1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to education; providing that a dismissed 
  1.3             pupil may not enroll in another school district to 
  1.4             avoid being dismissed under the Pupil Fair Dismissal 
  1.5             Act; providing that a behavior agreement between a 
  1.6             district and pupil may carry to a new enrolling 
  1.7             district; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 
  1.8             121A.55.  
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 121A.55, is 
  1.11  amended to read: 
  1.12     121A.55 [POLICIES TO BE ESTABLISHED.] 
  1.13     (a) The commissioner of children, families, and learning 
  1.14  shall promulgate guidelines to assist each school board.  Each 
  1.15  school board shall establish uniform criteria for dismissal and 
  1.16  adopt written policies and rules to effectuate the purposes of 
  1.17  sections 121A.40 to 121A.56.  The policies shall emphasize 
  1.18  preventing dismissals through early detection of problems and 
  1.19  shall be designed to address students' inappropriate behavior 
  1.20  from recurring.  The policies shall recognize the continuing 
  1.21  responsibility of the school for the education of the pupil 
  1.22  during the dismissal period.  The alternative educational 
  1.23  services, if the pupil wishes to take advantage of them, must be 
  1.24  adequate to allow the pupil to make progress towards meeting the 
  1.25  graduation standards adopted under section 120B.02 and help 
  1.26  prepare the pupil for readmission.  
  1.27     (b) A pupil dismissed from a district who enrolls in 
  2.1   another district during the dismissal period must receive only 
  2.2   alternative educational services in the enrolling district until 
  2.3   the dismissal period would have ended in the district from which 
  2.4   the pupil was dismissed.  Notwithstanding chapter 13, the 
  2.5   dismissing district shall report the pupil's dismissal to the 
  2.6   enrolling district consistent with section 120A.22, subdivision 
  2.7   7. 
  2.8      (c) A pupil whose inappropriate behavior is addressed in a 
  2.9   behavioral agreement between a district and the pupil and who 
  2.10  enrolls in another district during the time period covered by 
  2.11  the agreement must fulfill the requirements of the agreement 
  2.12  until the time period covered by the agreement would have ended 
  2.13  in the district that initiated the agreement with the pupil.  
  2.14  The enrolling district may modify or terminate the behavioral 
  2.15  agreement at its discretion and the new terms shall control.  
  2.16  Notwithstanding chapter 13, the dismissing district shall report 
  2.17  the pupil's agreement to the enrolling district consistent with 
  2.18  section 120A.22, subdivision 7. 
  2.19     (d) An area learning center under section 123A.05 may not 
  2.20  prohibit an expelled or excluded pupil from enrolling solely 
  2.21  because a district expelled or excluded the pupil.  The board of 
  2.22  the area learning center may use the provisions of the Pupil 
  2.23  Fair Dismissal Act to exclude a pupil or to require an admission 
  2.24  plan. 
  2.25     (c) (e) The commissioner shall actively encourage and 
  2.26  assist school districts to cooperatively establish alternative 
  2.27  educational services within school buildings or at alternative 
  2.28  program sites that offer instruction to pupils who are dismissed 
  2.29  from school for willfully engaging in dangerous, disruptive, or 
  2.30  violent behavior, including for possessing a firearm in a school 
  2.31  zone.