| ENGROSSED
ORIGINAL To amend An Act To fix and
regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other employees of the Board of
Education of the District of Columbia to set the term of office for members of Board of
Education, including the president of the Board, to four years to stagger the terms of the
elected and anointed members of the Board; to provide for the expiration of the terms of
the current Board members upon election of the new Board members; to provide the procedure
for appointing Board members; to provide for filling Board vacancies; to require that
candidates for the Board of Education be residents of the District of Columbia for 1 year;
provides for the roles and responsibilities of Board members; provides for the
establishment of the education reform benchmarks, and to amend the District of Columbia
election Code of 1955 to provide dates for electing members of the Board of Education.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT
OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as the "School Governance Companion Amendment
Act of 2000".
Sec. 2. Section 2 of An Act To fix and
regulate the salaries of teachers, school officers, and other employees of the board of
education of the District of Columbia, approved June 20, 1906 (34 Stat. 316; D.C. Code
§31-101(b) et seq.). is amended as follows:
(a) Subsection (b) is amended as follows:
(1) Paragraph (3)(B) is amended to read as
follows:
"(B) Except as provided in subparagraphs
(C) and (D) of this paragraph, the term of office of a member of the Board of Education,
including the President. shall be 4 years. Board members may serve 2 consecutive
terns.".
(2) New subparagraphs (C) and (D) are added to
read as follows:
"(C) The terms of office of the members
of the Board of Education to be sworn in during the year 2001 and 2003, shall be as
follows:
"(i) 2001: a four-year term for the
elected members of the Board of Education from the 4 Districts and a two-year term for the
President, who is elected at-large, and the four Mayoral appointees.
(ii) 2003: A four-year term for the President
of the Board of Education, who is elected at-large, and the 4 mayoral appointees.
"(D) Upon the enactment of the School
Governance Charter Amendment Act of 2000, signed by. the Mayor on March 1, 2000, (D.C. Act
13-295; DCR ), terms of the members of the Board of Education elected in 1998 shall expire
on January 2.2001."
(b) Subsection (c) is amended as follows:
(1) Paragraph (1) is amended by striking the
phrase "have for the 90-day period immediately preceding his nomination, resided in
the school election ward from which he is nominated" and inserting the phrase
"have for one year immediately preceding the election resided in the special school
district from which he or she is nominated" in its place.
(2) Paragraph (2) is amended as follows:
(1) Strike the phrase "have, during the
90-day period next preceding his nomination" and insert the phrase "have during
the one year period immediately before the election".
(2) The last sentence of the paragraph is
amended by striking the phrase "his office " and inserting the phrase "his
or her office" in its place.
(c) Subsection (e) is amended by striking the
first sentence in its entirety.
Sec. 3. The District of Columbia Election Code
of 1955 approved August 12 1955 (69 Stat. 699: D.C. Code §1-1301 et seq.), is amended as
follows:
(a) A new subsection (c-1) is added to read as
follows:
"(c-1) Members appointed by the Mayor
shall serve 4 year terms. except as provided in section 2(b)(3)(C)(i) of An Act To fix and
regulate the salaries of teachers. school officers, and other employees of the board of
education of the District of Columbia, approved June 20,1906 (34 Stat. 316: D.C. Code
§31-101(b)(3)(C)(i)), and may serve two consecutive terms. Members appointed by the May
all be District residents. The Mayor shall forward 4 candidates for Council confirmation
45 days before April 15 of the first year of a mayoral term. The 4 confirmed appointed
members shall be sworn in on April 15 or as soon as practical thereafter, except for those
appointed in 2000 whose terms shall commence January 2, 2001, pending confirmation by the
Council. A majority of the sworn members of the Board of Education shall constitute a
quorum.
"(3) A vacancy among the appointed Board
members shall be filled within days of its occurrence. The Mayor shall submit a nominee to
the Council for confirmation within 30 days of the vacancy. Any Board member appointed in
this fashion shall serve until the end of the original term.
(b) Section 8(m), (D.C. Code §1-1312(m)) is
amended as follows:
"(m) The election of the members of the
Board of Education shall be conducted on a nonpartisan basis and in accordance with the
District of Columbia Election Code of 1955, approved August 12, 1955 (69 Stat. 699; D.C.
Code §1-1301 et seq.).
(2) Subsection (n) is amended by striking
"ward" where it appears and inserting the phrase "school district" in
its place.
(c) Section 10(e) (D.C. Code §1-1314(e)1 is
amended as follows:
(1) The existing language is designated as
paragraph (1). The newly designated paragraph (1) is amended by striking the phrase
"a vacancy on," and inserting the phrase "a vacancy of an elected member
of" in its place.
(2) A new paragraph (2) is added to read as
follows:
"(2) When the office of the President
becomes vacant, the Board of Education shall select one of the members of the Board to
serve as the interim President until the election of a new President."
(d) Section 20(f) (D.C.Code 1-1314(f) is
amended by striking the phrase "a vacancy of an elected member of in its place."
Sec. 4. The third unnumbered paragraph of
Section 2 (D.C. Code §31-102) is amended to read as follows:
"(a) The Board of Education shall
determine all questions of general policy relating to the schools and the Superintendent
shall implement such policy. The Board of Education shall appoint and evaluate the
Superintendent who shall be responsible for the day-to-day operation of the schools.
"(b) The Board of Education shall at
least every two years adopt and publish an Education Policy Agenda that establishes
mending priorities goals and objectives that establishes the organizational chart for the
DCPS; and that recognizes the policy-setting role of the Board and the management role of
the Superintendent. In the course of preparing the Agenda, the Board of Education and the
Superintendent shall take into account the recommendations of the Mayor, community and
parent organizations, and recognized experts in the fields of education and finance. The
Agenda shall be published in the D.C. Register and newspapers of general circulation.
"(c) The Board of Education shall hire
the Superintendent of Schools who shall be the chief executive officer for D.C. Public
Schools serve as a nonvoting member of the Board and be responsible for the operations of
the schools. The Board and Superintendent shall negotiate a performance contract setting
forth the specific responsibilities of the Superintendent and shall make the contract
available to the public on request.
"(d) The Board of Education shall
establish personnel policies and guidelines for the hiring of principals and other
personnel by Superintendent, but Shall not make or approve personnel decisions or
negotiate with representatives of employee organizations.
"(e) The Board of Education shall
establish guidelines and goals for academic achievement.
Sec. 5. Section 31-104.2, is amended to add a
new section (e):
"(e) On August 1 of each year starting in
2000 the Superintendent shall report to the Board and the Board shall forward to the Mayor
and Council the following information to serve as measure of improvements in D.C. Public
Schools:
"(1) Standardized test scores by school
and grade level for the preceding school year;
"(2) Drop out rate in the proceeding
school year;
"(3) Average daily attendance rate for
the preceding school year by school for all junior, middle, and senior high schools;
"(4) Number of safety incidents by school
and type for proceeding school year;
"(5) Teacher and principal turnover rate
for proceeding, 12 months and top three reasons for departures;
"(6) Teacher and principal evaluation
ratings for proceeding 12 months;
"(7) Scores on tests used for
certification, and college grade point average for teachers hired in the preceding 12
months;
"(8) Number and proportion of students
whose parent or parents or other caregiver attended one or more parent-teacher conferences
bar school and grade level during the preceding school year; and
"(9) Number and percent of graduates who
entered college the previous 12 months."
Sec. 6. Fiscal impact statement. The Council
adopts the fiscal impact statement in the committee report as the fiscal impact statement
required by section 602(c)(3) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code §1-233(c)(3))..
Sec. 7. This act shall apply upon the
effective date of the School Governance Charter Amendment Act of 2000, signed by the Mayor
on March 1, 2000 (D.C. Act 13-295; DCR ).
Sec. 8. This act shall take effect following
approval by the Mayor or in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by Council to override
the veto), approval by the Financial Responsibility Management Assistance Authority as
provided in section 203(a) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and
Management Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code
§47-392.3(a), a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of
the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C.
Code §1-233(c)(1), and publication in the District of Columbia Register. |
