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§ 26-2603-B. Powers and duties of the board

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 24 P.S. EducationEffective: June 28, 2019

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 24 P.S. Education
Chapter 1. Public School Code of 1949 (Refs & Annos)
Article XXVI-B. The State Board of Education
Effective: June 28, 2019
24 P.S. § 26-2603-B
§ 26-2603-B. Powers and duties of the board
Currentness
(a) The board shall have the power, and its duty shall be, to review the statements of policy, standards, rules and regulations formulated by the Council of Basic Education and the Council of Higher Education, and adopt broad policies and principles, and establish standards governing the educational program of the Commonwealth.
(b) The board and the Secretary of Education shall jointly employ and fix the compensation of such staff as it deems necessary to perform the duties of the board. The board shall be entitled to legal counsel which shall be designated by the Office of General Counsel, which legal counsel shall not also be legal counsel to the Department of Education.
(c) The board shall develop an annual operating budget, including projected operating expenses of the Professional Standards and Practices Commission. It shall include salaries for staff, office materials and equipment, and all expenses for the operation of the board and commission. This budget shall be presented to the Secretary of Education. Upon adoption of the general appropriations act, the department shall notify the board of the amount of its allocation.
(d) The board shall also have the authority and duty to:
(1) approve or disapprove an application for the creation of a new school district, or change in the boundaries of an existing school district;
(2) establish, whenever deemed advisable, committees of professional and technical advisors to assist the councils in performing research studies undertaken by them;
(3) manage and have custody of the State School Fund;
(4)(i) apply for, receive and administer, subject to any applicable regulations or laws of the Federal Government or any agency thereof, any Federal grants, appropriations, allocations and programs for the development of academic facilities on behalf of the Commonwealth, any of its school districts or any institution of higher education, public or private, within this Commonwealth;
(ii) subject to criteria developed by the Secretary of Education and subject to any applicable regulations or laws of the Federal Government or any agency thereof, to develop, alter, amend and submit to the Federal Government State plans for participation in Federal grants, appropriations, allocations and programs for the development of academic facilities and to make regulations, criteria, methods, forms, procedures and to do all other things which may be necessary to make possible the participation of the Commonwealth in such Federal grants, appropriations, allocations and programs for the development of academic facilities;
(iii) hold hearings, issue subpoenas and render decisions as to the priority assigned to any project, or as to any other matter or determination affecting any applicant for Federal grants, appropriations, allocations and programs for the development of academic facilities;
(iv) adopt rules or procedures and prescribe regulations for the submission to it of all matters within its jurisdiction; and
(v) submit, annually, to the Governor, on or before the first Monday of December, a report of its proceedings during that year, together with such recommendations as the board shall deem necessary;
(5) adopt policies under which the Secretary of Education shall approve or disapprove any action of a State-owned university, community college or State-related or State-aided college or university in establishing additional branches or campuses, or in discontinuing branches or campuses;
(6) adopt policies under which the Secretary of Education shall approve or disapprove any action of a State-owned university, community college or State-related or State-aided college or university in establishing new professional schools or upper division programs by two (2) year institutions;
(7) adopt policies under which the Secretary of Education shall approve or disapprove applications by two (2) year institutions to become four (4) year institutions;
(8) adopt policies under which the Secretary of Education shall approve or disapprove the request of any private institution of higher education for admission to State-related or State-aided status, or for eligibility for other State financial support;
(9) require the submission of long-range plans from all public and private institutions of higher education at the times and in the form requested by the board. Such documents shall be reviewed by the Council of Higher Education and the board in the development of a master plan for higher education as provided in subsection (h) and section 2604-B(c)(1);1
(9.1) adopt policies encouraging the inclusion of trauma-informed approaches in professional education curriculum in all public and private institutions of higher education in this Commonwealth issuing degrees to individuals who may desire to teach in the schools of this Commonwealth; and
(10)(i) Approve or disapprove standards proposed by the department in order to comply with the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 20012 to maintain the eligibility of this Commonwealth to receive Federal funding for education programs. The board shall approve or disapprove the standards within 30 days of submission to the board's office or at its next scheduled meeting, whichever is sooner. Failure of the board to approve or disapprove the standards within the time established under this section shall be deemed an approval of the standards.3
(ii) Standards promulgated under this section shall be deposited with the Pennsylvania Bulletin for publication.
(iii), (iv) Expired effective June 30, 2004.
(e) With regard to State-owned institutions, approval or disapproval by the Secretary of Education under the provisions of clauses (5) and (6) of subsection (d) shall not be made until after recommendation by the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education, whenever such recommendation is deemed necessary or required by law.
(f) No institution of higher education may proceed with any action unless it has been approved by the Secretary of Education under the provisions of clauses (5) through (8) of subsection (d).
(g) With regard to approval by the Secretary of Education under the provisions of clauses (5) through (8) of subsection (d), no action to be financed wholly or in part from State appropriations shall be taken by an institution of higher learning (i) prior to the next fiscal year or until the General Assembly approves the Governor's budget for the next fiscal year, and (ii) prior to the Governor and the Secretary of the Budget being provided with written notification of such approval, including projected five (5) year fiscal analysis and an explanation as to the necessity for the proposed action in relation to the master plan for higher education.
(h) Every ten (10) years, the board shall adopt a master plan for higher education which shall be for the guidance of the Governor, the General Assembly, and all institutions of higher education financed wholly or in part from State appropriations. The master plan shall:
(1) define the role of each type of institution (State-owned universities, State-related universities, community colleges, private colleges and universities and off-campus centers of any of these and other institutions authorized to grant degrees) in this Commonwealth;
(2) recommend enrollment levels for each such institution;
(3) recommend methods for governance;
(4) recommend methods for the distribution of State funds among the institutions;
(5) evaluate the status of physical plants and technical equipment and project needs;
(6) evaluate the status of and projection of manpower needs;
(7) evaluate enrollment accessibility to institutions of higher learning by the public; and
(8) otherwise provide for an orderly development of institutions of higher education in this Commonwealth.
(i) Every ten (10) years, the board shall adopt a master plan for basic education which shall be for the guidance of the Governor, the General Assembly, and all public school entities. The master plan shall consider and make recommendations on the following areas, and any other areas which the board deems appropriate:
(1) school program approval, evaluation and requirements;
(2) school personnel training and certification;
(3) student testing and assessment;
(4) school governance and organization;
(5) curriculum materials development;
(6) school finance;
(7) school buildings and facilities;
(8) transportation;
(9) technical services and support services to local education agencies; and
(10) projected long-range needs of the public school system of this Commonwealth.
(j) The board shall request from and receive publicly at a scheduled meeting recommendations of the Professional Standards and Practices Commission pertaining to teacher certification, professional practices, accreditation of teacher-education programs and long-range plans affecting these subject areas. When such recommendations are received, the board shall consider and review these recommendations during the development of any statements of policy, guidelines, standards or rules and regulations as they relate to the above subject areas. If such recommendations are not received in a timely fashion, the board may continue to develop and adopt statements of policy, guidelines, standards or rules and regulations in these subject areas.
(k) The board shall make all reasonable rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this article and carry out all duties placed upon it by law.

Credits

1949, March 10, P.L. 30, No. 14, art. XXVI-B, § 2603-B, added 1988, March 30, P.L. 321, No. 43, § 5, imd. effective. Amended 2002, June 29, P.L. 524, No. 88, § 31, imd. effective; 2003, Dec. 23, P.L. 304, No. 48, § 37, imd. effective. Reenacted 2004, July 15, P.L. 722, No. 82, § 4, retroactive effective June 30, 2003. Amended 2017, Nov. 6, P.L. 1142, No. 55, § 20, imd. effective; 2019, June 28, P.L. 146, No. 18, § 21, imd. effective.

Footnotes

1
24 P.S. § 26-2604-B.
2
See 20 U.S.C.A. § 6311 et seq.
3
On Sept. 19, 2002, the State Board approved standards necessary to comply with the provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, 20 U.S.C.A. § 6301 et seq., as proposed by the Department. See 32 Pa.B. 5151, Oct. 12, 2002. See, also, 32 Pa.B. 6030, Dec. 7, 2002.
24 P.S. § 26-2603-B, PA ST 24 P.S. § 26-2603-B
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document