BY REPRESENTATIVE(S) Garcia Sander and Lukens, Bacon, Bird, Duran, English, Hamrick, Keltie, Stewart K., Suckla, McCluskie;
also SENATOR(S) Pelton B. and Marchman, Jodeh, Kipp.
Concerning data reporting requirements for K-12 schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado:
SECTION 1. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly finds and declares that:
(a) The Colorado education data advisory committee released the results of a survey conducted in the 2017-18 budget year noting that educational data is a valuable asset that promotes transparency and advances student learning and success;
(b) The survey stated, however, that increasing data reporting requirements were placing a strain on the resources of local education providers and directing resources away from supporting students;
(c) The survey found that:
(I) Rural school districts spend twice as much of their overall budget on data reporting than larger school districts; and
(II) Since 1998, the cost and effort to submit major data reporting collections has steadily increased and has grown by over 53% in the nearly 20-year time period;
(d) Teachers and school leaders must focus their time on student achievement. Data reporting collections that divert time and resources away from this core objective must be rigorously examined and justified.
(e) The general assembly must carefully weigh the benefit and value of data reporting requirements on local education providers.
(2) The general assembly further finds that:
(a) The benefit of data reporting collections must clearly outweigh the burden of completing them;
(b) Thoughtful deliberation must take place when the general assembly considers adding new data reporting requirements on local education providers;
(c) A voluntary statewide student information system must be considered to ease the data reporting burdens; and
(d) A moratorium on additional data reporting collections must be instituted while the department of education conducts a data audit and assessment to evaluate the data reporting requirements that currently exist.
SECTION 2. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-208, amend (1)(a) as follows:
22-11-208. Accreditation - annual review - supports and interventions - rules. (1) (a) The department shall annually review each school district's and the institute's performance and, based on the rules of the state board, determine the appropriate accreditation category for the school district or institute. The department shall notify each school district and the institute of its accreditation category and shall publish each school district's and the institute's accreditation category, with supporting data, on the data portal. The department shall also publish each school district's and the institute's performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan, whichever is applicable, on the data portal following adoption of the plan. The department shall develop a streamlined format for plans that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a school district or the institute to attach a locally-developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board rule. The department shall maintain a centralized system for plan submissions so the department can conduct a statewide analysis of school district and institute plans in order to determine how to best distribute state resources and supports. On or before August 31, 2025, and regularly thereafter, the department must collect user feedback to assess the extent to which the streamlined format for plans is used, whether it is helpful, and how to use this feedback to improve the centralized system.
SECTION 3. In Colorado Revised Statutes, 22-11-210, amend (2)(a) as follows:
22-11-210. Public schools - annual review - plans - supports and interventions - rules. (2) (a) The department shall annually review each public school's performance and, based on the rules of the state board, recommend to the state board that the public school shall implement a performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan for the coming school year. Based on the department's recommendation, the state board shall notify the local school board for the public school, or the institute if the public school is an institute charter school, regarding the type of plan the public school shall implement. The local school board or the institute shall place the public school in the district or institute accreditation category that correlates to the public school's plan, based on the school district's or institute's school accreditation process. The department shall develop a streamlined format for plans that consolidates various state, federal, and grant reporting requirements and allows a local school board for the public school, or the institute if the public school is an institute charter school, to attach a locally-developed action portion of the plan that addresses action steps, resources, and any other plan components identified in state board rule. The department shall maintain a centralized system for plan submissions so the department can conduct a statewide analysis of public school plans in order to determine how to best distribute state resources and supports. On or before August 31, 2025, and regularly thereafter, the department must collect user feedback to assess the extent to which the streamlined format for plans is used, whether it is helpful, and how to use this feedback to improve the centralized system.
SECTION 4. Act subject to petition - effective date. This act takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day following the expiration of the ninety-day period after final adjournment of the general assembly; except that, if a referendum petition is filed pursuant to section 1 (3) of article V of the state constitution against this act or an item, section, or part of this act within such period, then the act, item, section, or part will not take effect unless approved by the people at the general election to be held in November 2026 and, in such case, will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.
Signed By: Julie McCluskie, Speaker of the House of Representatives
Signed By: James Rashad Coleman, Sr., President of the Senate
Signed By: Vanessa Reilly, Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives
Signed By: Esther van Mourik, Secretary of the Senate
Signed By: Jared S. Polis, Governor of the State of Colorado