The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
New Student Discipline Law Effective July 1, 2014: Cost Study and Overview of Next Steps
This month I am reporting to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education on our progress and next steps in implementing An Act Relative to Student Access to Educational Services and Exclusion from School (Act)1 which the Legislature passed and Governor Patrick signed into law in August 2012.
The Act created new section 21 of G.L. c. 76, which requires school districts and charter schools to ensure that students who are suspended or expelled from school continue to have an opportunity to make academic progress through educational services provided by their district or charter school. It further provides for reimbursement of the cost of such services. The Act also adds procedural and reporting requirements for student suspensions and expulsions, and requires schools to have a pupil absence notification program and a process for outreach to students before they withdraw from school. All these provisions take effect on July 1, 2014. They are outlined in the enclosed memo, dated November 28, 2012, that I sent to superintendents, principals, and charter school leaders.
The Act requires the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (Department) to submit a report to the Legislature on the costs of implementing the Act by November 30, 2013, which we have done. Additionally, the Act directs the Department to promulgate regulations by July 1, 2014, governing the process for suspension and expulsion of students under new section 37H¾ of G.L. c. 71, and addressing data collection concerning disciplinary removals from school.
Cost Study: The Department contracted with the Rennie Center for Education Policy and Research and Evidence-Based Education Research and Evaluation, LLC, to conduct an implementation and resource cost study. The report describes district and Department responses to the Act to date, and identifies the resources and corresponding costs associated with implementing the new law, particularly the requirement to provide educational services to students who have been excluded from school. The study was designed to present education policymakers and practitioners with a detailed look at the manner in which three districts currently are providing academic services to suspended or expelled students, ahead of required implementation. We have submitted the cost study
to the Legislature. A copy is enclosed.Student Discipline Regulations. As directed by the new law, the Department is drafting proposed regulations that I will present to the Board at your January 2014 meeting for initial review and a vote to solicit public comment. The proposed regulations will include the minimum requirements and procedures applicable to the suspension of a student under new G.L. c. 71, § 37H¾; the requirement that public schools have policies and procedures to ensure that all students who have been suspended, in-school or out-of-school, or expelled, have an opportunity to make academic progress during their suspension or expulsion, in accordance with G.L. c. 76, § 21; and requirements for data reporting.
In drafting the regulations, the Department has consulted with representatives from the Massachusetts Secondary School Administrators Association and the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association; the Education Law Task Force, which is comprised of advocates for students and their parents; and other stakeholders. We will continue to engage school and district leaders, educational associations, advocates, and others as we prepare the proposed regulations for the Board's review in January.
Associate Commissioner Carrie Conaway, Associate Commissioner John Bynoe, and Deputy General Counsel Dianne Curran will be at the December 17, 2013 Board meeting to present an overview of the cost study and the Act, and discuss next steps.
Enclosures:
1 Enacted as Chapter 222 of the Acts of 2012, the Act is sometimes referred to as Chapter 222. A copy is enclosed with this memo.