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. 20070S0663B0713 - 2 -
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. 20070S0663B0713 - 3 -
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 20070S0663B0713 - 4 -
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 20070S0663B0713 - 5 -
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 20070S0663B0713 - 6 -
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. B6L24MSP/20070S0663B0713 - 7 -