PRINTER'S NO. 713
No. 663 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY WOZNIAK, BOSCOLA, C. WILLIAMS, COSTA, FONTANA,
MUSTO, ERICKSON, O'PAKE, WASHINGTON, STOUT AND MELLOW,
MARCH 22, 2007
REFERRED TO EDUCATION, MARCH 22, 2007
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," establishing the Common Cents
6 Program.
7 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
8 hereby enacts as follows:
9 Section 1. The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
10 as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding an
11 article to read:
12 ARTICLE VIII-A
13 COMMON CENTS PROGRAM
14 Section 801-A. Definitions.
15 The following words and phrases when used in this article
16 shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
17 context clearly indicates otherwise:
18 "Department." The Department of Education of the
19 Commonwealth.
1 "Participating intermediate unit." An intermediate unit that
2 has been selected to participate in the program.
3 "Participating school district." A school district that has
4 agreed to participate in the program.
5 "Program." The Common Cents Program established under this
6 article.
7 Section 802-A. Establishment.
8 There is established in the department the Common Cents
9 Program. The purpose of the program shall be to encourage school
10 districts to share services with one another in order to
11 increase the efficient use of taxpayer resources and improve
12 service delivery for students.
13 Section 803-A. Application.
14 (a) Decision.--At a meeting of each intermediate unit
15 council held before September 1 of each year, the school
16 districts within each intermediate unit shall decide by majority
17 vote whether the intermediate unit shall apply to participate in
18 this program on their behalf. Two intermediate units may apply
19 jointly if the school districts contained within the
20 intermediate units agree, but an intermediate unit may not apply
21 to participate in the program more than once in each fiscal
22 year.
23 (b) Submittal.--Applications shall be submitted to the
24 department by October 1 of each year. Applications shall be
25 submitted on a form and in a manner as is required by the
26 department. Each application shall include a resolution by the
27 board of school directors of each school district setting forth
28 its agreement to participate in the study and certifying that it
29 will comply with the requirements of section 807-A.
30 Section 804-A. Selection.
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1 (a) Competitive basis.--Participating intermediate units
2 will be selected on a competitive basis at the discretion of the
3 department.
4 (b) Preference.--Preference for participation shall be given
5 to applications that include all of the school districts in an
6 intermediate unit and to joint intermediate unit applications.
7 (c) Regional diversity.--Participating intermediate units
8 will be selected so as to ensure regional diversity throughout
9 this Commonwealth.
10 Section 805-A. Contract with consultant.
11 (a) Consultation services.--The department shall enter into
12 a contract to obtain consultant services to conduct a study of
13 specific services or activities across school districts
14 participating in the program and to make recommendations about
15 combining services and activities across school districts within
16 each participating intermediate unit in order to promote
17 improved service delivery, efficiency and economy of operation.
18 The scope of consultant services shall include the creation of
19 the implementation plan referenced under section 807-A(d). The
20 study recommendations shall include all of the following:
21 (1) Transportation.
22 (2) Food services and nutrition.
23 (3) Instructional services.
24 (4) Safety and security.
25 (5) Health services.
26 (6) Purchasing.
27 (7) Finance and payroll.
28 (8) Facilities and real estate.
29 (9) Human resources.
30 (10) Technology services.
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1 (11) Administration.
2 (b) Nature of recommendations.--Recommendations of the study
3 shall not be binding upon any participating school district.
4 (c) Scope of recommendations.--Recommendations of the study
5 may include sharing of services or activities with a
6 municipality.
7 Section 806-A. Advisory panel.
8 (a) Appointment.--The department shall appoint an advisory
9 panel to review this act to determine whether any provisions of
10 this act would be barriers to consolidating the services listed
11 under section 805-A(a). The advisory panel shall report the
12 results of its review to the Governor, the chairmen and minority
13 chairmen of the Appropriations Committee and the Education
14 Committee of the Senate and the chairmen and minority chairmen
15 of the Appropriations Committee and the Education Committee of
16 the House of Representatives no later than six months after the
17 effective date of this section.
18 (b) Composition.--The advisory panel shall consist of at
19 least two of each of the following:
20 (1) A school district superintendent.
21 (2) A school district business manager.
22 (3) A school board member.
23 (4) An intermediate unit administrator.
24 (5) A teacher.
25 (6) A consultant with experience in organizational
26 management and gaining efficiencies within and across
27 organizations.
28 Section 807-A. Duties of intermediate units and school
29 districts.
30 (a) Participation in study.--Participating school districts
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1 and intermediate units shall do all of the following:
2 (1) Cooperate with the consultant during the conduct of
3 the study.
4 (2) Provide data and information requested by the
5 consultant if the disclosure is consistent with Federal or
6 State laws protecting the confidentiality of certain
7 information.
8 (3) Make staff available to be interviewed.
9 (b) Meetings.--Upon receipt of the consultant report, each
10 school district that participated in the study shall hold no
11 fewer than one public meeting to present the consultant's
12 recommendations and seek public input. Each school district
13 shall post the consultant report on its Internet website for at
14 least 30 days and shall announce the date of the public meeting
15 at the immediately prior public meeting of the board of school
16 directors.
17 (c) Pursuit of recommendations.--Within six months of the
18 receipt of the consultant report, the board of school directors
19 shall vote separately on whether to pursue each recommendation
20 contained in the consultant report. The board shall forward the
21 results of each resolution to the intermediate unit and the
22 department.
23 (d) Review.--At the intermediate unit council meeting that
24 immediately follows the voting of each board of school directors
25 of the school district, the intermediate unit council shall
26 review the resolutions of each board of school directors and
27 shall request in writing that the consultant create a plan for
28 the implementation of any recommendations approved by the school
29 districts, regardless of whether the recommendation was approved
30 by all of the school districts in the intermediate unit. The
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1 implementation plan may include a list of potential vendors for
2 each of the services to be provided but the consultant may not
3 recommend a single vendor. Only those school districts approving
4 the recommendation shall be part of the implementation plan. The
5 intermediate unit council shall forward the implementation plan
6 to the school districts.
7 (e) Cost savings.--Cost savings resulting from
8 implementation of the consultant recommendations shall be spent
9 for academic purposes in the schools of the school district,
10 after deducting any one-time expenditures required for the
11 implementation of the recommendations. Academic purposes include
12 professional development, student supplies, textbooks, classroom
13 technology, school safety, improvement of classroom facilities
14 or any other instructional activity directly affecting student
15 performance or the learning environment.
16 (f) Report.--Participating intermediate units and school
17 districts shall report to the department in the form and at the
18 times as determined by the department.
19 Section 808-A. Duties of department.
20 (a) Contract.--The department shall enter into a contract
21 for consulting services as provided in section 805-A.
22 (b) Guidelines and forms.--The department shall establish
23 guidelines and develop forms as are necessary for the proper
24 implementation of the grant program.
25 (c) Results.--The department shall publish on its Internet
26 website the results of each study conducted through the program
27 and any implementation plans.
28 (d) Report.--The department shall submit an annual report on
29 the program to the chairman and minority chairman of the
30 Appropriations Committee and the chairman and minority chairman
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1 of the Education Committee of the Senate and the chairman and
2 minority chairman of the Appropriations Committee and the
3 chairman and minority chairman of the Education Committee of the
4 House of Representatives.
5 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, or
6 immediately, whichever is later.
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