(a) Effective July 1, 2004, any public school, education service cooperative, or institution of higher education is authorized to enter into one (1) or more interlocal agreements through which they collaborate to improve public school performance and academic achievement.

(b) Each interlocal agreement shall establish an education renewal zone.

(c) The purpose of an education renewal zone shall be to:

(1) Identify and implement education and management strategies designed specifically to improve public school performance and student academic achievement throughout the State of Arkansas, with special focus on the state's most academically distressed public schools;

(2) Provide for collaboration among the state's smaller schools and school districts in order to achieve some of the advantages of economies of scale in providing educational and related activities;

(3) Maximize benefits and outcomes of public schooling by concentrating and coordinating the resources of Arkansas's higher education institutions, the expertise of the regional education service cooperatives, and the technical assistance of other service providers to improve public school performance and student academic achievement; and

(4) Enable small, rural, and low-wealth schools to make the best use of the latest cost-effective distance learning technology to enhance curricula and professional development through two-way interactive learning environments.

(d) Each education renewal zone shall consist of the following:

(1)

(A) A higher education partner.

(B) The Division of Education Renewal Zones shall develop, publish, and disseminate guidelines for establishing an education renewal zone, including a process for selecting a qualified higher education partner in the service cooperative areas in the state and in Pulaski County.

(C) (i) A qualified higher education partner shall:

(a) Be a school with a department of education or a comprehensive four-year teacher preparation program; and

(b) Be capable of demonstrating a willingness and flexibility to restructure its programs and services to meet the needs of the participating grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12) schools and school districts.

(ii) The division shall give preference to qualified four-year higher education institutions located within the education service cooperative area.

(D) If there is no qualified four-year higher education institution located within the education service cooperative area, the division may select:

(i) A two-year higher education institution that in collaboration with a qualified four-year educational institution located in another education service cooperative area provides a comprehensive four-year teacher preparation program; or

(ii) A qualified higher education institution located in another education service cooperative area.

(E) An institution of higher education may serve as the higher education partner for more than one (1) educational service cooperative area;

(2)

(A) An education service cooperative.

(B) The education service cooperative shall be a full partner in planning, implementing, and evaluating the education renewal zone in its respective service area and shall provide direct services as called for in the education renewal zone plan;

(3)

(A) Public schools.

(B)

(i) Public schools may participate in an education renewal zone upon successful application by the public school district of which the school is a part.

(ii) A public school designated by the Department of Education as a school in school improvement or a school in a school district designated by the department as being in academic distress shall participate in an education renewal zone if requested to do so by the department, and the division working with the department shall establish priorities of establishing education renewal zones for those schools, which shall be contingent on the appropriation availability of funding for the renewal zones.

(iii) Acceptance or rejection of the application by a school for admittance to an education renewal zone shall be the responsibility of the division, with consultation from the higher education partner.

(iv) The division may include within an education renewal zone any school within the education service cooperative area provided that no more than ten (10) schools may participate in any single education renewal zone.

(v) The division may designate up to a maximum of three (3) education renewal zones within any single education service cooperative area.

(C) In designating education renewal zones and selecting schools for participation in a particular zone, the division shall give priority to schools that meet one (1) or more of the following criteria:

(i) The school is classified as a school in school improvement or alert status for school improvement under the Arkansas state compliance plan under the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 et seq.;

(ii) The school lies within a school district designated by the department as in academic distress or financial distress under the Arkansas Comprehensive Testing, Assessment, and Accountability Program;

(iii) The school demonstrates an inability to provide the minimum number of course offerings as determined by the state through the conventional hiring of qualified teachers;

(iv) The school is within a school district with an average daily membership of fewer than one thousand five hundred (1,500) students; or

(v) The school serves a student population that exceeds the statewide average rate of participation in free or reduced price lunch programs;

(4)

(A) A local advisory group.

(B) Each education renewal zone shall form a local advisory group composed of a representative of the following groups:

(i) The higher education partner;

(ii) The education service cooperative which includes the area in which the education renewal zone is located;

(iii) The public school or school district participating in the education renewal zone;

(iv) Two (2) parents who have children attending a public school participating in the education renewal zone; and

(v) Each community in which there is a school participating in the education renewal zone.

(C) The division may designate up to a maximum of three (3) education renewal zones within any single education service cooperative area.

(D) The membership and staff of local advisory groups shall be reflective of the diversity of the population being served by the education renewal zone; and

(5)

(A) A technical assistance provider.

(B) Any two-year community or technical college, technical support organization, or other entity may participate in the education renewal zone at the discretion of the division and in collaboration with a designated higher education partner and a designated education service cooperative.