GA Opportunity School District

White Paper on the Opportunity School DistrictThe Opportunity School District (OSD) was introduced and passed by both chambers during the 2015 Georgialegislative session, as a constitutional amendment (Senate Resolution 287/SR287) and implementinglegislation (Senate Bill 133/SB133).If the constitutional amendment is passed by the Georgia electorate, in the November 8, 2016 generalelection, SB 133 will become law on January 1, 2017, and applicable beginning the 2017-2018 school year. Ifthe constitutional amendment is NOT passed by the Georgia electorate, the legislation will not becomeeffective and will stand as repealed by operation of law on January 1, 2017.What is in SB133, the implementing legislation? (summary below includes language directly from the statute)The OSD shall be authorized to assume the supervision, management and operation of failing schools. Schoolsunder the supervision of the OSD are referred to as “opportunity schools.” The OSD Superintendent shallenter into an agreement with the school principal, the OSD charter school governing board, or the local boardof education regarding specific goals for each opportunity school related to higher academic outcomes forstudents, quality careers for graduates, safe and positive learning environments for children, parent andcommunity engagement and the efficient and effective use of taxpayer dollars.The Office of Student Achievement shall determine a rating of A, B, C, D, or F based on student achievement,achievement gap closure and student growth under the state accountability system approved by the StateBoard of Education.Categories of Failing Schools: 1) “Schools on Warning”: earn a rating of “F” for one (1) year 2) “Schools on Probation”: earn a rating of “F” for two (2) consecutive years 3) “Qualifying Schools”: earn a rating of “F” for three (3) consecutive yearsFacilities of qualifying schools that are transferred to the supervision of the OSD as opportunity schools shallcome under the control of the OSD. The OSD or OSD charter school shall be responsible for utilities and theroutine maintenance and repair of the facilities and property. The local board of education shall continue toremain responsible for extensive repairs, as determined by the State Properties Commission, to buildings orfacilities considered capital expenses. The local board of education is required to allow an OSD charter schoolto use the existing school facilities.The Department of Education shall provide school improvement services and technical assistance to schoolson warning, schools on probation and qualifying schools not selected for intervention by the OSDSuperintendent, which may include but is not limited to, appointing a DOE school improvement team to: 1) Conduct a comprehensive on-site evaluation of the school to determine the cause for the school’s low performance and lack of progress that includes presentations by the chairperson of the local board of education, the school principal, a parent member of the local school council and other school personnel; 2) Recommend actions; 3) Assist in the development of an intensive school improvement plan focused on student achievement; and 4) Monitor the progress of the school in implementing the intensive school improvement planVOTE on NOVEMBER 8, 2016 1

White Paper on the Opportunity School DistrictOSD Superintendent:  Shall be appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate (qualifications in Section 20-2-101(b)  Will be an employee of Office of Student Achievement but will report directly to the Governor  Salary will be determined by the Governor  Shall annually provide a report to the General Assembly on the selection, intervention chosen and progress of opportunity schools  Selects the opportunity school principal  Selects the governing board of an OSD charter schoolSchool Selection Process:OSD shall be authorized to select up to 20 “qualifying schools” each school year. However, the OSD shall nothave more than 100 schools under its supervision at any given time.Selection of qualifying schools shall be based on an analysis of performance over the three-year period withemphasis on student growth and progress and other considerations, including geographic clusters ofqualifying schools, feeder patterns with multiple eligible schools, availability of qualified partners, andcommunity engagement and support. A public hearing shall be held to allow for parent and community inputBUT the final selection shall be at the sole discretion of the OSD Superintendent in determining which schoolsare actually transferred.Prior to transfer, the OSD Superintendent shall conduct an evaluation of the school (by April 1st prior to theinitial school year the OSD intervention model will be implemented) to determine factors contributing to theschool’s performance. The OSD Superintendent must conference with the school principal, local board ofeducation members and the local Superintendent to share the evaluation findings and discuss remediationoptions. The OSD Superintendent must identify the specific intervention model, most appropriate for eachschool, by July 1st of the effective school year.The OSD Superintendent can waive specifically identified State Board of Education rules, regulations, policiesand procedures.The 4 Intervention Models:The OSD Superintendent must implement a process to get community feedback and input to inform thedecision regarding which intervention model is the most appropriate. The four (4) intervention models are: 1) Direct Management The opportunity school is managed by the OSD. The OSD Superintendent selects, approves or removes the principal. The OSD Superintendent shall set clear goals, empower and equip teachers and school leaders to meet, and hold such teachers and school leaders accountable to meet the goals. The OSD shall be responsible for data reporting. The OSD Superintendent has the authority to have a direct role in decision-making about school finances, human capital and curriculum and instruction while developing the leadership capacity in the school. The OSD Superintendent shall set clear goals, empower and equip teachers and school leaders to meet, and hold such teachers and school leaders accountable to meet the goals. The local board of education shall be responsible for data reporting.2) Shared Governance Governance of the school is shared by the OSD and local board of education pursuant to a contract. The local board of education operates the school and the OSD Superintendent has the authority toVOTE on NOVEMBER 8, 2016 2

White Paper on the Opportunity School Districtdirect changes to be made at the school. The OSD Superintendent selects, approves, or removes theschool principal and the principal shall select staff members with guidance from the OSD. The OSDSuperintendent has the authority to decide whether existing school employees (leader, teacher orstaff) will continue to be employed at the school. If employment is continued, the person shall becomean employee of the OSD, on the principal’s recommendation. If employment is not continued, thenthe employee remains employed with the local board of education, who can determine whether or notthe employee will continue to be employed with the local school district.The principal shall be authorized to make decisions about school finance, human capital, andcurriculum and instruction. The OSD Superintendent and staff shall provide training and support todevelop effective leadership in such areas. However, the OSD Superintendent may direct schoolprincipals to make certain decisionsExisting local school councils may remain in place or may be reconstituted under the guidance of theschool principal (so long as they meet the council composition requirements). The OSDSuperintendent shall set clear goals, empower and equip teachers and school leaders to meet, andhold such teachers and school leaders accountable to meet the goals. The local board of educationshall be responsible for data reporting.3) Reconstitution of the School as an OSD Charter School OSD works in collaboration with the State Charter Schools Commission to build capacity of petitioning governing boards and charter school applications to establish a charter that will be approved by the State Charter Schools Commission. The OSD Superintendent selects the governing board members. In order to qualify to serve as a governing board member, the person must be: 1) a United States citizen; 2) a resident of Georgia; and 3) not an employee of the opportunity school. Parents and advisory board members shall be eligible for consideration to fill specific roles on the governing board.The governing board members shall hire the principal and the principal shall select staff members withguidance from the governing board. The governing board has the authority to decide whether existingschool employees (leader, teacher or staff) will continue to be employed at the school. If employmentis continued, the person shall become an employee of the OSD charter school governing board, on theprincipal’s recommendation. If employment is not continued, then the employees remain employedwith the local board of education who can determine whether or not the employee will continue to beemployed with the local school district.The OSD charter school governing board shall be authorized to make decisions about school finance,human capital, and curriculum and instruction. The OSD charter school shall be responsible for datareporting in accordance with law. Existing local school councils may remain in place or may bereconstituted under the guidance of the school principal (so long as they meet the council compositionrequirements). The OSD charter school governing board must be organized and operated as anonprofit. The OSD charter school must be a public, nonsectarian, nonreligious, nonprofit school thatis not home based and can contract for the services of a for profit entity.The State Charter Schools Commission shall solicit, screen, and select education service providers,including independent consultants, education management organizations, charter managementorganizations and other support organizations that can partner with the OSD charter school governingboards to support or operate such OSD charter school.VOTE on NOVEMBER 8, 2016 3

White Paper on the Opportunity School DistrictThe State Charter Schools Commission shall establish a separate application cycle for opportunityschools seeking OSD charter school status. Such application cycle shall allow commission staff andcommission members to evaluate the needs of an opportunity school, match them with an educationservice provider and work with both parties to ensure the execution of a viable curricular model andeducation program.4) Closure of School The OSD Superintendent can close a qualifying school that has been transferred to the OSD, which is not enrolled at full capacity and reassign the students to nonqualifying schools within the local school system. Closure shall be the intervention of last resort. If the OSD Superintendent closes a qualifying school, the local board of education shall not use the facility to open a school with the same grade span or attendance zone for three (3) years.Services/Resources:An opportunity school can purchase services from the OSD, the local board of education or an educationservice provider for routine student support and operational services. Such services may include but are notlimited to transportation, cafeteria services, custodial services, alternative education, broadband, utilitiesspecial education services, test administration services, and student information services.Length of time a School can Remain Under OSD supervision:The length of time an opportunity school can remain under the OSD supervision is as follows: - At least five (5) consecutive years but no more than ten (10) years - Term of the initial charter for OSD charter school - If earn a rating above “F” for three (3) consecutive years then shall be removed from the OSDRenewal of a charter for an opportunity school shall result in the exit of the school from the OSD. For otheropportunity schools, the OSD Superintendent must engage the school, school community and local board ofeducation in a negotiation to determine the best transition plan for the school to leave supervision of the OSD.Funding:Funding for an opportunity school shall be equal to the sum of: 1) Quality Basic Education (QBE) formula earnings, QBE grants, and federal grants earned by the school based on the school’s enrollment, school profile and student characteristics. 2) A proportional share of state categorical grants, non-QBE state grants, state equalization grants and all other state and federal grants 3) An amount determined by OSD for each student enrolled equal to a proportional share of local revenue from the local school systemOSD may withhold up to 3% of the funding for each opportunity school for use in administering the dutiesrequired by law and withheld funds shall be spent solely on expenses incurred by the OSD in performing theduties required by law. The General Assembly may appropriate additional funds to be allocated among theopportunity schools within the OSD at the discretion of the OSD Superintendent for necessary and innovativepurposes. Additionally, private funds may be solicited and accepted by the OSD to support opportunityschools.What will be on the November 8, 2016 General Election ballot? 4“( ) YES ( ) NOShall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to allow the state to intervene in chronically failing publicschools in order to improve student performance?\" VOTE on NOVEMBER 8, 2016