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Councilmember Phil Mendelson
AN ACT IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To determine the selection and composition of the Board
of Education, pursuant to Sec. 495 of the Home Rule Act, by continuing
the current composition of the Board of Education for an additional 4
years, except that the president of the Board shall be chosen by the
Board; to establish a format by which the Board will submit the annual
budget to the Council; to require the creation of a Financial
Management Reform Plan; and to create a Financial Management Task
Force to monitor, support and implement financial management reform
within the D.C. Public Schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,
That this act may be cited as the "School Governance Amendment
Act of 2004".
Sec. 2. Section 2 of An Act to fix and regulate salaries
of teachers, schools officers, and other employees of the board of education of the District
of Columbia is amended as follows:
(a) Subsection (a) (D.C. Official Code 38-101) is amended
to read as follows:
"(a)(1) The Board of Education shall consist of 9
members. Four members shall be appointed by the Mayor and confirmed
by the Council. Five members shall be elected. Four of the 5 elected
members shall be elected from the 4 school districts created pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this subsection. One member shall be elected
at-large. The Board shall elect its president from amount its elected
members and such other officers it deems necessary from among its members.
"(2) The 4 school districts for the election of
Board members pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, shall be
comprised of the 8 election wards created pursuant to section 2 of the
Boundaries Act of 1975, effective December 16, 1975 (D.C. Law 1-38; D.C.
Code § 1-1308), as follows:
"(A) Wards 1 and 2 shall comprise School District 1;
"(B) Wards 3 and 4 shall comprise School District
II;
"(C) Wards 5 and 6 shall comprise School District
111; and
"(D) Wards 7 and 8 shall comprise School District
IV."
"(3) This subsection shall expire 4 years after the
effective date of the School Governance Amendment Act of 2004.
(b) Subsection (h) (D.C. Official Code 38-103) is amended
to read as follows:
"(h) Budget Submission
"The Board of Education shall approve an annual
budget for submission to the Council that is consistent with the
goals and objectives established by the Board of Education for the operation of the public schools of the District of Columbia. The Board
shall prepare and execute a performance based budget on an annual
basis. The budget prepared by the Board shall have its operations
organized by major programs, which in turn will be composed of
activities and services. The budget submitted by the board shall
allocate all monies by activities and object class. The DCPS
submission shall also include a presentation that specifies the monies
budgeted for each school. This presentation shall specify the funds
available to each school for which the decision to spend is made by
the school's local school restructuring team, and shall specify other responsibility center funds the spending of which
directly benefit local schools (e.g., for textbooks, substitute
teachers, transportation, maintenance/engineers, nurses, teachers
salaries, etc.), so that the Council and the public may know the
totality of funds, goods and services that will be provided to the
local schools directly."
Sec. 3. Financial Management Reform Plan.
"The Superintendent of Schools shall develop a
Financial Management Reform Plan ("Reform Plan") which shall include the
following:
"(1) Measurable goals;
"(2) Timeline for deliverables;
"(3) Roles and responsibilities of all District
agencies that provide financial management related services;
"(4) Proposed statutory and regulatory amendments to
approve the budget process;
"(5) Targeted savings activities for the next 2
fiscal years; and
"(6) Review and input from Task Force members.
Sec. 4. "Financial Management Task Force
"(a) There is established a Financial Management
Task Force ("Task Force") with the purpose of serving as a
collaborative body of District agencies that will monitor, support, and implement financial management reform within the District of Columbia
Public Schools.
"(b) Functions.
Specific functions of the Task Force shall include the
following:
"(1) Within 60 days of the approval of the Board of
Education, adopt by a majority vote the Financial Management Reform Plan
developed pursuant to subsection (e);
"(2) Convene monthly, or more frequently as deemed
necessary and appropriate, to report on the progress of, identify
obstacles to, and recommend amendments to the Reform Plan;
"(3) Identify ways that better coordinate and
improve financial management service delivery;
"(4) Monitor the Financial Management Reform Plan,
developed by the Superintendent for the District of Columbia Schools
and approved by the Board of Education for the District of Columbia,
to ensure that the Reform Plan is executed in an appropriate and timely manner; and
"(5) Determine specific savings targets for Fiscal
Year 2005 and beyond.
"(c) Composition of the Task Force.
"(1) The Task Force shall be comprised of the
following 8 members, or designees thereof.
"(A) The Mayor of the District of Columbia;
"(B) The Chair of the Committee on Education,
Libraries and Recreation for the Council of the District of Columbia;
"(C) The Chair of Committee of Finance and Revenue
for the Council of the District of Columbia;
"(D) The President of the Board of Education;
"(E) The District of Columbia Public Schools
Superintendent;
"(F) The State Education Officer of the District of
Columbia;
"(G) The Chief Financial Officer for the
District of Columbia; and
"(H) The Chief Financial Officer for the
District of Columbia Public Schools.
"(2) The following shall serve as advisory,
nonvoting members of the Task Force:
"(A) All the members of the Council's
Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation;
"(B) The department head or designee of the
Office of Financial Management;
"(C) The department head or designee of the
Committee on Financial Management and Student Services for the
Board of Education;
"(D) The department head or designee of the
Office of Corporation Counsel; and
"(E) The representative of the State Advisory
Panel on Financial Management in the District of Columbia;
"(3) The Task Force shall be co-chaired by the
Mayor and the Chair of the Committee on Education, Libraries and Recreation
for the Council of the District of Columbia.
"(4) The Director of the State Education
Office shall provide staffing for the Task Force.
"(d) Memorandum of Understanding.
"The voting members of the Task Force shall
adopt and sign a Memorandum of Understanding binding their respective agencies
regarding the implementation of the Reform Plan."
Sec. 5. Fiscal impact statement.
The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement in
the committee report as the fiscal impact statement required by section 602(c)(3) of
the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code
§ 1-233(c)(3)).
Sec. 6. Effective date.
This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the
event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto),
a 30-day period of Congressional review as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of
Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Code § 1-233(c)(1)),
and publication in the District of Columbia Register.
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