KRS 160.346: Definitions -- Targeted and comprehensive support and improvement --

Revised plans -- Turnaround audit -- Removal of principal -- Review and

report -- Intervention process -- Professional learning requirement -- Adoption

of evidence -based curricu lum and selection of high -quality instructional

resources -- Exit criteria -- Schools requiring rigorous support and action --

District with significant number of targeted schools -- Evidence of violation --

Restoration of school's right to establish council.

(1) As used in this section:

(a) "Department" means the Kentucky Department of Education;

(b) "ESSA" means the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, Pub. L. No. 114 -95,

or its successor;

(c) "Level" means elementary, middle, or high school;

(d) "Turnaround" means a comprehensive transformation of a school to achieve

accelerated, meaningful, and sustainable increases in student achievement

through improved school leadership and school district support;

(e) "Turnaround plan" means a mandatory scho ol plan that is designed to

improve student learning and performance with evidence -based interventions

as defined in ESSA and that is developed and implemented by the local

school district in partnership with stakeholders, including the principal, other

school leaders, teachers, and parents; and

(f) "Turnaround team" means the turnaround training and support team described

in subsection (9)(a) of this section.

(2) (a) The department shall annually identify a school for targeted support and

improvement if th e school has one (1) or more of the same subgroups, as

defined by ESSA, whose performance in the state accountability system by

level is at or below that of all students in any of the lowest -performing five

percent (5%) of all schools for three (3) consecutive years.

(b) Beginning with the 2021 -2022 school year, and every three (3) years

thereafter, the department shall identify a school for additional targeted

support and improvement if the school has one (1) or more subgroups, as

defined by ESSA, whose performance in the state accountability system by

level is at or below the summative performance of all students in any of the

lowest-performing five percent (5%) of all schools identified under subsection

(3)(a) of this section and the school was identified in the immediat ely

preceding year for targeted support and improvement as described in

paragraph (a) of this subsection.

(3) The department shall annually identify a school for comprehensive support and

improvement if the school is:

(a) In the lowest-performing five percent (5%) of all schools in its level based on

the school's performance in the state accountability system;

(b) A high school with a four (4) year cohort graduation rate that is less than

eighty percent (80%); or

(c) Identified by the department for additio nal targeted support and improvement

under subsection (2)(b) of this section and fails to exit additional targeted

support and improvement status based on criteria established under subsection

(12) of this section.

(4) (a) When a school is identified for t argeted support and improvement under

subsection (2)(a) of this section, the local school personnel, working with

stakeholders, including the principal, other school leaders, teachers, and

parents, shall revise its school improvement plan, which shall be s ubject to

review and approval by the local board of education.

(b) Each revised plan shall be informed by all available indicators, including

student performance compared to long-term goals, and shall include:

1. Components of turnaround leadership development and support;

2. Identification of critical resource inequities;

3. Evidence-based interventions; and

4. Additional actions that address the causes of consistently

underperforming subgroups of students.

(c) If adequate performance progress, as defined by the department, is not made,

the local school district shall take additional action to assist and support the

school in reaching performance goals.

(5) When a school is identified for additional targeted support and improvement under

subsection (2)(b) o f this section, the local school district shall take more rigorous

district-determined action to assist and support the school in reaching performance

goals.

(6) (a) When a school is identified for comprehensive support and improvement, an

audit shall be p erformed by the department to diagnose the causes of the

school's low performance.

(b) The audit conducted under this subsection shall be the only comprehensive

audit required for a school unless the school fails to exit comprehensive

support and improvement status as described in subsection (12) of this section

or exits comprehensive support and improvement status but subsequently

repeats as a school identified for comprehensive support and improvement.

(7) When a school is identified for targeted support and improvement or

comprehensive support and improvement for two (2) or more consecutive years, the

superintendent may remove the principal.

(8) (a) The audit conducted by the department under subsection (6) of this section

shall include:

1. A diagnosis of the causes of the school's low performance, with an

emphasis on underperforming subgroups of students and corresponding

critical resource inequities;

2. An assessment and recommendation to the superintendent regarding the

best strategies to address the school's specific needs;

3. An assessment of the interaction and relationship among the

superintendent, central office personnel, and the school principal;

4. A recommendation of the steps the school may implement to launch and

sustain a turnaround process;

5. A recommendation to the local board of education of the turnaround

principles and strategies necessary for the superintendent to assist the

school with turnaround; and

6. An assessment and recommendation to the superintendent regarding the

principal's capacity to lead the turnaround effort in the school.

(b) The report of an audit conducted under this subsection shall be provided to the

superintendent, local board of education, school principal, commissioner of

education, and the Kentucky Board of Education.

(9) After completion of the audit described in subsection (8) of this section, each school

identified for comprehensive support and improvement shall engage in the

following turnaround intervention process:

(a) The superintendent and principal shall collaborate with the department to

create a turnaround training and support team for the school identified for

comprehensive support and improvement. The local board of education shall

approve the turnaround team;

(b) The authority of the school council granted under KRS 160.345 shall be

transferred to the superintendent;

(c) The superintendent shall select a principal for the school if a principal

vacancy occurs. The superintendent shall consult with the turnaround te am,

parents, certified staff, and classified staff before appointing a principal

replacement;

(d) Upon recommendation of the principal, the superintendent may reassign

certified staff members to a comparable position in the school district;

(e) The superin tendent shall collaborate with the turnaround team to design

ongoing turnaround training and support for the principal and a corresponding

monitoring system of effectiveness and student achievement results;

(f) The principal shall collaborate with the turn around team to establish an

advisory leadership team representing school stakeholders including other

school leaders, teachers, and parents;

(g) 1. In consultation with the department, the local school board shall

collaborate with the superintendent, princ ipal, turnaround team, and the

advisory leadership team to propose a three (3) year turnaround plan.

2. The turnaround plan shall include requests to the department for

exemptions from submitting documentation that are identified by the

principal, advisory leadership team, and turnaround team as inhibitors to

investing time in innovative instruction and accelerated student

achievement of diverse learners including ongoing staff instructional

plans, student interventions, formative assessment results, or sta ff

effectiveness processes.

3. The turnaround plan shall be reviewed for approval by the

superintendent and the local board of education and shall be subject to

review, approval, monitoring, and periodic review by the department as

described in KRS 158.782;

(h) The school district may request technical assistance from the department for

development and implementation of the turnaround plan, which may include

conducting needs assessments, selecting evidence -based interventions, and

reviewing and addressing resource inequities;

(i) The turnaround plan shall be fully implemented by the first full day of the

school year following the school year the school was identified for

comprehensive support and improvement; and

(j) The superintendent shall periodically rep ort to the local school board, and at

least annually to the commissioner of education, on the implementation and

results of the turnaround plan.

(10) The department shall establish required professional learning for teachers of

students in schools identifi ed for comprehensive support and improvement.

Required professional learning shall be related to evidence -based practices in

instruction, instructional materials implementation, and assessment for reading and

mathematics and aligned to Kentucky academic st andards required by KRS

158.6453.

(11) Each superintendent or public charter school board of directors shall adopt

evidence-based curriculum and select high -quality instructional resources for

schools identified for comprehensive support and improvement. H igh-quality

instructional materials selected by the superintendent shall be determined by the

department to be reliable, valid, and aligned to Kentucky academic standards

required by KRS 158.6453 for reading and mathematics.

(12) The Kentucky Board of Educ ation shall establish annual statewide exit criteria for

schools identified for targeted support and improvement, additional targeted support

and improvement, and comprehensive support and improvement.

(13) If a school enters comprehensive support and impr ovement status and does not

make any annual improvement, as determined by the department, for two (2)

consecutive years, or if the school does not exit the status after three (3) years, the

school shall enter a school intervention process chosen by the com missioner of

education that provides more rigorous support and action by the department to

improve the school's performance.

(14) For school districts that include a significant number of schools, as determined by

the department, identified for targeted support and improvement:

(a) The department shall periodically review a local board's resource allocations

to support school improvement and provide technical assistance to the local

school board; and

(b) The department may provide a recommended list of turn around or school

intervention providers that have demonstrated success implementing

evidence-based strategies.

(15) If, in the course of a school audit, the audit team identifies information suggesting

that a violation of KRS 160.345(9)(a) may have occurre d, the commissioner of

education shall forward the evidence to the Office of Education Accountability for

investigation.

(16) A school's right to establish a council granted under KRS 160.345 may be restored

by the local board of education two (2) years af ter the school exits comprehensive

support and improvement status.