Floor Amend 1 AM 61 0026 to SB 445

LOST Senators Kemp of the 38th and Jones II of the 22nd offered the following amendment #1: Amend the Senate Committee on Education and Youth substitute to SB 445 (LC 61 0448S) by inserting after "authority;" on line 15 the following: to establish accountability measures for private schools participating in the promise scholarship program; to require the education savings authority to establish an academic performance standard for participating schools; to require the education savings authority to conduct annual eligibility reviews of participating schools; to require the education savings authority to take certain measures if a participating school is no longer eligible to enroll participating students or fails to meet the academic performance standard; By replacing "and" at the end of line 290 with "and". By replacing line 292 with the following: misuse of account funds; (4)(A) Not later than December 31, 2026, and in coordination with the Office of Student Achievement, establish an academic performance standard for participating schools to ensure that not less than half of the participating students enrolled in a participating school are performing at or above grade level or are demonstrating growth in student achievement. Such academic performance standard and the reviews conducted pursuant to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph shall take into consideration: (i) Student performance on the assessments or tests provided for in Code Section 20-2B-27; (ii) Student performance on assessments administered pursuant to Code Section 20-2-281 in the year prior to such student enrolling in a participating school; and (iii) The length of time a student has been enrolled in the participating school. (B) Not later than December 31, 2026, and by December 31 each year thereafter, conduct reviews to ensure that each participating school meets the performance standard established pursuant to this paragraph. In the event that the education savings authority determines during such review that a participating school does not meet the performance standard, the education savings authority shall: (i) After the first such finding, require such participating school to implement a plan to improve student performance; (ii) After the second such finding, require such participating school to implement a plan to remedy the failure to meet the performance standard, require such participating school to submit regular reports of participating student performance, and implement a probationary period; (iii) After the third such finding, limit the number of participating students allowed to enroll in such participating school for the first time to not more than half of the number of participating students that enrolled for the first time in such participating school in the previous school year; and (iv) After the fourth such finding, prohibit the participating school from enrolling new participating students for a period of three years, after which the participating school may reapply to participate in the program; and (5) Not later than December 31, 2026, and by December 31 each year thereafter, conduct annual reviews to ensure that each participating school remains eligible to enroll participating students."