Board and Department to Support and Encourage Leas in Creation of Community Schools — Funding — Qualifications for Community School Grant — Duties of Grant Recipients
Board and Department to Support and Encourage Leas in Creation of Community Schools — Funding — Qualifications for Community School Grant — Duties of Grant Recipients
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The state board of education and the department shall support and encourage LEAs in the creation of community schools. All policies, guidelines, and rules and regulations adopted by the state board pursuant to this part shall actively foster the formation, development and operation of community schools. Such policies, guidelines, or rules and regulations shall permit teachers to receive in-service credit for teaching classes for parents, such as parenting classes, at the community school outside of normal school hours.
The department shall strongly encourage LEAs and schools to combine multiple funding sources to create community schools and to support the schools. Federal funds that may be used for such purposes include, but are not limited to, grants provided under Titles I and IV of the Every Student Succeeds Act (Pub. L. No. 114-95).
The department is encouraged to provide LEAs and schools with technical assistance, directly or through a resource and referral directory established and maintained by the department, to locate other available funding sources to create community schools and to support the schools, such as competitive grants, foundation awards, and private donations.
Subject to the availability of funding from private sources for creation and support of community schools, the department shall make community school grants available to fund community schools and to enhance programs at community schools. If funding is available for community school grants, then a request-for-proposal process shall be used in awarding the grants. Proposals may be submitted on behalf of a school, an LEA, or a consortium of two (2) or more schools or LEAs. Proposals shall be evaluated and scored on the basis of criteria consistent with this part and other factors developed and adopted by the state board.
No funds shall be appropriated for the 2014-2015 fiscal year for the creation and support of community schools. However, nothing in this part shall prohibit the general assembly from appropriating funds in fiscal years subsequent to the 2014-2015 fiscal year for creation and support of community schools.
In order to qualify for a community school grant under this section, a community school must:
Meet the requirements of § 49-6-2404(c) and (d);
Have, at a minimum, the following components:
Before and after school programming each school day to meet the identified needs of students;
Weekend programming;
Four (4) weeks of summer programming, which may be conducted during consecutive or nonconsecutive weeks;
A local advisory group composed of school leadership, parents, and community stakeholders that establishes school-specific programming goals, assesses program needs, and oversees the process of implementing expanded programming;
A program director or resource coordinator who is responsible for establishing the local advisory group, assessing the needs of students and community members, identifying programs to meet those needs, developing the before and after school, weekend, and summer programming, and overseeing the implementation of programming to ensure high-quality, robust participation;
Programming that includes academic excellence aligned with the curriculum, life skills, healthy minds and bodies, parental support and community engagement, and that promotes staying in school, nonviolent behavior, and nonviolent conflict resolution;
Maintenance of attendance records in all programming components;
Maintenance of measurable data showing annual participation and the impact of programming on the participating children and adults;
Documentation of true collaboration between the school and community stakeholders, including local governmental units, civic organizations, families, businesses, and social service providers; and
A nondiscrimination policy ensuring that the community school does not condition participation upon race, ethnic origin, religion, sex, or disability; and
Conduct a baseline analysis of the school, the contents of which must be developed by the department of education in consultation with the LEA and any community partner providing community school programming; and
Transmit the data collected from the analysis conducted under subdivision (3)(A) to the department at intervals determined by the department in order to measure the effectiveness of the community school programming implemented at the school.
Each grant recipient under subsection (c) shall:
Conduct periodic evaluations of the progress achieved with funds allocated under a grant, consistent with the purposes of this part;
Use the evaluations to refine and improve activities conducted with the grant and the performance measures for the activities;
Make the results of the evaluations publicly available, including providing public notice of the availability; and
Identify best practices and lessons learned for the purpose of helping other LEAs and schools in the formation of community schools and to revise the community school policies of the state board and the department.