| Chapter 414 |
| 2025 -- H 5165 SUBSTITUTE A Enacted 07/02/2025 |
| A N A C T |
| RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE ESTABLISHMENT OF SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAMS |
Introduced By: Representatives Cotter, Noret, Read, McNamara, Potter, Solomon, Casimiro, Spears, Carson, and Kennedy |
| Date Introduced: January 24, 2025 |
| It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
| SECTION 1. Section 16-53.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-53.1 entitled "Rhode |
| Island School Improvement Team Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
| 16-53.1-2. Establishment of school improvement teams. |
| (a)(1) The school board or school committees of the cities and towns shall establish a |
| school improvement team for each school in the district, and shall develop procedures for the |
| election and appointment of school improvement team members. Each school improvement team |
| shall be composed of the principal and an appropriately balanced number of teachers, education |
| support employees, students, parents, and other business and community citizens who are |
| representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic community served by the school, provided that |
| vocational-technical center and high school school-improvement teams shall include students, and |
| middle and junior high school school-improvement teams may include students. Members |
| representing teachers, education support employees, students, and parents shall be selected by their |
| peer groups at the school in a fair and equitable manner. At the middle and high school levels, |
| where there are designated department heads, those department heads will also be included on the |
| school improvement team. At a minimum, these school improvement teams at this middle and high |
| school level shall include at least one department head from a humanities subject area and at least |
| one department head from one of the science, technology, engineering, or mathematics subject |
| areas. |
| (2) Business and other community members shall be selected by the school according to a |
| procedure established by the school board. The school board shall review the membership |
| composition of each school improvement team. Should the school board determine that the |
| membership elected by the school is not representative of the ethnic, racial, and economic |
| community served by the school, the board shall appoint additional members to achieve proper |
| representation. For the purposes of school improvement teams, the term “teacher” includes |
| classroom teachers, certified student services personnel, and media specialists. For purposes of this |
| subsection, “education support employee” means any person employed by a school who is not |
| defined as instructional or administrative personnel pursuant to law and whose duties require |
| twenty (20) or more hours in each normal working week. |
| (3) The school board or school committees of the cities and towns shall establish a |
| districtwide student safety and behavioral health committee ("SSBHC"). Each committee shall |
| have representation from administration (to be appointed by the superintendent), at least two (2) |
| certified staff (to be appointed by the local collective bargaining agent), and at least two (2) support |
| staff (to be appointed by the local collective bargaining agent), and may also include a school |
| resource officer to be appointed by the superintendent. The school board or school committee shall |
| strive to have staff representation from the elementary, middle, and high school level on the |
| SSBHC. The SSBHC shall be responsible for: |
| (i) Ensuring that the district has a comprehensive policy to provide mental health support |
| to students in need and address student behaviors to minimize disruptions of the learning |
| environment for all students in a non-punitive manner, in line with best practice and student needs; |
| (ii) Ensuring such policies are properly implemented; |
| (iii) Assessing the mental health supports available to students; |
| (iv) Discussing possible improvements to policies and procedures; |
| (v) Making recommendations to the school board or school committee regarding potential |
| policy changes; and |
| (vi) Providing an annual report to the school board or school committee on student safety, |
| mental health, and behaviors, including any recommendations to improve student safety and |
| outcomes in a non-punitive manner while ensuring a stable learning environment for all students. |
| The SSBHC shall work with the school improvement teams to improve student safety and |
| behavioral outcomes at the school building level, but shall not have access to any personally |
| identifiable student information. |
| (b) The school board may establish a district school improvement team representative of |
| the district and composed of teachers, students, parents, and other citizens or a district school |
| improvement team which may be comprised of representatives of each school improvement team. |
| SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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| LC000761/SUB A |
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