Open Enrollment for Persistently Dangerous Schools

Purpose of this Act

The purpose of this act is to ensure that every child has access to a safe learning environment by aligning state law with federal requirements under 20 U.S.C. § 7912. This act requires that the State Education Agency ranks all public schools from most to least dangerous using data from its school incident reporting system(s). This act also requires that Local Education Agencies provide school transfer options for students who are victims of violent criminal offenses on school grounds and for those assigned to schools that are designated as the most dangerous.

SECTION 1

The legislative code annotated is amended by adding the following language as a new part:

01. Short Title

This part shall be known and may be cited as the “Open Enrollment for Students in Persistently Dangerous Public Schools Act.”

02. Definitions

As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. “Public school” means any primary or secondary school in this State operated by the State or subdivision of the State, including public charter schools.
2. “Local Education Agency” or “LEA” means a public board of education or other public authority legally constituted within a State to exercise administrative control or direction over a public school or schools.
3. “State Education Agency” or “SEA” means the agency primarily responsible for supervising public schools within a State.
4. “School danger index” or “SDI” means an annual calculation by the SEA that ranks all public schools from most to least dangerous using some or all of the following criminal offenses in the State’s school incident reporting system:
   1. Homicide;
   2. Rape;
   3. Possession of explosives, deadly weapons, or firearms;
   4. Sexual misconduct;
   5. Assault and/or battery on a school employee;
   6. Assault and/or battery on a student;
   7. Drug offenses;
   8. Property crimes such as larceny, burglary, robbery and vandalism; and
   9. Threats of physical attack with or without a weapon.
5. “Persistently dangerous school” means a public school identified as one of the 20% most dangerous in the State by the SDI in at least one of the three most recent academic years.
6. “Victim” means a public school student who, while on the grounds of a public school, is the direct recipient of a criminal or juvenile offense.
7. “Offender” means a public school student who commits a criminal or juvenile offense while on the grounds of a public school.
8. “Eligible transfer student” means a victim or a student zoned to attend a school designated as persistently dangerous.
9. “Receiving school” means a public school that an eligible transfer student seeks to attend under the open enrollment transfer provisions of Section 06.
10. “Sending LEA” means the LEA that operates the persistently dangerous school a parent or guardian seeks to leave.

03. Persistently Dangerous School Designation and Notification

1. No later than 10 calendar days after the end of an academic year, each school shall provide a full report to the SEA allowing the SEA to calculate its rating on the SDI.
2. No later than 14 calendar days after receiving this data from schools, the SEA shall:
   1. Calculate the SDI, publishing the results for all schools on the SEA website;
   2. Notify LEAs regarding any of their schools that are identified as the 20% most dangerous in the State.
3. The SEA shall publish the methodology used to calculate the SDI, including the list of offenses comprising the index and the process for determining rankings. The SEA may apply a weighting system in calculating the SDI so that more severe offenses carry a greater impact on a school’s ranking. The weighting methodology should be published in plain language, with examples provided, to ensure the calculation is transparent to the public.
4. Each LEA shall annually certify the accuracy of its incident reporting. The SEA shall conduct random audits of reported data and may impose corrective actions or financial penalties on LEAs found to have intentionally underreported or misclassified incidents.
5. The SEA shall provide regular training and technical assistance to LEAs on collecting data that comprises the SDI.
6. No later than 14 calendar days after receiving notice that a school has been designated by the SEA as persistently dangerous, the LEA of the school shall email and postmark a letter to every parent or guardian of students enrolled in that school providing:
   1. The number and types of criminal offenses that factored into the school being designated as persistently dangerous;
   2. Information regarding parents’ right to transfer their children into a safe alternative, identifying local or regional public, charter, or private school options;
   3. Information outlining the steps an eligible parent can take to request a transfer into a safer school; and
   4. A full list of schools within the LEA identified as persistently dangerous on the most recent SDI.
7. For the purposes of corrective action, any school designated as persistently dangerous shall hire a School Resource Officer no later than the beginning of the next academic year and retain the School Resource Officer for no fewer than three consecutive school years.
8. The State shall annually review and consider whether it is necessary to revise its definition of a persistently dangerous school.

04. LEA Obligations to Victims of Criminal Offenses

LEAs shall report every criminal offense, including but not limited to homicide, attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, rape, sexual assault or battery, robbery, assault, and battery, to an on-campus School Resource Officer or local law enforcement. Upon such notification, a LEA representative shall also, through email and postmarked letter, advise the parent or guardian of the victim about their right to immediately transfer to another school.

05. Right to Open Enrollment for Students in Persistently Dangerous Schools

1. If a parent or guardian determines it is in the best interest of a student assigned to a persistently dangerous school to attend a different school, the student shall be transferred according to the provisions outlined in Section 06. The eligible transfer student shall be eligible to continue attending the receiving school through its highest grade level offered, unless otherwise disqualified for disciplinary or age-related reasons.
2. An offender may not transfer under the policy described in Section 06 but may be transferred to a different school than the victim for disciplinary or other reasons.

06. State Education Agency Open Enrollment Policy

1. The SEA shall establish an open enrollment policy, applicable to all LEAs in the State, that governs the transfer of eligible transfer students within and between LEAs.
2. The open enrollment policy shall stipulate that:
   1. Eligible transfer students shall not pay tuition at the receiving school.
   2. Receiving schools shall review each transfer application promptly and issue a written decision to the parent or guardian no later than 14 calendar days after receiving the transfer request.
   3. Receiving schools shall approve requests for open enrollment transfers unless:
      1. here is no capacity at the receiving school’s requested grade level; or
      2. The student requesting an open enrollment transfer has been expelled or is in the process of being expelled.
   4. A parent or guardian of an eligible transfer student who has been denied a transfer request under the exceptions above may appeal the denial to the SEA, with a decision rendered in no more than 30 calendar days. If the SEA fails to render a decision, the transfer will be deemed approved.
   5. A parent or guardian may request transfers to multiple schools, either at the same time or sequentially, if a receiving school denies a previous request.
   6. If a receiving school denies a transfer under the exceptions above, the school shall provide a written explanation identifying the reason for the denial.
      1. If the receiving school denies a transfer based on insufficient capacity at the requested grade level, the school shall identify the established capacity at the relevant grade level and publish its enrollment capacity for all grade levels on its official website.
   7. When processing transfer requests, receiving schools shall not discriminate based on a student’s ability, disability, race, color, national origin, sex, socioeconomic status, or residential address.
   8. Receiving schools shall generally accept transfer requests on a first-come, first-served basis, but may establish enrollment preferences for siblings of eligible transfer students already enrolled through the open enrollment policy. The eligible transfer student shall be eligible to continue attending the receiving school through its highest grade level offered, unless otherwise disqualified for disciplinary or age-related reasons.
   9. When an LEA admits an eligible transfer student from another LEA, it shall charge the Sending LEA an amount set by the SEA, which shall withhold funds from the Sending LEA and remit them directly to the recipient LEA.
   10. The SEA shall determine the tuition amount of open enrollment transfer students, and the amount shall be prorated to the number of days a transfer student is enrolled in the receiving school.
       1. Prorated tuition shall include all the state and federal funding that would have been allocated to that student from the Sending LEA to the receiving school.
   11. For any eligible transfer student with an active Individualized Education Program or Section 504 Plan, the receiving school shall implement the existing plan without interruption. Funding for special education services shall follow the student to the receiving school in accordance with state and federal law. The Sending LEA and receiving school shall coordinate to ensure a smooth transition of services and records.
   12. An eligible transfer student who enrolls in a receiving school shall be included in the receiving LEA’s statistics and reporting for the purposes of attendance, net enrollment, and state accountability systems.
   13. If requested by a parent or guardian of the eligible transfer student, transportation shall be provided from within a 30-mile radius of the student’s residence to the receiving school. The responsibility for providing transportation may be assumed by either the Sending LEA or the receiving school, as determined by mutual agreement between the two LEAs. If no agreement is reached, the Sending LEA shall remain responsible.
3. The SEA shall create a simple online form for parents or guardians to submit a transfer request.
4. LEAs shall annually report to the SEA how many transfer requests were approved and denied in the previous school year. The SEA shall annually publish these statistics on its website and make a report of the same to the Governor.
5. The State Superintendent shall report annually to the Governor and Legislature:
   1. A list of persistently dangerous schools, as determined by the SDI; and
   2. A certification that the State is complying with relevant federal law, found in 20 U.S.C. § 7912.

07. Private Right of Action

Without regard to any other remedy or relief to which a person is entitled, any parent or guardian of a student affected by a violation of this part may bring an action against any governmental entity to obtain a declaratory judgment that the act or practice violates this part; to enjoin the entity which has violated, is violating, or is otherwise likely to violate this part; to obtain a writ of mandamus; or to recover damages under this part. Damages recovered under this part shall be limited to any amounts listed in the State’s Tort Claims Acts; however, upon a finding by the court that a provision of this part has been violated, the court shall award to the person bringing such action reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

SECTION 2

This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.