41-2831

41-2831. State educational system for
committed youth; report

A. The director shall establish a state educational system for committed
youth for the common and high school education of committed youth.

B. The director shall identify three persons who are qualified to serve as
superintendent of the state educational system for committed youth. The director and the
superintendent of public instruction shall agree on one of the three persons whom the
director shall employ as superintendent to manage the educational system. The
superintendent of the educational system shall employ teachers and other personnel as
needed in accordance with chapter 4, article 5 of this title, subject to the approval of
the director. All persons who are employed to work in the educational system including
the superintendent shall hold the appropriate certificate prescribed by the state board
of education in section 15-203, subsection A, paragraph 14.

C. The director shall cause to be implemented the course of study for youth who are
enrolled in the state educational system for committed youth.

D. The director shall consider the inclusion of factors related to a pupil's
academic progress and standards of behavior as part of the length of stay guidelines
adopted as prescribed in section 41-2816.

E. The state educational system for committed youth shall provide appropriate
education to all committed youth as required by state and federal law. If not otherwise
required by law, the educational system shall provide an appropriate education to all
committed youth who have not received a high school diploma or a high school certificate
of equivalency.

F. On entrance of a youth to the state educational system for committed youth, the
educational system shall administer a basic skills examination to the youth to determine
the educational needs of the youth. A similar examination shall be administered on the
youth's exit from the educational system to assess the youth's progress while enrolled in
the educational system.

G. The department is entitled to receive equalization assistance for the costs of
the state educational system for committed youth as provided in title 15, chapter 11.1.

H. The superintendent shall:

1. Keep records and provide information as the department of education requires to
determine the appropriate amount of equalization assistance.

2. Prepare an annual financial report containing information similar to that
provided by school districts in the report prescribed in section 15-904 in a format
prescribed by the department of administration in consultation with the auditor general
and submit the report to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the
president of the senate and the department of education by November 1. When submitting
the report to the speaker and president, the superintendent shall send a copy of the
report to the chairmen of the house and senate education committees and shall send a
notice to all other legislators that the report is available on request.

3. Establish a system for communicating with each youth's school district of
residence in order to facilitate the transfer of records, the determination of the most
appropriate educational program and the transfer of educational credit.

I. The department of administration shall develop and maintain a special pay plan
for teachers and other professional educational personnel within the state educational
system for committed youth. The pay plan shall attempt to keep salaries at a comparable
level to that of public school district personnel. Recommendations for this pay plan
shall be included within the department of administration's annual recommendation to the
legislature pursuant to section 41-763.01.