Schools; providing procedures relating to graduation rates. Emergency.
Summary
SB 695 amends Oklahoma’s graduation-rate statute to expressly apply to charter schools as well as school districts and secondary schools. It directs the State Board of Education to continue using the four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate and the extended-year adjusted cohort graduation rate, and to report those rates at the charter school site, district, and state levels, with subgroup disaggregation as required under federal education law.
The bill also updates the statutory federal reference from the No Child Left Behind Act to the Every Student Succeeds Act. It clarifies how students may be removed from a graduation cohort, allowing written or electronic confirmation of transfer, emigration, or death, and specifies what counts as acceptable documentation for transfers, including enrollment in another qualifying school or program, official documentation in the state data system, records requests from a receiving school, or a parent/guardian withdrawal notice. It further states that students not enrolled in a program leading to a recognized credential should remain in the cohort for calculation purposes but not be counted as graduates.
Impact
SB 695 would change Oklahoma law governing how high school graduation rates are calculated and reported, with the main effect of bringing charter schools explicitly into the same cohort-graduation framework already used for school districts and secondary schools. It affects the State Board of Education’s reporting duties and the documentation standards schools must use when removing students from graduation cohorts, which can influence accountability calculations, school report cards, and performance metrics for public schools and charter schools.
Sentiment
The available record shows no committee testimony or recorded votes, so there is no direct evidence of debate or opposition in the provided materials. The bill’s caption and text suggest a technical, administrative measure focused on clarifying graduation-rate procedures rather than a controversial policy change. Its emergency clause and effective-date language indicate an intent for prompt implementation, which is often associated with a broadly practical or nonpartisan adjustment.
Contention
The main potential points of contention are procedural rather than ideological: whether charter schools should be subject to the same graduation-rate reporting rules as districts, and what documentation should be sufficient to remove a student from a cohort. Schools may be concerned about the administrative burden of obtaining and retaining official transfer confirmation, while accountability advocates may favor these requirements to prevent inaccurate graduation-rate reporting. Another possible issue is the treatment of students in nontraditional educational settings, since the bill excludes students not enrolled in a recognized diploma- or credential-granting program from being counted as graduates.
Schools; modifying calculation of the certain adjusted cohort graduation rates; modifying calculation of Oklahoma School Testing Program annual reports. Effective date. Emergency.
Schools; requiring school districts and charter schools to submit certain list of library materials; providing process for reporting violations; providing penalties. Effective date. Emergency.
Relating to the authority of the Wood County Central Hospital District of Wood County, Texas, to provide brain and memory care services to residents of the hospital district through the creation and operation of brain and memory health care services districts.