(a) Student strategy. The superintendent of the local board of education along with the staff of each school shall develop an assistance program at each school for at-risk students performing below the standards set by the State Board of Education. The standards shall include the results of the required assessment program adopted by the State Board of Education with emphasis on students who are found to be at one or more grade levels below the prescribed norm. The local board of education shall budget at least one hundred dollars ($100) per student so identified to be expended on tutorial assistance programs including, but not limited to, after-school, Saturday school, or summer school, or any combination of these programs. These funds may be budgeted from state or federal funds. However, federal funds already budgeted for at-risk students may not be counted toward the minimum one hundred dollars ($100) requirement set aside to be expended for at-risk students as defined in this chapter. In addition, these funds may be expended for any of the following purposes:
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 16-6B-3
- following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
- year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
The State Board of Education’s plan for an assistance program shall consist of the following components:
(1) The faculty and staff of each school in need of assistance shall engage in a self-study to examine the problem of low achievement within that school and shall develop steps which may be taken to improve student achievement. Parents of students in the schools shall be consulted as part of this self-study.
(2) If, after two years, student achievement has not improved, the State Superintendent of Education shall designate a team of practicing professionals to visit the school, conduct a study, consult with parents of students in the school, analyze causes of poor student achievement, and make specific recommendations which shall become a part of a school improvement plan for the succeeding year.
(3) As a final step, when insufficient or no improvement as determined by the State Board of Education is evident from the implementation of steps one and two above, the State Superintendent of Education is required to intervene and to appoint a person or persons to run the day-to-day operation of the school. In considering intervention, the State Board of Education shall consider factors which may have affected the prescribed norm test score. Factors shall include drop-out rates, attendance rates, special education enrollment, and any other data necessary to properly interpret student achievement in each school.
(c) School system strategy. The State Board of Education shall develop an assistance program for a local board of education identified as being in need of assistance. A local board of education in need of assistance shall mean any local board of education which has a majority of its schools, or a majority of the students in a system, in which the students are scoring one or more grade levels below the prescribed norm.
The State Board of Education shall require a local board of education in need of assistance to do the following:
(1) The local board of education and the local superintendent with input from other administrators, teachers, staff, parents of students in the school, and the local community shall engage in a self-study to examine the problem of low achievement within the system and to develop steps which may be taken to improve student achievement.
(2) If, after two years, student achievement has not improved, the state superintendent shall develop a system-wide school improvement plan in consultation with teachers, parents of students in the school, and the local community. This school improvement plan shall become a part of the local board of education’s program and financial operations for the succeeding year.
(3) If, after the implementation of the school improvement plan, student achievement has not sufficiently improved, relative to the previous year’s performance, the State Board of Education shall require the State Superintendent of Education to intervene and assume the direct management and day-to-day operation of the local board of education for such period of time as may be necessary for student achievement to improve. In considering intervention, the State Board of Education shall consider factors which may have affected the prescribed norm test score. Factors shall include drop-out rates, attendance rates, special education enrollment, and any other data necessary to properly interpret student achievement in each system.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that intervention is not to occur when a school or school system scores below the prescribed average. Intervention by the State Board of Education is to occur only after the three-year period provided in this chapter during which a school or school system fails to show improvement. So long as improvement is being shown, the State Board of Education shall not intervene but shall continue to encourage the school to improve.
