South Carolina General Assembly
123rd Session, 2019-2020

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Indicates New Matter

H. 3403

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Collins, Allison, Felder, Govan, Taylor, Bradley, West, Erickson, Stringer, Young and Bannister
Document Path: l:\council\bills\rt\17478wab19.docx

Introduced in the House on January 8, 2019
Introduced in the Senate on April 17, 2019
Last Amended on April 11, 2019
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Education

Summary: Competency based schools

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  12/18/2018  House   Prefiled
  12/18/2018  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works
    1/8/2019  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 225)
    1/8/2019  House   Referred to Committee on Education and Public Works 
                        (House Journal-page 225)
    4/3/2019  House   Committee report: Favorable with amendment Education and 
                        Public Works (House Journal-page 3)
    4/9/2019  House   Requests for debate-Rep(s).  King, Cobb-Hunter, Brawley, 
                        Moore, S. Williams, Hill, Mack, Dilliard, Fry, Taylor, 
                        Garvin, Felder, Govan, Bamberg, Gilliard, Hiott, 
                        Hosey, Clyburn, Long (House Journal-page 86)
   4/11/2019  House   Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Bannister
   4/11/2019  House   Requests for debate removed-Rep(s).  Hiott, Taylor, 
                        Dilliard, Felder, Long, Hosey, Clyburn, S. Williams, 
                        Cobb-Hunter, Garvin, Brawley, Mack 
                        (House Journal-page 69)
   4/11/2019  House   Requests for debate removed-Rep(s).  Bamberg, Govan, 
                        Moore (House Journal-page 81)
   4/11/2019  House   Amended (House Journal-page 81)
   4/11/2019  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 81)
   4/11/2019  House   Roll call Yeas-89  Nays-0 (House Journal-page 85)
   4/11/2019  House   Unanimous consent for third reading on next legislative 
                        day (House Journal-page 86)
   4/12/2019  House   Read third time and sent to Senate (House Journal-page 1)
   4/17/2019  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 5)
   4/17/2019  Senate  Referred to Committee on Education 
                        (Senate Journal-page 5)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

12/18/2018
4/3/2019
4/11/2019

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

AMENDED

April 11, 2019

H. 3403

Introduced by Reps. Collins, Allison, Felder, Govan, Taylor, Bradley, West, Erickson, Stringer, Young and Bannister

S. Printed 4/11/19--H.

Read the first time January 8, 2019.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 59-19-360 SO AS TO PROVIDE A PROCESS FOR THE EXEMPTION OF COMPETENCY-BASED SCHOOLS FROM CERTAIN APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS, AND PROVIDE RELATED REQUIREMENTS FOR COMPETENCY-BASED SCHOOLS, THE STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, AND THE COMMISSION ON HIGHER EDUCATION.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Article 1, Chapter 19, Title 59 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 59-19-360.    (A)(1)    If a district or school is seeking to implement competency-based education, the State Board of Education may exempt the school from state laws, policies, and regulations that hinder the implementation of certain competency-based practices. A district that wishes to obtain an exemption shall submit a waiver application to the State Board of Education in a format developed by the State Department of Education. To be considered, a waiver application must:

(a)    be approved by the local school district board of trustees;

(b)    explain why the waiver is necessary and how it will support implementation;

(c)    be aligned to the district strategic plan; and

(d)    provide for the implementation of the strategies described in the waiver application for all students in the school, which may be implemented in phases over a period of five or fewer years.

(2)    A district must show evidence of the meaningful steps already taken to engage parents and community stakeholders. A district must also include a continued plan to seek parental outreach and consultation using guidelines approved by the State Board of Education when submitting a waiver application for approval by its local board of trustees and the State Board of Education, or the application may not be considered.

(3)    A district whose waiver application is approved may request additional exemptions and may request amendments to its current approved waiver on a rolling basis.

(B)    Competency-based education is designed to improve educational outcomes for students by advancing their mastery of concepts and skills through the following core principles:

(1)    Learning outcomes must emphasize competencies that include:

(a)    application and creation of World Class Knowledge; and

(b)    the development and application of the World Class Skills and Life and Career Characteristics identified in the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.

(2)    Competencies must include explicit, measureable, and transferable student learning objectives that provide transparency and guide students, with customized support from teachers, as the students pursue their own inquiries, understanding, and ownership of learning.

(3)    A student shall master competencies along a personalized and flexible pathway before he may advance. A student may demonstrate his mastery of competencies through his performance of the competencies, application of the competencies, or both.

(4)    An assessment must be meaningful and used to personalize learning experiences with a student.

(5)    A student must receive timely and personalized support based on his individual learning needs.

(C)    A local school board of trustees and the State Board of Education may not exempt a school from:

(1)    federal and state laws and constitutional provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services;

(2)    health, safety, civil rights, and disability rights requirements as applied to other public schools operating in the district; or

(3)    state and federal assessment requirements.

(D)    A school operating under a waiver pursuant to this section shall admit all children eligible to attend the school, subject to space limitations, and may not limit or deny admission or show preference in an admission decision to an individual or group of individuals.

(E)    If a school is operating under a waiver pursuant to this section, each student enrolled in the school is still considered to be a full-time equivalent student enrolled in the school for the purpose of calculating state financial support, average daily membership and attendance, and for accountability purposes. The department shall develop a process to ensure that schools and districts are not penalized for the purposes of accreditation.

(F)    If a school is operating under a waiver pursuant to this section, each student must remain enrolled in the state's student information system.

(G)    The State Department of Education shall establish procedures to ensure that a student who attends a school that is operating under a waiver pursuant to this section and subsequently transfers to another school within the district or to another district is not penalized by being required to repeat coursework that he successfully has mastered. The department may provide a necessary accreditation exemption to a school that launches a competency-based education program.

(H)(1)    The State Department of Education shall create evaluation criteria and guidelines for schools that are operating under a waiver pursuant to this section. A participating school shall submit required data for a biennial cyclical review on a form developed by the department. The required data shall include, but not be limited to, indicators of student engagement, instructional practices, performance on assessments (formative, benchmark, and summative), high school success, and post-secondary success. The review must begin at the conclusion of the second academic year of the school's implementation of the waiver. A report summarizing the reviews, including the waivers requested and how they hindered implementation, shall be distributed to the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the President of the Senate.

(2)    If upon the cyclical review the department determines that a goal or objective is not being met, the department shall notify the district and school in writing. The district and school have sixty days to respond, after which the department may recommend revocation of the flexibility provisions to the State Board of Education.

(I)    The Commission on Higher Education and State Board for Technical and Comprehensive Education shall establish policies to provide fair and equitable access to institutions of higher education and technical colleges as well as scholarships and financial aid for graduates of schools implementing innovative school models and using nontraditional diplomas and transcripts."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on April 18, 2019 at 8:33 AM