PRINTER'S NO. 2843
No. 2159 Session of 1998
INTRODUCED BY FLICK, KIRKLAND, EGOLF, CURRY, GODSHALL, MELIO,
MAITLAND, SATHER, BAKER, MILLER, STERN, BARRAR, HENNESSEY,
L. I. COHEN, E. Z. TAYLOR, FEESE, GEIST, TRELLO, FAIRCHILD,
YOUNGBLOOD, SEYFERT, FICHTER, STABACK, ARMSTRONG, McNAUGHTON,
STEELMAN, HUTCHINSON, RAMOS, WILT AND McILHATTAN,
FEBRUARY 2, 1998
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, FEBRUARY 2, 1998
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," providing for requests for waivers.
6 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
7 hereby enacts as follows:
8 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
9 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding a
10 section to read:
11 Section 528. Request for Waivers.--(a) The board of
12 directors of a school entity may apply to the Secretary of
13 Education for a waiver of the provisions of this act, the
14 regulations of the State Board of Education and the standards of
15 the Secretary of Education, other than those specified in
16 sections 1715-A(10)(i)(A) and (B) and 1732-A(a) and (b), in
17 order to stimulate innovation; improve student performance;
1 improve the instructional program; or operate in a more
2 effective, efficient or economical manner. The application for a
3 waiver must be in a manner and in a form developed by the
4 secretary.
5 (b) The application must do all of the following:
6 (1) Specify the need for the waiver.
7 (2) Provide supporting data and information to explain the
8 benefits to be obtained by the waiver, and, if applicable, to
9 explain the instructional program which will operate under the
10 waiver.
11 (3) Include an evaluation procedure to determine the
12 effectiveness of an innovative program or a revised
13 instructional program which is created by the issuance of the
14 waiver. The evaluation procedure must include measures of
15 student performance and the effectiveness of changes in the
16 operations of the school entity.
17 (c) The request for a waiver must be adopted by a resolution
18 by a board of directors of a school entity at a regularly
19 scheduled meeting of the board prior to the implementation of
20 policies requiring the approval of the secretary.
21 (d) The secretary shall have sixty (60) days from receipt of
22 the application to approve, disapprove or request modifications
23 to the application. A decision by the secretary to deny a waiver
24 request may be appealed by the aggrieved school entity to
25 Commonwealth Court.
26 (e) All applications for waivers approved by the secretary
27 shall be for a period of up to four years. If the evaluation of
28 a waiver request has been shown to the satisfaction of the
29 secretary to be effective for three consecutive years and, if
30 applicable, has resulted in improved student performance or has
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1 improved the operations of a school entity, a renewal
2 application is not needed for the waiver to continue.
3 (f) The secretary may not use this section to exempt school
4 entities from statutes applicable to public schools other than
5 this act.
6 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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