HB 5629 Summary

• Establishes a pilot project for a public college preparatory residential boarding school for at-risk students, with $100 allocated for 2013-2014 (contracting and startup) and $100 for 2014-2015 (operations).

• Requires the Department of Education to contract with a nonprofit eligible operator through a request for proposals process to operate the boarding school during the 2014-2015 school year.

• Limits initial enrollment to 200 students with a maximum capacity of 600 students, and requires the school to offer remedial and college preparatory curricula, extracurricular activities, college counseling, health services, tutoring, and residential programming.

• Defines eligible students as Michigan residents at risk of academic failure with family income below 200% of federal poverty guidelines who meet at least 2 additional criteria including disciplinary history, low test scores, disability status, or other specified conditions.

• Designates the public college preparatory boarding school as a public school and school district for funding and regulatory purposes under state law, except it has no taxing power.