians in early attempts to improve a student's
pupil's behavior;

(j) (10) any appropriate procedures determined appropriate for encouraging early
detection of behavioral problems;

(k) (11) any appropriate procedures determined appropriate for referring a student
pupil in need of special education services to those services;

(1) (12) the procedures for consideration of considering whether there is a need for a
to further assessment assess a pupil with a disability or of whether there is a need for a
review of the adequacy of a current individualized education program of a student pupil
with a disability who is removed from class is adequate;

(m) (13) procedures for detecting and addressing chemical abuse problems of a
student pupil while on the school premises;

(n) the minimum consequences for violations of the code of conduct;

(o) (14) procedures for immediate and appropriate interventions tied to code
violations of the code; and

(p) a provision that states that a teacher, school employee, school bus driver, or
other agent of a district may use reasonable force in compliance with section 121A.582
and other laws; and

(q) (15) an agreement regarding procedures to coordinate crisis services to the
extent funds are available with the county board responsible for implementing sections
245.487 to 245.4889 for students pupils with a serious emotional disturbance or other
students pupils who have an individualized education program whose behavior may be
addressed by crisis intervention.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 16.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 121A.67, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

Subd. 3.

Parent notification.

A school administrator must make and document
reasonable efforts to immediately contact the parent or guardian of a pupil removed by
a peace or school resource officer from a classroom, school building, or school grounds
unless such notice is specifically prohibited by law.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 17.

Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement, section 122A.60, subdivision 1a,
is amended to read:

Subd. 1a.

Effective staff development activities.

(a) Staff development activities
must:

(1) focus on the school classroom and nonexclusionary policies and practices
to keep students in the classroom and in school and on research-based strategies that
improve student learning;

(2) provide opportunities for teachers to practice and improve their instructional
skills over time;

(3) provide opportunities for teachers to use student data as part of their daily work
to increase student achievement;

(4) enhance teacher content knowledge and instructional skills, including to
accommodate the delivery of digital and blended learning and curriculum and engage
students with technology;

(5) align with state and local academic standards;

(6) provide opportunities to build professional relationships, foster collaboration
among principals and staff who provide instruction, and provide opportunities for
teacher-to-teacher mentoring;

(7) align with the plan of the district or site for an alternative teacher professional
pay system;

(8) provide teachers of English learners, including English as a second language and
content teachers, with differentiated instructional strategies critical for ensuring students'
long-term academic success; the means to effectively use assessment data on the academic
literacy, oral academic language, and English language development of English learners;
and skills to support native and English language development across the curriculum; and

(9) provide opportunities for staff to learn about current workforce trends, the
connections between workforce trends and postsecondary education, and training options,
including career and technical education options; and

(10) provide opportunities for teachers to understand the significance, severity,
and short- and long-term consequences of removing, excluding, and expelling pupils,
including the impact on pupils' learning and career and college opportunities.

Staff development activities may include curriculum development and curriculum training
programs, and activities that provide teachers and other members of site-based teams
training to enhance team performance. The school district also may implement other
staff development activities required by law and activities associated with professional
teacher compensation models.

(b) Release time provided for teachers to supervise students on field trips and school
activities, or independent tasks not associated with enhancing the teacher's knowledge
and instructional skills, such as preparing report cards, calculating grades, or organizing
classroom materials, may not be counted as staff development time that is financed with
staff development reserved revenue under section 122A.61.

Sec. 18.

Minnesota Statutes 2014, section 123B.147, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Duties; evaluation.

(a) The principal shall provide administrative,
supervisory, and instructional leadership services, under the supervision of the
superintendent of schools of the district and according to the policies, rules, and
regulations of the school board, for the planning, management, operation, and evaluation
of the education program of the building or buildings to which the principal is assigned.

(b) To enhance a principal's leadership skills and support and improve teaching
practices, school performance, and student achievement for diverse student populations,
including at-risk students, children with disabilities, English learners, and gifted students,
among others, a district must develop and implement a performance-based system for
annually evaluating school principals assigned to supervise a school building within the
district. The evaluation must be designed to improve teaching and learning by supporting
the principal in shaping the school's professional environment and developing teacher
quality, performance, and effectiveness. The annual evaluation must:

(1) support and improve a principal's instructional leadership, organizational
management, and professional development, and strengthen the principal's capacity in the
areas of instruction, supervision, evaluation, and teacher development;

(2) include formative and summative evaluations based on multiple measures of
student progress toward career and college readiness;

(3) be consistent with a principal's job description, a district's long-term plans and
goals, and the principal's own professional multiyear growth plans and goals, all of which
must support the principal's leadership behaviors and practices, rigorous curriculum,
school performance, and high-quality instruction;

(4) include on-the-job observations and previous evaluations;

(5) allow surveys to help identify a principal's effectiveness, leadership skills and
processes, and strengths and weaknesses in exercising leadership in pursuit of school
success;

(6) use longitudinal data on student academic growth as 35 percent of the evaluation
and incorporate district achievement goals and targets;

(7) be linked to professional development that emphasizes improved teaching and
learning, curriculum and instruction, student learning, and a collaborative professional
culture; and

(8) for principals not meeting standards of professional practice or other criteria
under this subdivision, implement a plan to improve the principal's performance and
specify the procedure and consequence if the principal's performance is not improved; and

(9) include longitudinal data on pupil dismissals disaggregated by student categories
under section 120B.35, subdivision 3, paragraph (b), clause (2).

The provisions of this paragraph are intended to provide districts with sufficient
flexibility to accommodate district needs and goals related to developing, supporting,
and evaluating principals.

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for the 2016-2017 school year and
later.

Sec. 19.

Minnesota Statutes 2015 Supplement, section 124E.11, is amended to read:

124E.11 ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS AND ENROLLMENT.

(a) A charter school may limit admission to:

(1) pupils within an age group or grade level;

(2) pupils who are eligible to participate in the graduation incentives program under
section 124D.68; or

(3) residents of a specific geographic area in which the school is located when the
majority of students served by the school are members of underserved populations.

(b) A charter school shall enroll an eligible pupil who submits a timely application,
unless the number of applications exceeds the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or
building. In this case, pupils must be accepted by lot. The charter school must develop
and publish, including on its Web site, a lottery policy and process that it must use when
accepting pupils by lot.

(c) A charter school shall give enrollment preference to a sibling of an enrolled
pupil and to a foster child of that pupil's parents and may give preference for enrolling
children of the school's staff before accepting other pupils by lot. A charter school that
is located in Duluth township in St. Louis County and admits students in kindergarten
through grade 6 must give enrollment preference to students residing within a five-mile
radius of the school and to the siblings of enrolled children. A charter school may give
enrollment preference to children currently enrolled in the school's free preschool or
prekindergarten program under section 124E.06, subdivision 3, paragraph (a), who are
eligible to enroll in kindergarten in the next school year.

(d) A person shall not be admitted to a charter school (1) as a kindergarten pupil,
unless the pupil is at least five years of age on September 1 of the calendar year in which
the school year for which the pupil seeks admission commences; or (2) as a first grade
student, unless the pupil is at least six years of age on September 1 of the calendar year in
which the school year for which the pupil seeks admission commences or has completed
kindergarten; except that a charter school may establish and publish on its Web site a
policy for admission of selected pupils at an earlier age, consistent with the enrollment
process in paragraphs (b) and (c).

(e) Except as permitted in paragraph (d), a charter school may not limit admission
to pupils on the basis of intellectual ability, measures of achievement or aptitude, or
athletic ability and may not establish any criteria or requirements for admission that are
inconsistent with this section.

(f) The charter school shall not distribute any services or goods of value to students,
parents, or guardians as an inducement, term, or condition of enrolling a student in a
charter school.

(g) Once a student is enrolled in the school, the student is considered enrolled in the
school until the student formally withdraws or is expelled under the Pupil Fair Dismissal
Act in sections 121A.40 to 121A.56. A charter school is subject to and must comply with
the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act, sections 121A.40 to 121A.56, and the other provisions in
chapter 121A governing pupil behavior and discipline.

(h) A charter school with at least 90 percent of enrolled students who are eligible
for special education services and have a primary disability of deaf or hard-of-hearing
may enroll prekindergarten pupils with a disability under section 126C.05, subdivision 1,
paragraph (a), and must comply with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
under Code of Federal Regulations, title 34, section 300.324, subsection (2), clause (iv).

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Sec. 20. APPROPRIATION.

(a) $....... in fiscal year 2017 is appropriated from the general fund to the
commissioner of education to provide technical assistance to, and help school districts with
the professional development needed for, teachers, school administrators, other licensed
school professionals, school board members, school resource officers, and other district
staff to fully and effectively implement the Pupil Fair Dismissal Act under Minnesota
Statutes, sections 121A.40 to 121A.56, and related pupil discipline law. The professional
development must focus on creating a positive school culture, preventing and addressing
pupil misconduct, complying with applicable pupil discipline laws and rules, using
effective classroom management and problem-solving strategies and conflict resolution
inside and outside the classroom, understanding the adverse consequence of dismissing
pupils and involving them with the juvenile justice and adult criminal justice systems,
and exploring alternative strategies such as restorative practices, peer mediation, positive
behavioral intervention and support, culturally responsive discipline, and developmentally
appropriate discipline that fosters positive, healthy, and productive school climates.

(b) The base for this program in fiscal year 2018 and later is $.......

EFFECTIVE DATE.

This section is effective for fiscal year 2017.