The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
S. B. No. 246 As IntroducedAs Introduced
128th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2009-2010 |
| |
Cosponsors:
Senators Cates, Miller, R., Turner, Morano, Seitz, Smith, Miller, D., Schiavoni, Goodman, Cafaro, Kearney
A BILL
To enact section 3314.019 of the Revised Code to
permit the establishment of a community school to
serve adults of school age who are incarcerated or
who have been released from the custody of the
Department of Youth Services and to declare an
emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 3314.019 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 3314.019. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Formula ADM" has the same meaning as in section 3306.02
of the Revised Code.
(2) "State correctional institution" has the same meaning as
in section 2967.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) A new start-up school sponsored by an entity described in
divisions (C)(1)(a) to (e) of section 3314.02 of the Revised Code
may be established in accordance with this section to serve
persons who are at least eighteen years of age but less than
twenty-two years of age and have been released from an institution
maintained by the department of youth services or are confined in
a state correctional institution.
(C) The educational program of a community school established
under this section shall be based on a curriculum that has a
demonstrated record of success in improving student achievement
and lowering recidivism and that emphasizes conflict resolution,
strengthened interpersonal communication and relationships,
personal responsibility, independence, and positive community
involvement. The educational program shall enable students to earn
high school credits and to complete the requirements for a high
school diploma under section 3313.61 of the Revised Code. Upon
successful completion of the program, in addition to a high school
diploma, students shall be awarded a certificate of achievement
and future employability, which may include a summary of the
student's education and work skills, information on bonding
programs and tax credits available under the Revised Code or
federal law for employers who hire persons who were formerly
institutionalized or incarcerated, and any other information
designated by the school's governing authority.
(D) Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the
contrary, all of the following apply to a community school
established under this section:
(1) The school shall be established in two or more school
districts.
(2)(a) To enable the school to serve students while
incarcerated and while reintegrating into the community following
release from an institution maintained by the department of youth
services or a state correctional institution, the school's
governing authority shall maintain at least one facility on the
site of a state correctional institution and at least one
community-based facility that is not on the site of such an
institution and is located in a big-eight school district.
(b) The school's governing authority shall consult with the
department of rehabilitation and correction to identify state
correctional institutions at which the governing authority may
maintain a facility and the department shall allocate space in the
identified institutions for use by the school. Each facility
located on the site of a state correctional institution shall be a
single-gender facility and the governing authority shall ensure
that comparable facilities and learning opportunities are provided
for each gender.
(c)(i) Until July 1, 2013, the school shall establish not
more than two community-based facilities. On and after that date,
the school may establish any number of additional community-based
facilities, subject to division (D)(2)(c)(iii) of this section.
Nothing in division (D)(2)(c)(i) of this section shall prohibit
the school from initiating the process described in division
(D)(2)(c)(iii) of this section prior to July 1, 2013, for the
purpose of establishing a community-based facility on or after
that date.
(ii) If the school initially opens for operation in the
2010-2011 school year, the governing authority shall locate the
school's first community-based facility in the Columbus city
school district and shall not be required to comply with division
(D)(2)(c)(iii) of this section with respect to that facility.
However, if the governing authority seeks to establish any
additional community-based facilities, in that district or in any
other district, the governing authority shall comply with that
division with respect to each of those facilities.
(iii) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2)(c)(ii)
of this section, prior to establishing any community-based
facility, the school's governing authority shall obtain the
approval of the board of education of the big-eight school
district in which the governing authority is considering locating
the facility. For this purpose, not later than the fifteenth day
of April prior to the school year in which the facility will open
for operation, the governing authority shall notify the board of
education of each big-eight school district under consideration as
a potential location for the facility of the governing authority's
interest in locating the facility in that district. Not later than
sixty days after the notification, the board shall hold a public
hearing on the matter of locating the facility in the district and
shall vote on the question of whether to allow the governing
authority to locate the facility there. If the board votes against
allowing the governing authority to locate the facility in the
district, the governing authority shall not locate the facility in
the district.
(d) The school's governing authority may assign students in
the same grade level to multiple facilities.
(3) The school shall not be subject to division (A) of
section 3314.016 of the Revised Code. However, the school's
governing authority shall enter into a contract with a nonprofit
organization that has at least ten years of experience in the
fields of education and corrections and has been a contractor of
the department of rehabilitation and correction to serve persons
in the department's custody. The nonprofit organization shall be
responsible for directing the school's educational concept,
curriculum, and instructional practices and for any other aspects
of the school's daily operations designated by the school's
governing authority. The nonprofit organization with which the
governing authority contracts under this division shall be
considered an operator for purposes of this chapter.
(4)(a) The school shall enroll only persons who meet the
following criteria:
(i) The person has acquired sufficient high school credits
relative to the person's age that the person is reasonably
expected to complete the curriculum requirements for a high school
diploma prior to attaining twenty-two years of age.
(ii) If the person is in a state correctional institution,
the person agrees in writing to continue enrollment at the
school's community-based facility following the person's release
from the institution.
Nothing in division (D)(4)(a) of this section shall prohibit
the school from enrolling persons who were not residents of this
state immediately prior to being placed in the custody of an
institution maintained by the department of youth services or
incarcerated, subject to division (E)(5) of this section.
(b) If the number of applicants for enrollment exceeds the
school's capacity, students shall be admitted by lot from all
those submitting applications, except preference shall be given to
persons who, prior to being institutionalized or incarcerated,
were residents of school districts with a graduation rate, as
defined in section 3301.0711 of the Revised Code, of ninety per
cent or less.
(c) The department of youth services and the department of
rehabilitation and correction shall assist the school's governing
authority in identifying persons who meet the eligibility criteria
for enrollment in the school. If necessary, upon a person's
enrollment, the department of rehabilitation and correction shall
reassign the person to a state correctional institution at which
the school maintains a facility.
(5) The school's governing authority may employ a person who
has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to an offense described in
division (B)(1) of section 3319.39 of the Revised Code under the
following conditions:
(a) The person is a graduate of the school or another
educational program provided by the nonprofit organization
described in division (D)(3) of this section.
(b) The person has received training in using the person's
experiences as an instructional tool and educational intervention
for students.
(c) During any period of time in which the person will have
routine interaction with a student or regular responsibility for
the care, custody, or control of a student, the person shall be
supervised by an employee of the school who holds a teacher
license issued by the state board of education under section
3319.22 or 3319.222 or former section 3319.22 of the Revised Code
or by an employee of the state correctional institution at which
the school is located.
(6) The school's governing authority shall be permanently
responsible for providing student transportation to the school's
community-based facility in accordance with a transportation
policy established by the governing authority. The governing
authority shall comply with either division (A) or (B) of section
3314.091 of the Revised Code in assuming the transportation
responsibility, and the school shall be eligible for any payments
authorized under that section. The school shall not be entitled to
any payment for the provision of transportation from the school
district in which the community-based facility is located, except
as otherwise authorized under section 3314.091 of the Revised
Code.
(E) Notwithstanding anything in this chapter or Chapter 3306.
or 3317. of the Revised Code to the contrary, all of the following
apply in the case of each student enrolled in a community school
established under this section:
(1) For purposes of the report required under division (B)(2)
of section 3314.08 of the Revised Code, the community school shall
report the following:
(a) If the student was a resident of this state immediately
prior to being placed in the custody of an institution maintained
by the department of youth services or incarcerated, the name of
the school district in which the student was entitled to attend
school under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code at
that time. The school district reported shall not be the district
in which the student was last known to be enrolled or the district
in which the offense that led to the student's
institutionalization or incarceration was committed, unless that
district is the same district in which the student was entitled to
attend school under section 3313.64 or 3313.65 of the Revised Code
immediately prior to being institutionalized or incarcerated. The
school district reported shall not change, regardless of whether
the school district in which the student resides after the
student's release from institutionalization or incarceration is
different from the school district reported.
(b) If the student was not a resident of this state
immediately prior to being institutionalized or incarcerated, the
fact that the student was not a resident at that time;
(c) If the school cannot determine the student's residency
status immediately prior to being institutionalized or
incarcerated, the fact that the student's residency status is
unknown.
(2) In the case of each student to whom division (E)(1)(a) of
this section applies, the department of education shall include
the student in the formula ADM of the school district reported
under that division. The student shall not be included in the
formula ADM of any other school district.
In the case of each student to whom division (E)(1)(b) or (c)
of this section applies, the department shall not include the
student in the formula ADM of any school district.
(3) Subject to section 3314.088 of the Revised Code, the
department of education shall deduct the applicable amounts
prescribed under division (C) of section 3314.08 of the Revised
Code from the school district in whose formula ADM the student was
included under division (E)(2) of this section and shall not
deduct any amount for the student from any other school district.
If the student was not included in the formula ADM of a school
district under division (E)(2) of this section, the department
shall not make any deduction for the student under this division.
(4) Subject to section 3314.088 of the Revised Code, the
department of education shall make the payments prescribed in
divisions (D) and (E) of section 3314.08 of the Revised Code to
the community school. If the student was not included in the
formula ADM of a school district under division (E)(2) of this
section, the department shall not make any payment for the student
under this division.
(5) In the case of each student to whom division (E)(1)(b) or
(c) of this section applies, the community school shall be
responsible for the total cost of educating the student and may
apply for and receive funding from any public or private entity to
defray that cost.
(6) No state correctional institution shall be entitled to
tuition payments under section 3323.091 of the Revised Code for
the student.
(F) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a community
school established under this section shall comply with all
requirements of this chapter.
Section 2. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency
measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that
federal grant money is available to help pay the costs of
establishing and operating a community school described in this
act that is prepared to open in the 2010-2011 school year.
Therefore, this act shall go into immediate effect.
|
|