(A) As used in this section, “eligible district” means a city school district to which both of the following apply:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(1) The district has persistently low performance ratings, as determined by the department of education and workforce, under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code.

(2) The district is not subject to an academic distress commission under section 3302.10 of the Revised Code.

(B) The department shall establish the career promise academy summer demonstration pilot program. Under the pilot program, which shall operate in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, the department shall solicit proposals from eligible districts to establish and operate a career promise academy during the summer to provide students entering ninth grade with intensive literacy instruction, internship or mentoring experiences, and instruction regarding academic preparedness skills, life skills, and financial literacy. The department shall approve one proposal based on the criteria prescribed under division (C) of this section. The department shall award a grant to the eligible district with an approved proposal.

(C) The department shall adopt criteria under which to approve a proposal for a career promise academy, which shall include all of the following:

(1) A requirement that the career promise academy operate as follows:

(a) For four consecutive weeks in the summer of 2021;

(b) For five consecutive weeks in the summer of 2022.

(2) A requirement that not more than seventy-five students participate in the career promise academy in one summer;

(3) A requirement for the eligible district to submit to the department, in a form and manner prescribed by the department, any data that the department and district jointly determine is necessary to evaluate the pilot program;

(4) A method to determine student eligibility to participate in the career promise academy. The method shall identify students entering ninth grade who are at risk of not qualifying for a high school diploma based on the student’s scores on the English language arts and mathematics assessments prescribed under division (A)(1)(f) of section 3301.0710 of the Revised Code and other academic or social-emotional factors.

(5) A description of the instruction and internship or mentoring experiences that participating students will receive;

(6) An agreement with the district’s business advisory council established under section 3313.82 of the Revised Code and other organizations or businesses to identify or provide internship and mentoring experiences to participating students;

(7) An agreement with at least one institution of higher education to identify and engage with prospective teachers to serve as mentors and academic coaches to participating students.

(D) The department shall adopt guidelines and procedures to operate the pilot program established under this section.