Another end to Academic Distress Commissions proposed

Academic Distress Commissions could be dissolved this summer. A sub bill to House Bill 154 is making its rounds in the Senate Education Committee. Yet to be formally introduced, the legislation would remove the three districts from under ADCs by June 30, returning local control while the state funds consultants and a root cause analysis for each district. New Academic Distress Commissions could not be established until 2024, after a report from a state-level School Transformation Board on how to replace ADCs and improving principal and teacher preparation. That report would be due by Jan. 30, 2022. There is an emergency clause in the bill meaning once signed it would take effect immediately. State Sen. Nathan Manning, R-North Ridgeville, said he was not sure if the plan is to accept the circulating sub bill without further changes. The proposed language may have gotten committee Democrats on board, but it lost support from some of the Republicans — which does not bode well for how it would fare on the Senate floor. The initial bill, introduced by state Reps. Joe Miller, D-Amherst, and Don Jones, R-Freeport, passed the house with an overwhelming majority. Since coming to the Senate, it has split almost on party lines. Manning, who voted against House Bill 70 in 2015 that allowed for state takeovers, said concerns from fellow Republicans include giving local control back with little accountability. "I think part of it is not letting the schools out, I think part of it is they still want ... more intervention than maybe other people want, more accountability ... than maybe people like me or some of the Democrat members of the committee want," he said. "What's tough is where do we have that compromise. I think for me, obviously the most important thing is Lorain, but in general getting the three school districts out and starting fresh is my big thing." Those are concerns that have left the bill languishing in committee while sub bills continue to come and go. It has stalled in the committee since September. Attempts to restart the look at House Bill 70 would come as the legislature is grappling with an impending expansion to EdChoice. The scholarship program targeted at giving students from low-performing schools options will see an expansion in districts on the list of eligible schools Feb. 1. Looming over both issues is the state report card, which triggers both state takeovers and schools placed on the EdChoice list. Introducing state board In addition to dissolving Academic Distress Commissions, the latest sub bill would create a state-level School Transformation Board, and a list of approved vendors for districts to contract with for root cause analysis. This is not the first time a state-level board has been introduced. A previously accepted change created the state board, as well as changing the names of Academic Distress Commissions to School Improvement Commissions, while still curbing local control. School Improvement Commissions are not included in the new sub bill. Under the latest proposal, the state's School Transformation Board would include the superintendent or assistant superintendent of public instruction, chancellor or his subordinate of higher education,and three individuals with experience in education police or school improvement appointed by the governor. One of the individuals has to be from a different political party as the governor, and one shall have at least 10 years of teaching experience. For school districts not currently under an Academic Distress Commission, the changes would reset any impending changes. Starting with the 2019-2020 school year, those in the bottom 5 percent of districts across the state for two consecutive years would be able to apply for a transformation grant. That grant would pay for a contractor to provide a root cause analysis and provide improvement supports for struggling districts. Lorain, Youngstown and East Cleveland would automatically be eligible for a transformation grant. The local school board would retain control of the district, regardless of who the improvement expert is hired. Those experts can be from education service centers, higher education, organizations providing peer-to-peer support, nonprofits, for-profit groups, or others with a proven background in successful school intervention. A list will be compiled by the Ohio Department of Education, and approved experts or organizations would have to provide prior relationships with ODE, members of the School Transformation Board or districts across the state. The local school board would be tasked with naming individuals to a community stakeholder group to help devise improvement plans for individual buildings, and hiring an approved education consultant to help implement the plans. The initial contract would be for three years, with the option of a two-year extension. The state would pay for the contracted expert or organization, up to $500,000 times the number of buildings in the district that received a D or F on the state report card. For Lorain, that would be about $5.5 million. The Senate is back in session Jan. 22. There could be an Education Committee meeting next week, Manning noted, but it would not be scheduled until Friday. "The sub bill, I know (Joe) Miller's happy with it, I'm happy with it, but unfortunately I know there's a few members still with concerns," Manning said. "So I don't think it's going to be fast-tracked — at least that's my understanding." House Bill 154 has been one of several attempts to remedy the damage done by House Bill 70. Others include a moratorium, initially introduced by Reps. Kent Smith, D-Euclid and Steve Hambley, R-Brunswick, a move later included in the biennium budget. Manning introduced Senate Bill 110 in March that would have helped just Lorain. Youngstown School Board's appeal against the state is awaiting judgment in the Ohio Supreme Court, with a lower court waiting on that decision in a case involved East Cleveland School Board. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @CWoytach.