Adds to existing law to enact the School Turnaround Act.

The proposed legislation will formalize an existing program within the Office of the State Board of Education. The program provides access to resources for schools or districts who are performing low on identified student outcomes in their school turnaround plan. Working with school turnaround professionals, the school district must form a team made up from all levels of the district, community, parents and students to develop a plan targeted toward improving measurable student outcomes. This program will codify the school turnaround program and authorize the Idaho State Board of Education (Board) to designate eligible schools from the lowest performing five percent (5%), according to performance standards established by the Board, and to receive assistance to improve student outcomes during a three-year time period. Schools participating in the program would select a school turnaround expert from a predetermined and qualified set of experts to assist the school in its efforts. The school will be required to form a school turnaround committee, to develop a turnaround plan with the assistance of the school expert, and set measurable performance and achievement criteria. The program grants the school turnaround committee one year to formulate and start implementing the plan. They would have two years to fully implement and evaluate student outcomes and plan results. The school turnaround expert shall be selected upon predetermined criteria and compensated on a predetermined contractual agreement with a significant portion of the contract payment being determined upon the successful performance of the low performing school. The proposed legislation also provides a framework for the Board to implement a School Leadership Development Program to train and provide leaders with specific leadership and technical skills to assist schools in need of improvement.