A. A community schools initiative may be created in any public school in the state and may be created as a consortium of public schools.

B. A community schools initiative shall include the following:

(1) a lead partner agency, including a public or private agency or community-based organization, to help coordinate programs and services;

(2) an annual assessment that is a meaningful and collaborative inquiry process to develop a comprehensive understanding of local needs and assets and of community resources that is conducted by the community school coordinator and informed by the site-based leadership team and that relates to the effective alignment and delivery of programs and services within the community school; and

(3) the community school framework.

C. A lead partner agency for more than three public schools shall provide a full-time position that supports the community school coordinators at those public schools.

D. Where early childhood services and supports are indicated as a need, a community school site-based leadership team shall prioritize strong partnerships and integration with early childhood providers located both on and off the public school campus, including transportation to meet community needs.

History: Laws 2013, ch. 16, § 3; 2017, ch. 66, § 2; 2019, ch. 198, § 4.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, required community school initiatives to work with a lead partner agency to conduct an annual community needs and assets assessment and to implement a program framework; in Subsection A, after "state", added "and may be created as a consortium of public schools"; deleted former Subsection B and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection B; in Subsection B, Paragraph B(2), after "an", added "annual", after "assessment", added "that is a meaningful and collaborative inquiry process to develop a comprehensive understanding of local needs and assets and", after "community resources", deleted "informed by students, families and community and school leaders" and added "that is conducted by the community school coordinator and informed by the site-based leadership team and", after "effective", added "alignment and", and after "delivery of", deleted "core services on site" and added "programs and services within the community school", and deleted former Paragraph B(3) and added a new Paragraph B(3); and added Subsections C and D.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, required a community schools initiative to include opportunities to strengthen behavior of students, expanded the core strategies requirement for strengthening the behavior of students, and required each community schools initiative to establish and implement an independently evaluated and evidence-based or results-based model of integrated student services and comprehensive supports proven to increase student achievement; in Subsection B, in the introductory clause, after "shall include", deleted "but not be limited to", and after "set of strategies", added "and opportunities to strengthen behavior for all students", in Paragraph B(1), after "including", deleted "before- and", and after "after-school programs", deleted "as well as" and added "and", deleted former Paragraph B(3) and added new Paragraphs B(3) through B(6); in Subsection C, Paragraph C(1), after "including", deleted "but not limited to", in Paragraph C(3), after the first occurrence of "the", deleted "establishment of an evaluation process that measures both the quality and quantity of outcomes", and added the remainder of the paragraph.