SB 22-137

Senate Bill 22-137 in Colorado aims to bring back standard accountability measures for K-12 education after a period of relaxed requirements due to the pandemic. For the 2021-22 school year, it requires schools and districts to report student performance data based on pre-pandemic standards from 2018-19. The bill also delays certain accreditation reviews until the 2023-24 school year and expands eligibility for improvement grants to more schools implementing various types of plans. Since the bill has been signed into law, these changes are now in effect, impacting how schools and districts report student performance and access funding for improvements.

Official Summary

In reporting levels of attainment on the performance indicators by each public school, school district, the charter school institute (institute), and the state as a whole, the act requires the department of education (department) to include for the 2021-22 school year data concerning the percentage of students who contributed to the state longitudinal academic growth indicator. Under current law, the department is required to annually determine the levels of attainment on various performance indicators for each public school, school district, the institute, and the state as a whole. Furthermore, under current law, the department is not required to determine the levels of attainment of each public school, school district, the institute, or the state as a whole for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years. For the 2021-22 school year, the act requires the department to determine the level of attainment for each public school, school district, the institute, and the state as a whole, based on the statewide targets required for the 2018-19 school year. Under current law, for purposes of calculating a school district's or the institute's consecutive years on performance watch, the department is required to count the school district's accreditation rating for the 2022-23 school year as if it were consecutive to the 2019-20 school year. The act suspends counting a school district's accreditation rating until the 2023-24 school year. Under current law, so long as a school district or the institute performs at a level consistent with being accredited with priority improvement plan or lower, a state review panel is required to consider various criteria in evaluating performance and recommending actions. The act adds to these criteria consideration of a school district's or the institute's 2022-23 accreditation category or the public school's 2022-23 plan type. Under current law, the school transformation grant program generally provides funding to school districts, the institute, and charter schools that are implementing priority improvement or turnaround plans. For grants awarded in the 2022-23 budget year, the act extends grant eligibility to school districts, the institute, and charter schools that are implementing improvement plans. (Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)

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