2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 70. Schools › §70-1210.544. Alternative governance arrangements - Assumption of control by State Board of Education

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the State Board of Education shall establish a process to identify schools in the state that are listed as in need of improvement in accordance with 20 U.S.C., Section 6301 et seq. A school district board of education with a school identified as being among the schools in the state that are in need of improvement shall implement a locally developed, evidence-based intervention model for the school site determined by the Board to be low performing
B. 1. Consistent with 20 U.S.C., Section 6301 et seq., for schools that are identified for school improvement by the Board for four (4) consecutive years, the district board of education shall seek support from the State Department of Education. Such support may include academic intervention, professional development, restructuring of the governance arrangement of the school or any other plan that is reasonably calculated to improve student academic achievement in the school . State support plans shall be designed to provide a substantial assurance of enabling the school to appropriately serve all students. If after two (2) years of implementing the state support plan, improvements to student achievement remain insufficient and, in accordance with 20 U.S.C. Section 6301 et seq., the school continues to be identified by the Board as low performing, the Board may exercise the option of assuming control of the school as provided for in this subsection.
2. If the Board assumes control of a school, the Board shall retain all funds that otherwise would have been allocated to the school district based on the average daily membership of the school which shall be used to operate the school.
C. 1. A district board of education for a district with an average daily membership of more than 30,000 which implements an alternative governance arrangement as provided for in this section may utilize the following procedures, upon approval of the district board and concurrence of the executive committee of the appropriate local bargaining unit:
a.
any teacher not retained at the school site shall be given status as a full-time substitute teacher within the school district for a period of not to exceed two (2) years,
b.
if the teacher is not offered a contract teaching position at a school in the district within the two-year period specified in subparagraph a of this paragraph, the district board shall be authorized to not reemploy the teacher, and
c.
the district board shall designate trained, certified, instructional staff to provide teacher support, development and evaluation, which may include certified personnel other than administrators.
2. Any actions taken pursuant to this subsection shall not be subject to the Teacher Due Process Act of 1990. The decision by the district board for renewal or nonrenewal shall be final.
3. For purposes of this subsection, a full-time substitute teacher shall perform the duties assigned by the district superintendent and shall continue to receive the same salary, benefits and step increases that the teacher would otherwise be entitled to for the time period the teacher serves as a full-time substitute.
D. 1. Each school district subject to the provisions of subsection B of this section shall submit a plan for compliance with this section to the State Department of Education, in a manner prescribed by the Department.
2. The State Department of Education shall annually submit a report of the district plans received as provided in paragraph 1 of this subsection to the members of the Senate and House Education Committees.
Added by Laws 2009, c. 195, § 1. Amended by Laws 2010, c. 244, § 1, emerg. eff. May 10, 2010; Laws 2010, c. 291, § 16, eff. July 1, 2010; Laws 2011, c. 1, § 45, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011; Laws 2013, c. 83, § 17, eff. July 1, 2013; Laws 2016, c. 149, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016.
NOTE: Laws 2010, c. 331, § 1 repealed by Laws 2011, c. 1, § 46, emerg. eff. March 18, 2011.