(1) (a) There is hereby created within the department of education the office of dropout prevention and student re-engagement. The head of the office shall be the director of the office of dropout prevention and student re-engagement and shall be appointed by the commissioner of education in accordance with section 13 of article XII of the state constitution. The office of dropout prevention and student re-engagement shall consist of the director and an assistant director who shall be appointed by the director. The commissioner may assign or otherwise direct other personnel within the department to assist the director and assistant director in meeting the responsibilities of the office. (b) The office of dropout prevention and student re-engagement and the director of the office are type 2 entities, as defined in section 24-1-105, and exercise their powers and perform their duties and functions under the department of education, the commissioner of education, and the state board of education. (c) The department is strongly encouraged to direct, to the extent possible, any increases in the amount of federal moneys received by the department for programs under Title I, part A of the "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965", 20 U.S.C. sec. 6301 et seq., programs under the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act", 20 U.S.C. sec. 1400, et seq., or other federal programs to assist in funding the activities of the office as specified in this article. (d) The department shall seek and may accept and expend gifts, grants, and donations from public or private entities to fund the operations of the office, including the personnel for the office and execution of the duties and responsibilities specified in this article. Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary, the department is not required to implement the provisions of this article until such time as the department has received an amount in gifts, grants, and donations from public or private entities that the department deems sufficient to adequately fund the operations of the office. (2) The office shall collaborate with local education providers to reduce the statewide and local student dropout rates and to increase the statewide and local graduation and completion rates in accordance with the goals specified in section 22-14-101. To accomplish this purpose, the office shall assist local education providers in: (a) Analyzing student data pertaining to student dropout rates, graduation rates, completion rates, mobility rates, truancy rates, suspension and expulsion rates, safety or discipline incidences, and student academic growth data at the state and local levels; and (b) Creating and evaluating student graduation and completion plans. (3) To accomplish the purposes specified in subsection (2) of this section, the office shall also: (a) Review state policies and assist local education providers in reviewing their policies pertaining to attendance, truancy, disciplinary actions under the local education provider's code of conduct, behavioral expectations, dropout prevention, and student engagement and re- engagement to identify effective strategies for and barriers to reducing the student dropout rates and increasing student engagement and re-engagement within the state; (b) Identify and recommend, as provided in section 22-14-104, best practices and effective strategies to reduce student dropout rates and increase student engagement and re- engagement; (c) Develop interagency agreements and otherwise cooperate with other state and federal agencies and with private, nonprofit agencies to collect and review student data and develop and recommend methods for reducing student dropout rates and increasing student engagement and re-engagement. The office shall, to the extent possible, collaborate with, at a minimum: (I) Career and technical education providers; (II) General educational development service providers; (III) The prevention services division in the department of public health and environment; (IV) The division of youth services and other agencies within the juvenile justice system; (V) The department of corrections; (VI) The judicial department; (VII) Institutions of higher education; (VIII) Offices of workforce development; (IX) Expanded learning opportunity and family education programs; (X) Adult basic education and English-as-a-second-language programs; (XI) Organizations that provide services for pregnant and parenting teens and students with special health and education needs; (XII) Agencies and nonprofit organizations within the child welfare system; (XIII) Private, nonprofit organizations that provide services for homeless families and youth; and (XIV) Private nonprofit or for-profit community arts organizations that work in either visual arts or performing arts; (d) Solicit public and private gifts, grants, and donations to assist in the implementation of this article; and (e) Evaluate the effectiveness of local education providers' efforts in reducing the statewide student dropout rate and increasing the statewide graduation and completion rates and to report progress in implementing the provisions of this article. (4) (a) The office shall collaborate with other divisions within the department to identify annually through the accreditation process those local education providers that do not meet their established graduation and completion rate expectations. Of those local education providers identified, the office shall use criteria adopted by rule of the state board to determine: (I) Which local education providers are most in need of improvement and assistance and shall recognize said local education providers as high priority local education providers; and (II) Which local education providers are in significant need of improvement and assistance and shall recognize said local education providers as priority local education providers. (b) The office shall provide technical assistance to each high priority local education provider and to priority local education providers as provided in this article. (5) In addition to the assistance specified in sections 22-14-106 (3) and 22-14-107 (5), the office shall provide technical assistance in the areas of dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement to the high priority local education providers and, to the extent practicable within existing resources, to priority local education providers. Technical assistance may include, but need not be limited to: (a) Training in implementing identified, effective, research-based strategies for dropout prevention and student engagement and re-engagement; (b) Assistance in estimating the cost of implementing the identified strategies in the schools operated or approved by the high priority or priority local education provider and analyzing the cost-effectiveness of the strategies; (c) Identification and recommendation of effective approaches applied by other Colorado local education providers that may be similarly situated to the high priority or priority local education provider.
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