Innovation School Zones With Alternative Governance

The bill allows an innovation school zone (innovation zone) to use an alternative governance structure by which the school district board of education (local school board) delegates management activities of schools within the innovation zone to another organization and the organization forms a partnership with the local school board. An innovation zone is required to submit information regarding the alternative governance structure in the innovation zone's innovation plan (plan) to the local school board.

The bill requires that the local school board and an innovation zone that has an alternative governance structure, or a school within the innovation zone, use a dispute resolution process to resolve disagreements that may arise. The bill outlines the dispute resolution process.

The bill requires a local school board to review the level of performance of an innovation zone that uses alternative governance, and each school within the innovation zone, at the same time.

If a local school board seeks to revise the plan for an innovation zone that uses alternative governance, the bill provides that, if the local school board does not secure the consent of a majority of teachers and a majority of the administrators employed at the innovation zone and a majority of the school accountability committee within 30 days after proposing the revised plan, the initial plan must remain in effect.The bill allows an innovation zone that uses alternative governance to request a state board of education review if the local school board votes to revoke the status of the innovation zone, or a school within the innovation zone, or to remove a school within the innovation zone from the zone based on insufficient academic progress of the students enrolled in the innovation zone. The bill outlines the review process.

(Note: Italicized words indicate new material added to the original summary; dashes through words indicate deletions from the original summary.)

(Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)