NOTICES

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Approval of Standards of the Department of Education Necessary to Comply with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001

[33 Pa.B. 2838]

   Section 2603-B(d)(10)(i) of the Public School Code of 1949, added by section 31 of the act of June 29, 2002 (P. L. 524, No. 88) (Act 88), empowers the State Board of Education (State Board) to: Approval of Standards of the Department of Education Necessary to

Approve or disapprove standards proposed by the [D]epartment [of Education] in order to comply with the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425) to maintain the eligibility of this Commonwealth to receive Federal funding for education programs. The [State B]oard shall approve or disapprove the standards within 30 days of submission to the [State B]oard's office or at its next scheduled meeting, whichever is sooner. Failure of the board to approve or disapprove the standards within the time established under this section shall be deemed an approval of the standards.

   24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)(i). The standards proposed by the Department of Education (Department) and approved or deemed approved by the State Board under § 2603-B(d)(10)(i) must be deposited with the Pennsylvania Bulletin for publication. See 24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)(ii). However, as provided by Act 88, standards promulgated by the Department under § 2603-B(d)(10) are exempt from the following laws:

   (A)  Sections 201 through 205 of the act of July 31, 1968 (P. L. 769, No. 240), referred to as the Commonwealth Documents Law.

   (B)  Section 204(b) of the act of October 15, 1980 (P. L. 950, No. 164), known as the Commonwealth Attorneys Act.

   (C)  The act of June 25, 1982 (P. L. 633, No. 181), known as the Regulatory Review Act.

   See 24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)(iii).

   On March 19, 2003, the Department presented to the State Board proposed definitions necessary to comply with section 9532 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, (NCLB) 20 U.S.C. § 7912. At its meeting held March 20, 2003, the State Board approved the definitions to be included in the standards for Victims of Violent Crimes and standards for Persistently Dangerous Schools. The resolution adopted by the State Board reflecting its approval of the Department definitions appears as follows:

RESOLUTION

   Whereas, The United States Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (P. L. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425), which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002; and

   Whereas, NCLB, inter alia, amends Subchapter IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (P. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27), 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq., by adding section 9532, 20 U.S.C. § 7912, entitled Unsafe School Choice Option (''USCO''); and

   Whereas, The purpose of section 9532 is to ensure that all children who attend a persistently dangerous school or become the victim of a violent criminal offense while at school have the opportunity to transfer to another school, which is not a persistently dangerous school; and

   Whereas, The United States Department of Education published Non-Regulatory Guidelines in July 2002, which explain that agency's position concerning states' USCO policies; and

   Whereas, The Pennsylvania Department of Education created an Unsafe School Choice Option Advisory Group that was composed of individuals from a representative sample of LEAs and individuals from numerous other groups involved in public education in Pennsylvania; and

   Whereas, The USCO Advisory Group met in November 2002 and February 2003 in order to discuss and develop USCO policy options for consideration by the Secretary of Education; and

   Whereas, The Committee of Practitioners established under section 1903(b) of Title I, added by NCLB (20 U.S.C. § 6573(b) (relating to committee of practitioners)), met in March 2003 to consider the options developed by the USCO Advisory Group; and

   Whereas, The Committee of Practitioners recommends that in establishing USCO standards the Department use objective measures that will fairly and accurately identify as persistently dangerous schools those schools that have substantial numbers of violent incidents or weapons incidents over a multi-year period; and

   Whereas, Section 2603-B(d)(10) of the Public School Code (24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)), added by section 31 of Act 88 of 2002, provides that the State Board of Education shall have the authority and duty, within thirty days of submission to the State Board or at the next scheduled meeting (whichever is sooner), to approve or disapprove standards proposed by the Department in order to comply with the provisions of NCLB and to maintain eligibility for funding; and

   Whereas, The Department submitted its proposed USCO standards to the State Board on March 11, 2003; and

   Whereas, On March 19, 2003, the special committee of the State Board established to work with the Department in the development and review of standards necessary to comply with NCLB (the ''NCLB Committee'') conducted a public meeting to review and discuss the standards presented by the Department for approval by the State Board and to receive public comment on the proposals; and

   Whereas, The NCLB Committee on March 19, 2003, approved a motion to recommend to the State Board that it approve the standards proposed by the Department; and

   Whereas, At the regular business meeting of the State Board held March 20, 2003, the Secretary made a detailed presentation explaining the standards presented by the Department for approval by the State Board; and

   Whereas, The State Board, at its March 20, 2003 meeting, publicly voted to approve the proposed standards presented by the Department.

   Now, Therefore, Be It

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''local education agency'' shall include a school district, an area vocational-technical school, an intermediate unit, or a charter school; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''Department'' shall mean the Pennsylvania Department of Education; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''violent criminal offense'' shall include the following offenses set forth in Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes: kidnapping, robbery, aggravated assault (upon the student), rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''victim'' shall be defined as the student against whom a violent criminal offense has been perpetrated; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''safe public school'' shall be defined as a public school that has not been designated as a persistently dangerous school under these standards; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''dangerous incidents'' shall be defined to include both weapons possession incidents resulting in arrest (guns, knives, or other weapons) and violent incidents resulting in arrest (homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual offenses, and assaults) as reported on the PDE-360 report.

   On May 21, 2003, the Department presented to the State Board proposed standards necessary to comply with section 9532 of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 7912. At its meeting held May 22, 2003, the State Board approved amendments to the March 20, 2003 Resolution with respect to clarified definitions and a Resolution setting forth the standards for Victims of Violent Crimes and standards for Persistently Dangerous Schools. The resolution adopted by the State Board reflecting its approval of the Department standards appears as follows.

   The State Board expects the Department to deposit the approved standards for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.

PATRICIA WHITE,   
Executive Director

RESOLUTION

   Whereas, The United States Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) (P. L. 107-110, 115 Stat. 1425), which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002; and

   Whereas, NCLB, inter alia, amends Subchapter IX of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (P. L. 89-10, 79 Stat. 27), 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq., by adding section 9532, 20 U.S.C. § 7912, entitled Unsafe School Choice Option (''USCO''); and

   Whereas, The purpose of section 9532 is to ensure that all children who attend a persistently dangerous school or become the victim of a violent criminal offense while at school have the opportunity to transfer to another school, which is not a persistently dangerous school; and

   Whereas, The United States Department of Education published Non-Regulatory Guidelines in July 2002, which explain that agency's position concerning states' USCO policies; and

   Whereas, The Pennsylvania Department of Education created an Unsafe School Choice Option Advisory Group that was composed of individuals from a representative sample of LEAs and individuals from numerous other groups involved in public education in Pennsylvania; and

   Whereas, The USCO Advisory Group met in November 2002 and February 2003 in order to discuss and develop USCO policy options for consideration by the Secretary of Education; and

   Whereas, The Committee of Practitioners established under section 1903(b) of Title I, added by NCLB (20 U.S.C. § 6573(b) (relating to committee of practitioners)), met in March 2003 to consider the options developed by the USCO Advisory Group; and

   Whereas, The Committee of Practitioners recommends that in establishing USCO standards the Department use objective measures that will fairly and accurately identify as persistently dangerous schools those schools that have substantial numbers of violent incidents or weapons incidents over a multi-year period; and

   Whereas, Section 2603-B(d)(10) of the Public School Code (24 P. S. § 26-2603-B(d)(10)), added by section 31 of Act 88 of 2002, provides that the State Board of Education shall have the authority and duty, within thirty days of submission to the State Board or at the next scheduled meeting (whichever is sooner), to approve or disapprove standards proposed by the Department in order to comply with the provisions of NCLB and to maintain eligibility for funding; and

   Whereas, The Department originally submitted its draft USCO standards to the State Board on March 10, 2003, and those draft standards were discussed and considered at a public meeting conducted by the special committee of the State Board established to work with the Department in the development and review of standards necessary to comply with NCLB (the ''NCLB Committee''); and

   Whereas, On March 20, 2003, the Secretary made a detailed presentation explaining the draft standards for consideration and comment by the State Board, and comments were received from members of the State Board and the public; and

   Whereas, In April 2003, in order to solicit public comment on the draft standards, staff of the Department presented the draft standards at the 2003 Pennsylvania Safe Schools Conference and distributed copies to all Pennsylvania school districts; and

   Whereas, The Department submitted its final USCO standards to the State Board on May 9, 2003; and

   Whereas, The NCLB Committee on May 21, 2003, approved a motion to recommend to the State Board that it approve the standards proposed by the Department; and

   Whereas, At the regular business meeting of the State Board held May 22, 2003, the Secretary made a detailed presentation explaining the standards presented by the Department for approval by the State Board; and

   Whereas, The State Board, at its May 22, 2003 meeting, publicly voted to approve the proposed standards presented by the Department.

   Now, Therefore, Be It

   Resolved: That, except as otherwise provided, the Department of Education shall require all local educational agencies (LEAs) to offer all students who become a victim of a violent criminal offense while in or on the grounds of a public elementary school or secondary school that the student attends or who attend a persistently dangerous school an opportunity to attend a safe public school within the LEA; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''local education agency'' shall include a school district, an area vocational-technical school, an intermediate unit, or a charter school; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''violent criminal offense'' shall include the following offenses set forth in Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes: kidnapping; robbery; aggravated assault (upon the student); rape; involuntary deviate sexual intercourse; sexual assault; aggravated indecent assault; indecent assault; attempt to commit homicide, murder, or voluntary manslaughter; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''victim'' shall be defined as the student against whom a violent criminal offense has been perpetrated; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''safe public school'' shall be defined as a public school that has not been designated as a persistently dangerous school under these standards or that has had such designation removed by the Department; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, the term ''dangerous incidents'' shall be defined to include both weapons possession incidents resulting in arrest (guns, knives, or other weapons) and violent incidents resulting in arrest (homicide, kidnapping, robbery, sexual offenses, and assaults) as reported on the PDE-360 report; and be it further

   Resolved: That, under these standards, ''persistently dangerous school'' shall mean any public school that meets the following criteria in the most recent school year and in one additional year of the two years prior to the most recent school year:

   (1)  for a school whose enrollment is 250 or less, at least 5 dangerous incidents;

   (2)  for a school whose enrollment is 251 to 1000, a number of dangerous incidents that represents at least 2% of the school's enrollment; and

   (3)  for a school whose enrollment is over 1000, 20 or more dangerous incidents; and be it further

   Resolved: That, all LEAs that have a school designated as persistently dangerous under these standards shall submit a corrective action plan to the Department, and the Department will provide technical assistance to those LEAs and monitor the LEAs' progress in implementing the corrective action plans; and be it further

   Resolved: That, the Department will reassess each school's designation as persistently dangerous at the end of the school year during which the corrective action plan is completed, by applying the criteria for defining a persistently dangerous school; and be it further

   Resolved: That, these standards shall supersede any standards previously approved by the State Board on the subject of the Unsafe School Choice Option.

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 03-1164. Filed for public inspection June 13, 2003, 9:00 a.m.]

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