Section 392-501-730. Process and criteria for recommending to the state board of education school districts for required action.

By January 15, 2011, and annually thereafter, the superintendent of public instruction shall recommend to the state board of education school districts for designation as required action districts.

(1) The criteria for recommending designation shall be as follows:

(a) The school district has one or more schools on the persistently lowest-achieving list;

(b) For recommendations in January 2011 only, the school district did not apply for a school improvement grant in the 2009-10 school year application period;

(c) Student achievement in the school or schools on the persistently lowest-achieving list within the school district has improved at a rate less than the state average in reading and mathematics in the most recent past three years for which data are available as measured by state assessment scores;

(d) Schools on the persistently lowest-achieving school list within school districts that are identified in (a) through (c) of this subsection shall be ranked in priority order based on:

(i) The lowest levels of achievement in the all students group in reading and mathematics combined for the past three consecutive years; and

(ii) The schools with the lowest rate of improvement in reading and mathematics combined for the past three years.

(e) Using the priority ranking in (d) of this subsection, the superintendent shall recommend school districts that have a school or schools that have the lowest levels of achievement and lowest rates of improvement. The number of school districts that shall be recommended shall be based on the availability of federal funds and the amount of funding needed for each identified school. For the 2011 recommendations, no more than half of the federal fund appropriation for school improvement grants shall be utilized for required action districts. All other federal funds will be allocated consistent with the federal school improvement guidelines competitive process.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1) of this section, school districts that applied for and received a school improvement grant in the 2009-10 school year application period shall not be eligible for being designated as a required action district until recommendations are made to the state board of education in January 2014, unless the school district does not implement a federal intervention model at each school that received a grant.

[Statutory Authority: RCW 28A.657.020, 28A.657.030, and 28A.657.100. WSR 10-24-057, § 392-501-730, filed 11/29/10, effective 12/1/10.]

RCW 28A.657.020, 28A.657.030, and 28A.657.100. WSR 10-24-057, § 392-501-730, filed 11/29/10, effective 12/1/10.