(1) The state board shall promulgate rules to establish accreditation categories that shall include, but need not be limited to:

(a) "Accredited with distinction", meaning a school district or the institute meets or exceeds the statewide targets or targets annually set by the school district or the institute or exceeds statewide attainment on the performance indicators and is required to adopt and implement a performance plan as described in section 22-11-303;

(b) "Accredited", meaning a school district or the institute meets statewide attainment on the performance indicators and is required to adopt and implement a performance plan as described in section 22-11-303;

(c) "Accredited with improvement plan", meaning the school district or the institute is required to adopt and implement an improvement plan as provided in section 22-11-304;

(d) "Accredited with priority improvement plan", meaning the school district or the institute is required to adopt and implement a priority improvement plan as provided in section 22-11-305; or

(e) "Accredited with turnaround plan", meaning the school district or the institute is required to adopt, with the commissioner's approval, and implement a turnaround plan as provided in section 22-11-306.

(2) The state board shall promulgate rules establishing objective, measurable criteria that the department shall apply in determining the appropriate accreditation category for each school district and the institute, placing the greatest emphasis on attainment of the performance indicators. At a minimum, the rules must take into consideration:

(a) A school district's or the institute's level of attainment of the statewide targets on the performance indicators;

(b) A school district's or the institute's level of attainment of the performance indicators compared with statewide attainment of the performance indicators;

(c) to (f) Repealed.

(g) The performance of students enrolled in the school district's or institute's alternative education campuses, taking into account the unique purposes of the campuses and the unique circumstances of and challenges posed by students enrolled in the campuses; and

(h) The school district's or the institute's compliance with the other requirements specified in the accreditation contract.

(2.5) (a) The department shall notify each school district and the institute of its initial accreditation assignment. If a school district or the institute disagrees with the department's initial accreditation assignment, the school district or institute may submit to the department a request for reconsideration. The state board shall promulgate rules specifying the information the department must take into account in determining the school district's or institute's final accreditation category, which may include:

(I) The length of time during which the school district or institute has been unable to meet the statewide targets;

(II) The improvements, changes, and interventions the school district or institute has implemented and is implementing to improve its performance if it is not meeting the statewide targets;

(III) The progress the school district or institute is making in improving its performance and in approaching achievement of the statewide targets and the degree to which the school district or institute is not achieving the statewide targets;

(IV) The pupil enrollment of the school district as it may affect the reliability of the assessment data;

(V) The percentages of students enrolled in high schools of the school district, or institute charter high schools for purposes of the institute, who, based on attainment of course credits or demonstrated competencies, are on schedule to graduate within four, five, six, or seven years; and

(VI) Any supplemental data for grade levels for which there are not statewide assessments that indicate the school district or institute is meeting the statewide targets on the performance indicators, if the department determines the supplemental data is valid and reliable and derived from assessments that are aligned with the state standards adopted pursuant to section 22-7-1005.

(b) The department shall notify each school district and the institute of its final accreditation category within the time frames adopted by rule of the state board.

(3) In promulgating rules pursuant to this section, the state board shall use clear, understandable language to describe the accreditation categories and the levels of attainment of the performance indicators, with the goal of providing a high degree of transparency in the accreditation process.

(4) (a) Beginning with the 2018-19 school year, if a school district or the institute performs at a level that results in being accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for two consecutive years followed by three consecutive or nonconsecutive years, resulting in a total of five years of performance at such a level, the state board shall require the school district or institute to take significant action as provided in section 22-11-209; except that, before the five years have accumulated, if the school district or institute performs for at least two consecutive years at a level that results in being accredited with improvement plan or higher, the five years stop accumulating unless the school district or institute again performs at a level that results in being accredited with priority improvement plan or lower for two consecutive years, at which time the school district or institute is again in the first two of the five years. For the time during which the five years of performance are accumulating, a school district or the institute is on performance watch.

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (a) of this subsection (4), for purposes of calculating whether a school district or the institute is accredited with priority improvement plan or below for longer than a total of five consecutive school years, the department shall exclude the 2015-16 school year, during which the department does not assign accreditation ratings as provided in section 22-11-208 (1.5), from the calculation and shall count the 2016-17 school year as if it were consecutive to the 2014-15 school year.

(5) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (4)(a) of this section or section 22-11-209 (2)(a) to the contrary, at the request of a school district, in consultation with the district accountability committee, or the institute, the state board may direct the school district or institute to take significant actions as provided in section 22-11-209 even though the school district or institute has not completed the five years of performance watch. If the state board requires the school district or institute to take significant actions, the school district or institute is subject to the provisions of section 22-11-209 (3.5).

(6) The priority improvement or turnaround plan that a school district or the institute adopts for the fourth year in which the school district or institute is on performance watch must include a general explanation for how the school district or institute may put into effect each of the actions described in section 22-11-209 (2)(a)(I) for a school district or section 22-11-209 (2)(a)(II) for the institute.