Senate Bill 19-204 Summary

• Establishes the Local Accountability System Grant Program allowing school districts, charter schools, and boards of cooperative services to develop supplemental accountability systems that measure student success and system effectiveness beyond state-mandated assessments.

• Provides grants of $25,000-$50,000 per year for single providers and up to $75,000 per year for groups of providers, distributed over three budget years, to support design and implementation of local accountability systems.

• Permits local education providers to submit supplemental performance reports and use alternative plan formats that incorporate data from their local accountability systems while still meeting state and federal reporting requirements.

• Requires the Department of Education to convene annual meetings with participating providers, submit yearly implementation reports to the State Board and legislature, and contract with an external evaluator in year three to assess the effectiveness of local accountability systems.

• Appropriates $493,097 for fiscal year 2019-20 from the general fund to implement the grant program, with provisions allowing the department to accept additional gifts, grants, or donations.