The policy adopted by the local board to implement school-based decision making shall also address the following:

(a) School budget and administration, including: discretionary funds; activity and other school funds; funds for maintenance, supplies, and equipment; and procedures for authorizing reimbursement for training and other expenses;

(b) Assessment of individual student progress, including testing and reporting of student progress to students, parents, the school district, the community, and the state;

(c) School improvement plans, including the form and function of strategic planning and its relationship to district planning, as well as the school safety plan and requests for funding from the Center for School Safety under KRS 158.446;
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(d) Professional development plans developed pursuant to KRS 156.095;
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(e) Parent, citizen, and community participation including the relationship of the council with other groups;

(f) Cooperation and collaboration within the district, with other districts, and with other public and private agencies;

(g) Requirements for waiver of district policies;

(h) Requirements for record keeping by the school council; and

(i) A process for appealing a decision made by a school council.

In addition to the authority granted to the school council in this section, the local board may grant to the school council any other authority permitted by law. The board shall make available liability insurance coverage for the protection of all members of the school council from liability arising in the course of pursuing their duties as members of the council.

(a) No board member, superintendent of schools, district employee, or member of a school council shall intentionally engage in a pattern of practice which is detrimental to the successful implementation of or circumvents the intent of school-based decision making to allow the professional staff members of a school and parents to be involved in the decision making process in working toward meeting the educational goals established in KRS 158.645 and 158.6451 or to make decisions in areas of policy assigned to a school council pursuant to paragraph (i) of subsection (2) of this section.

(b) An affected party who believes a violation of this subsection has occurred may file a written complaint with the Office of Education Accountability. The office shall investigate the complaint and resolve the conflict, if possible, or forward the matter to the Kentucky Board of Education.

(c) The Kentucky Board of Education shall conduct a hearing in accordance with KRS Chapter 13B for complaints referred by the Office of Education Accountability.

(d) If the state board determines a violation has occurred, the party shall be subject to reprimand. A second violation of this subsection may be grounds for removing a superintendent, a member of a school council, or school board member from office or grounds for dismissal of an employee for misconduct in office or willful neglect of duty.

(1) In this section, "primary school program" means that part of the elementary school program in which children are enrolled from the time they begin school until they are ready to enter the fourth grade. Notwithstanding any statute to the contrary, successful completion of the primary school program shall be a prerequisite for a child's entrance into fourth grade.

(2)The Kentucky Board of Education shall establish, by administrative regulation, methods of verifying successful completion of the primary school program in carrying out the goals of education as described in KRS 158.6451.

(3) The primary program shall include the following critical attributes: developmentally appropriate educational practices; multiage and multi-ability classrooms; continuous progress; authentic assessment; qualitative reporting methods; professional teamwork; and positive parent involvement.

(4) Each school council or, if none exists, the school shall determine the organization of its ungraded primary program including the extent to which multiage groups are necessary to implement the critical attributes based on the critical attributes and meeting individual student needs.
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(5) The implementation of the primary program may take into consideration the necessary arrangements required for students attending part-time and will allow for grouping of students attending their first year of school when determined to be developmentally appropriate.

(1) Beginning with the 2003-2004 school year and thereafter, each secondary school-based decision making council shall offer a core curriculum of advanced placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, or dual credit courses, using either or both on-site instruction or electronic instruction through the Kentucky Virtual High School or other on-line alternatives. In addition, each school-based decision making council shall comply with any additional requirements for advanced placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, and dual credit courses that may be established cooperatively by the Kentucky Department of Education, the Education Professional Standards Board, and the Council on Post-secondary Education in accordance with the definitions in KRS 158.007.

(2)Each secondary school-based decision making council shall establish a policy on the recruitment and assignment of students to advanced placement, International Baccalaureate, dual enrollment, and dual credit courses that recognizes that all students have the right to be academically challenged and should be encouraged to participate in these courses.
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(b) SCHOOL PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT POLICY
(1) IN GENERAL.—Each school served under this part [Title 1-a] shall jointly develop with, and distribute to, parents of participating children a written parental involvement policy, agreed on by such parents, that shall describe the means for carrying out the requirements of subsections (c) through (f). Parents shall be notified of the policy in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practicable, provided in a language the parents can understand. Such policy shall be made available to the local community and updated periodically to meet the changing needs of parents and the school.

(2) SPECIAL RULE.—If the school has a parental involvement policy that applies to all parents, such school may amend that policy, if necessary, to meet the requirements of this subsection.
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(1)"Achievement gap" means a substantive performance difference on each of the tested areas by grade level of the Commonwealth Accountability Testing System between the various groups of students including male and female students, students with and without disabilities, students with and without English proficiency, minority and non-minority students, and students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch and those who are not eligible for free and reduced lunch.

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(4) By February 1, 2003, and each February 1 in odd-numbered years thereafter, the school-based decision making council, or the principal if there is not a council, with the involvement of parents, faculty, and staff shall set the school's biennial targets for eliminating any achievement gap and submit them to the superintendent for consideration. The superintendent and the school-based decision making council, or the principal if there is not a council, shall agree on the biennial targets before they are submitted to the local board of education for adoption.

(5) By April 1, 2003, and each April 1 in odd-numbered years thereafter, the school council, or the principal if a school council does not exist, with the involvement of parents, faculty, and staff shall review the data and revise the consolidated plan to include the biennial targets, strategies, activities, and a time schedule calculated to eliminate the achievement gap among various groups of students to the extent it may exist. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, activities designed to address the following areas:
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(a) Curriculum alignment within the school and with schools that send or receive the school's students;

(b) Evaluation and assessment strategies to continuously monitor and modify instruction to meet student needs and support proficient student work;

(c) Professional development to address the goals of the plan;

(d) Parental communication and involvement;

(e) Attendance improvement and dropout prevention; and

(f) Technical assistance that will be accessed.

(6) The principal shall convene a public meeting at the school to present and discuss the plan prior to submitting it to the superintendent and the local board of education for review, in the public meeting required under Section 4 of this Act.

(7) Based on the disaggregated biennial assessment results, the local board shall determine if each school achieved its biennial targets for each group of students. Only data for a group of students including ten (10) or more students shall be considered.

(8) Notwithstanding subsection (8) of Section 5 of this Act and KRS 158.070(8), if a local board determines that a school has not met its biennial target to reduce the identified gap in student achievement for a group of students, the local board shall require the council, or the principal if no council exists, to submit its revisions to the consolidated plan describing the use of professional development funds and funds allocated for continuing education to reduce the school's achievement gap for review and approval by the superintendent. The plan shall address how the school will meet the academic needs of the students in the various groups identified in subsection (1) of this section.
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(9) The superintendent shall report to the commissioner of education if a school fails to meet its targets to reduce the gap in student achievement for any student group for two (2) successive biennia. The school's consolidated plan shall be subject to review and approval by the Kentucky Department of Education and the school shall submit an annual status report. The Department of Education may provide assistance to schools as it deems necessary to assist the school in meeting its goals.

(10) The school-based decision making council, or the principal if there is not a council, shall no longer be required to seek approval of the plan under subsections (8) and (9) of this section when it meets its biennial target for reducing the gap in student achievement for the various groups of students identified in subsection (1) of this section.
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