Colorado § 22-11-307 - Accreditation of public schools.

§ 22-11-307. Accreditation of public schools.

(1) The local school board for each school district shall adopt policies for accreditation of the district public schools. The institute board shall adopt policies for accreditation of the institute charter schools. Each school district's and the institute's school accreditation policies, at a minimum, shall include:

(a) The use of accreditation contracts that are comparable to the accreditation contract between a school district or the institute and the state board, as described in section 22-11-206;

(b) Accreditation categories that are comparable to the accreditation categories for school districts and the institute specified in section 22-11-207;

(c) Determination of a public school's accreditation category based on the public school's level of attainment of the performance indicators; and

(d) Adoption and implementation of school performance, improvement, priority improvement, and turnaround plans as required by the state board pursuant to section 22-11-210 (1) and as described in sections 22-11-403 to 22-11-406.

(2) In adopting its school accreditation policies, a local school board or the institute board may choose to be more rigorous in expectations and in the imposition of remedial actions than the system for accreditation of school districts and the institute specified in the provisions of part 2 of this article and the rules adopted pursuant to said part 2.

(2.5) In adopting its school accreditation policies for its online schools, as defined in section 22-30.7-102 (9.5), a local school board or the institute board shall include a review of the online school's alignment to the quality standards outlined in section 22-30.7-105 (3)(b).

(3) Each local school board shall annually assign each of its district public schools to an accreditation category that correlates with the type of plan that the department determines, pursuant to section 22-11-210, the district public school is required to adopt. The institute shall annually assign each institute charter school to an accreditation category that correlates with the type of plan that the department determines, pursuant to section 22-11-210, the institute charter school is required to adopt.

(4) If, pursuant to section 22-11-210 (5), the state board directs a local school board or the institute to restructure or close a public school, the local school board or the institute shall work with the department to implement the state board's directions.

(5) (a) If a local school board or the institute decides or is directed by the state board to close a public school because of low performance, the school district and the institute must develop and update as necessary a school closure plan that implements evidence-based best practices during the school closure process to ensure that students who are enrolled in the public school that is closed are fully supported in enrolling in the successor public school, if any, or in another public school. The local school board or the institute shall make the school closure plan and any updates available in writing to the staff of the public school, the local teachers association, if any, the parents of students enrolled in the public school, and the community surrounding the public school. At a minimum, the school closure plan must include:

(I) A plan for communicating in writing with parents, school staff, the local teachers association, if any, and the community surrounding the public school as early as possible after the local school board or the institute decides to close the public school and at regular intervals throughout the closure process;

(II) The procedures or mechanisms by which the local school board and the institute will solicit and consider input on the school closure process from the staff of the public school, the local teachers association, if any, the parents of the students enrolled in the public school, and the community surrounding the public school;

(III) A timeline for closing the public school that includes or is updated to include all major steps and decision points in completing the school closure and starts no later than the decision to close and continues at least through the reassignment of students and the opening of a new public school, if applicable; and

(IV) A plan for reassigning students to other public schools, which must, to the fullest extent practicable, take into account parents' choice concerning the public schools to which students are reassigned.

(b) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (a) of this subsection (5) to the contrary, a school closure plan that applies to the closure of an institute charter school must specify that:

(I) The institute charter school will communicate directly with parents, school staff, and the surrounding community; and

(II) The institute and the institute charter school will work with the school district in which the institute charter school is located to ensure that students and their parents have information concerning the school district's processes for reassigning students to public schools and the school choice options that are available to the students and their parents.

Source: L. 2009: Entire article R&RE, (SB 09-163), ch. 293, p. 1498, § 1, effective May 21. L. 2011: (2.5) added, (HB 11-1277), ch. 306, p. 1499, § 23, effective August 10. L. 2012: (2.5) amended, (HB 12-1240), ch. 258, p. 1314, § 23, effective June 4. L. 2014: (5) added, (HB 14-1381), ch. 377, p. 1796, § 1, effective June 6. L. 2018: (2.5) amended, (HB 18-1355), ch. 324, p. 1952, § 14, effective May 30.

PART 4

SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY