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Guidelines for Waiver Applications - August 1995
In 1989 the Oregon Legislature enacted the 21st Century Schools Program permitting waivers of state requirements that might inhibit progress toward school improvement (ORS 329.535 - 329.605). With the approval of the local school board and the local teachers' bargaining unit, a school (or a district) may undertake programs restructuring school operations and professional relationships. Schools or districts needing to waive state requirements to accomplish their school improvement programs may receive waivers of the requirements from the State Board of Education.
The Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, enacted in June 1991, greatly expanded the use of waivers giving schools the support needed for creating system-wide change to respond to local need. The 1995 Oregon Legislature reviewed and revised the 1991 Act and retained the waiver program essentially unchanged.
The Oregon approach, allowing schools greater operational flexibility in exchange for accountability to clear and measurable standards of student achievement, was adopted at the national level in 1994. The Goals 2000: Educate America Act, the School-to-Work Act, and the Improving America's Schools Act all contain unprecedented provisions allowing school districts and states to request waivers of certain federal laws. Goals 2000 also established an educational flexibility demonstration program allowing the U. S. Secretary of Education to delegate authority to up to six states to waive certain federal statutory or regulatory requirements. Local districts and schools receiving the waivers remain accountable for the performance of their students. In February 1995, Oregon became an Ed-Flex Demonstration State.
The application enclosed in this packet is the form local school districts or schools should use to request a waiver of either federal or state requirements or both. The guidelines are intended to help you apply for a waiver. Further information and assistance is available from the Oregon Department of Education by calling Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Field Services at (503) 378-8004.
The Oregon 21st Century Schools Program has been established:
To enable districts to implement district or school improvement plans.
To encourage the restructuring of school operations and formal relationships among teachers, administrators, and local citizens for the purposes of improving student achievement, including but not limited to modifications of the following:
(a) The length and structure of the school day and the school year;
(b) Curriculum requirements;
(c) Graduation requirements;
(d) The licensing, assignment, and formal responsibilities of teachers, administrators, and other school personnel;
(e) State statutes, rules and local policies and agreements relating to educational practices, with the exception of those that affect health, safety, or constitutional rights under state or federal law;
(f) The formal and informal relationships between school districts, and other entities, including community colleges, four-year colleges and universities, businesses, and other institutions; and
(g) The integration of traditional services to grades K-12 with public and privately sponsored services, such as early childhood education, day care, and assistance for teenage parents and other at-risk youth.
To encourage educators, school districts, and local citizens to establish measurable goals for educational attainment and increased expectations for student performance, including but not limited to improvement in such performance measures as:
(a) Student dropout rates;
(b) District, state, and national standardized tests and other assessments of student learning and educational progress;
(c) The extent and nature of parental involvement in school activities;
(d) Student conduct and disciplinary actions;
(e) Student expectations and attitudes towards learning, and
(f) Student success in college, vocational, and other post-secondary programs.
The Educational Flexibility Partnership Demonstration Act allows school districts to submit proposals to waive statutory or regulatory requirements under the following federal programs or Acts:
(b) ESEA Title II, Eisenhower Professional Development;
(c) ESEA Title IV, Safe and Drug Free Schools;
(d) ESEA Title VI, Innovative Education Program Strategies;
(e) ESEA Title VII, Part C -- Emergency Immigrant Education;
(f) Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act.
The underlying purpose of the federal statutory requirements must be met by the district. Federal requirements relating to maintenance of effort, comparability of services, the equitable participation of students and professional staff in private schools, parental participation and involvement, or the distribution of funds to state or local educational agencies cannot be affected by any waiver.
Applications for both state and federal waivers may be submitted to the Oregon Department of Education at any time.
Districts submitting applications and the public will be given an opportunity to comment on the application within 60 days after the application has been received at the Oregon Department of Education.
The Oregon Department of Education schedules a public hearing each month. The hearings are held in the 2nd floor Board Room, Public Service Building, 255 Capitol Street NE, Salem, the second Tuesday of every month, at 9:00 am.
The district is responsible for notifying the local community of the public hearing in a manner consistent with local board policy. Many districts choose to publish a Notice of Public Hearing in the local newspaper and send notices home to parents.
The State Board of Education shall approve or deny all applications no later than 90 days after receipt of the application.
The local district school board shall be responsible for submitting the application and assuring that all appropriate requirements of the waiver program are met.
Applications may be made on behalf of the following:
(a) An individual school building;
(b) Two or more school buildings within a district;
(c) All school buildings within a district; or
(d) A consortium consisting of two or more school districts.
To be eligible for consideration by the State Board of Education, the application shall respond to the questions in the application and contain the following:
(a) Statements of assurances signed by the district superintendent and the chairperson of the 21st Century Schools Council;
(b) Letters of support and approval from the school board and the exclusive representative of the teachers;
(c) A description of all district rules and agreements that are to be modified or waived. All such provisions shall be approved by a majority vote of the 21st Century Schools Council and the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the certified teachers in the affected school buildings;
(d) Letters expressing support and a willingness to participate from community colleges and other post-secondary institutions, where appropriate; and
(e) Written statements of support from parents, citizens, local businesses and other interested individuals and organizations, where appropriate.
To participate in the waiver program, and prior to submission of an application by the school board, the applicant shall have accomplished the following:
(a) Identified the school building or buildings and, if appropriate, the school district or districts on whose behalf the application is submitted;
(b) Established, in each school building affected by the proposal, a building 21st Century Schools Council; and
(c) Agreed, at the direction of the building 21st Century Schools Council and, if applicable, the district planning committee, upon the following:
--The major activities to be carried out as part of the project, including but not limited to the nature and extent of the restructuring of school operations and formal relationships;
--The specified measures of student learning and achievement for each building affected by the application; and
--The process by which each building 21st Century Schools Council and, where applicable, the district planning committee, will collect data and assess the progress and final performance of the program.
A building 21st Century Schools Council is mandatory.
A building 21st Century Schools Council shall be constituted according to ORS 329.705.
The duties of the building 21st Century Schools Council shall include but not be limited to the development of plans to improve the professional growth of the school's staff, the improvement of the school's instructional program, the development and coordination of plans for the implementation of programs under the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century at the school, and the administration of grants-in-aid for the professional development of teachers and classified district employees.
If the application concerns more than one school building, a district planning committee shall be established to coordinate the development of the application and to assist in the administration of the program. A district planning committee constituted under the Act shall consist of:
(a) Administrators and at least one school board member appointed by the school board;
(b) Classroom teachers, appointed by the recognized bargaining unit, if any, in a number equal to those appointed under paragraph (a) of this rule;
(c) At least three public members, chosen jointly by the other members of the committee.
The Oregon 21st Century Schools Advisory Committee (Oregon's Goals 2000 Committee), appointed by the State Board of Education under ORS 329.700, shall propose rules for adoption by the State Board to govern the submission and approval of applications.
The advisory committee shall review all applications and recommend applications for approval by the State Board.
The advisory committee may suggest modifications of submitted applications, subject to the approval of the local school board, the exclusive representative of teachers and 21st Century Schools Council of the building involved in the proposal.
The State Board shall consider the recommendations of the advisory committee and, using the criteria in ORS 329.595, make the final decision on approval of an application. Before making the decision, the State Board shall allow opportunity for comment by persons submitting the application and by the public.
Each district that receives approval for a project under the 21st Century Schools Program shall submit an annual report to the advisory committee appointed under ORS 329.700 and to the local community. The report shall include specific data that reflect the nature and extent of changes in student learning and other performance pertinent to the goals of the project.
If, based upon these annual reports, the advisory committee determines that the school or district is not making satisfactory progress, the advisory committee may recommend to the State Board that the district be placed on probation for a one-year period. During the probationary year, the district shall be eligible for special assistance from the Department of Education. During the probationary year, the district shall also prepare a contingency plan in the event the State Board orders termination of the project.
If, after the probationary period, the district's progress is still unsatisfactory in the judgment of the advisory committee, the advisory committee may recommend that the State Board order termination of the project and implementation of the district's plan for returning to compliance with previously waived federal and state requirements.
Along with its annual report, a district may submit proposed amendments to its approved program describing additional state or federal requirements that it proposes to waive. Such amendments must be accompanied by a statement of support from the local school board, the exclusive representative of the teachers and each building 21st Century Schools Council involved in the project. The advisory committee may recommend approval of such amendments upon a finding of satisfactory progress by the district and a determination that the district has met the applicable provisions of state and federal law.
A district may terminate its application by submitting to the State Board a request for termination that has been approved by the local school board, the exclusive representative of teachers and the building 21st Century Schools Council.
[Review Criteria for Applications]