PRINTER'S NO. 2235
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
HOUSE BILL
No.
1554
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY TRUITT, TAYLOR, MURT AND SAYLOR,
SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
AN ACT
Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
act relating to the public school system, including certain
provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
laws relating thereto," establishing the Commonwealth
Extended School Program.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding an
article to read:
ARTICLE XV-H
COMMONWEALTH EXTENDED SCHOOL PROGRAM
Section 1501-H. Scope.
This article establishes the Commonwealth Extended School
Program.
Section 1502-H. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this article
shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise:
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"Department." The Department of Education of the
Commonwealth.
"Program." The Commonwealth Extended School Program
established by this article.
"School." A public school within a school district or a
public charter school.
Section 1503-H. Commonwealth Extended School Program.
The Commonwealth Extended School Program is established in
the department to provide funding to increase the length of the
school day or school year for schools most likely to benefit
from extended learning.
Section 1504-H. Duties of department.
(a) School ranking formula.--The department shall establish
a formula in order to rank all public schools, including charter
schools, according to need for funding from the program. The
formula shall be based on poverty rates and School Performance
Profile rankings, with poverty rates receiving the greatest
weight.
(b) Funding formula.--The department shall establish a
formula for distributing funding from the program that consists
of a fixed per-student rate that is adjusted annually based on
the rate of inflation.
(c) Distribution.--The department shall distribute money
appropriated to the program by applying the funding formula
established under subsection (b) and offering payment to schools
in the order of their ranking obtained under subsection (a).
Section 1505-H. Schools eligible to receive funding.
(a) General rule.--Any school that has a school performance
profile in the bottom 5% of all schools in this Commonwealth
shall accept the funds distributed under subsection (c) and
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agree to the terms of the program. Any other school may opt not
to accent the funding.
(b) Redistribution of funding from opt-out schools.--If a
school exercises its option under subsection (a) not to receive
funding from the program, the amount that the school was
eligible to receive from the program shall be redistributed to
the remaining schools that have not yet received funding for
that school year from the program.
(c) Nonapplicability.--This section does not apply to a
school within a school district that has a year-round education
program and obtains, prior to the effective date of this
section, approval from the Secretary of Education to extend the
school year until August 15 in accordance with another provision
of this act.
Section 1506-H. Requirements for participating schools.
Any school that receives funding from the program shall:
(1) Extend its school year of 180 days of instruction
for students to at least 1,260 hours, which extension may, at
the discretion of the school, be comprised of additional
hours, additional days or a combination of additional hours
and days.
(2) Offer supplementary reading and math programs and
require students who score below advanced in reading or math
to attend the corresponding supplementary programs.
(3) Offer supplementary elective programs that are
academically rigorous for students who score advanced in
reading or math. The elective programs may be provided by
third party organizations and taught by outside experts under
the supervision of a teacher or administrator of the school
district or charter school.
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Section 1507-H. Applicability.
This article shall apply to the 2015-2016 school year and
each school year thereafter.
Section 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
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