SB 1341 — An Act amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949, providing for community-engaged schools; establishing the Community-Engaged School for Success Pilot Program; and imposing duties on the Department of Education.

PRINTER'S NO.   1734

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                        SENATE BILL
                        No. 1341
                                                 Session of
                                                   2026

     INTRODUCED BY LANGERHOLC, BARTOLOTTA, PHILLIPS-HILL, BROOKS,
        STEFANO AND BOSCOLA, MAY 20, 2026

     REFERRED TO EDUCATION, MAY 20, 2026


                                       AN ACT
 1   Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
 2      act relating to the public school system, including certain
 3      provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
 4      schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
 5      laws relating thereto," providing for community-engaged
 6      schools; establishing the Community-Engaged School for
 7      Success Pilot Program; and imposing duties on the Department
 8      of Education.
 9      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10   hereby enacts as follows:
11      Section 1.     The act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), known
12   as the Public School Code of 1949, is amended by adding an
13   article to read:
14                                ARTICLE XV-O
15                         COMMUNITY-ENGAGED SCHOOLS
16   Section 1501-O.    Scope of article.
17      This article relates to the Community-Engaged School for
18   Success Pilot Program.
19   Section 1502-O.    Definitions.
20      The following words and phrases when used in this article
21   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
 1   context clearly indicates otherwise:
 2      "Community-engaged school."     A school that is designated by
 3   the secretary to participate in the program and is engaged in
 4   developing and implementing a community engagement plan to
 5   provide engaged student support services.
 6      "Community partner."     A community group, parent organization,
 7   early childhood learning program, business organization, dental
 8   care provider, health care provider, mental health provider,
 9   civic organization, local governmental agency, school employee
10   organization, institution of higher education or other
11   organization that is able to provide engaged student support
12   services to students in a school setting.
13      "Coordinator."   An individual who works full time within a
14   community-engaged school, in consultation with school leaders
15   and staff, to promote and coordinate the provision of engaged
16   student support services.
17      "Department."    The Department of Education of the
18   Commonwealth.
19      "Engaged student support services."     Supplemental services
20   provided by school personnel or community partners, or both, to
21   students in a school setting that remove academic and
22   nonacademic barriers to success but do not supplant services
23   provided under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement
24   entered into in accordance with the act of July 23, 1970
25   (P.L.563, No.195), known as the Public Employe Relations Act.
26   The term includes the following services:
27          (1)   Academic assistance.
28          (2)   Behavior interventions.
29          (3)   Community and service learning.
30          (4)   Family engagement.

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 1          (5)    Mental health services.
 2          (6)    Health care services.
 3          (7)    Dental health services.
 4          (8)    Basic needs.
 5          (9)    College and career preparation.
 6          (10)     Enrichment activities.
 7          (11)     Life skills.
 8      "Program."     The Community-Engaged School for Success Pilot
 9   Program established under section 1503-O.
10      "Program manager."    A nonprofit community-based organization
11   that works on behalf of a community-engaged school or schools to
12   identify, implement, manage and evaluate the provision of
13   engaged student support services to students.
14      "Secretary."    The Secretary of Education of the Commonwealth.
15   Section 1503-O.    Community-Engaged School for Success Pilot
16                 Program.
17      The Community-Engaged School for Success Pilot Program is
18   established under the department.
19   Section 1504-O.    Community-engaged school eligibility.
20      Any school operated by a school district in this Commonwealth
21   is eligible for designation by the secretary as a community-
22   engaged school if it meets at least one of the following
23   criteria:
24          (1)    The school is ranked in the lowest 15% of the
25      school's designation as an elementary school or a secondary
26      school based on combined mathematics and reading scores from
27      the annual assessment administered in the previous school
28      year.
29          (2)    The school is located in a school district where the
30      acute poverty percentage as calculated under section 2502.53

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 1      is equal to or greater than 30%, and the school's enrollment
 2      is representative of the school district's acute poverty
 3      percentage.
 4   Section 1505-O.        Community-engaged school designation.
 5      (a)     Application.--A school that seeks to be designated as a
 6   community-engaged school must submit an application to the
 7   department in a form and with information as determined by the
 8   department.
 9      (b)     Duty of secretary.--No later than September 30, 2026,
10   the secretary shall designate no less than 20 schools that have
11   applied for designation under this article as community-engaged
12   schools.
13      (c)     Requirements of designees.--A school designated by the
14   secretary as a community-engaged school shall:
15            (1)   Appoint a program manager for the school within 90
16      days of the designation.
17            (2)   Appoint a coordinator for the school within 90 days
18      of the designation.
19            (3)   Develop, implement and carry out the provisions of a
20      community engagement plan approved by the secretary.
21   Section 1506-O.        Community engagement plan.
22      (a)     Development.--The community engagement plan of a
23   community-engaged school shall include the following:
24            (1)   An evaluation and analysis of indicators of school
25      and student performance needs that includes the following:
26                  (i)    Academic performance, including achievement and
27            growth.
28                  (ii)    Graduation and promotion rates.
29                  (iii)    Chronic absenteeism.
30                  (iv)    Disciplinary information.

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 1                  (v)    School safety information.
 2                  (vi)    Unique student populations.
 3                  (vii)    Other factors and information necessary to
 4            identify academic and nonacademic barriers to success in
 5            school.
 6            (2)   A qualitative and quantitative analysis that
 7      assesses areas of need through surveys, forums and focus
 8      groups with parents and other stakeholders, including the
 9      following:
10                  (i)    Student needs regarding food, clothing, shelter
11            and employment.
12                  (ii)    Student needs and access to health care
13            services, mental health services and behavior health
14            services.
15                  (iii)    Family literacy.
16                  (iv)    Student and parent access to job training and
17            placement programs.
18                  (v)    Student access to early childhood education.
19                  (vi)    Family engagement in school activities.
20                  (vii)    Student engagement in out-of-school academic
21            programs.
22                  (viii)    School culture and climate.
23                  (ix)    School safety.
24                  (x)    An evaluation of current programs and services
25            currently provided by the community-engaged school.
26                  (xi)    Other factors and information necessary to
27            identify academic and nonacademic barriers to success in
28            the community-engaged school.
29      (b)   Plan submission to secretary.--No later than March 30,
30   2027, a community-engaged school shall utilize the results of

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 1   the evaluation and analysis in subsection (a) and submit a
 2   community engagement plan to the secretary for approval. The
 3   community engagement plan shall include the following:
 4          (1)   An organizational chart for the community-engaged
 5      school that reflects upon the relationship of school
 6      leadership, staff, coordinator and program manager.
 7          (2)   A list of areas of need and any academic and
 8      nonacademic barriers to achievement.
 9          (3)   A list of the specific engaged student support
10      services and programs to be provided to students, including:
11                (i)    The community partners providing the services
12          and programs.
13                (ii)    A description of the services and programs to
14          be provided.
15          (4)   Performance goals and benchmarks to measure academic
16      performance and other areas of need.
17          (5)   Procedures to formally evaluate performance.
18          (6)   A plan for reporting progress and outcomes related
19      to the services and programs provided in the community
20      engagement plan on an annual basis to the school board of
21      directors and the department no later than August 31 of each
22      year. The plan shall include at least five measurable
23      indicators to gauge the success of the services and programs.
24      The measurable indicators may include the following:
25                (i)    The number and percentage of students who
26          remained in school.
27                (ii)    The number and percentage of students who were
28          promoted to the next grade level.
29                (iii)    The number and percentage of students who
30          graduated.

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 1                  (iv)    The number and percentage of students who met
 2            their attendance goal.
 3                  (v)    The number and percentage of students who met
 4            their academic goal.
 5                  (vi)    The number and percentage of students who met
 6            their behavioral goal.
 7            (7)   A budget approved by the school board of directors
 8      to accomplish the community engagement plan that identifies
 9      the resources allocated to support the community-engaged
10      school and its community engagement plan.
11            (8)   Policies and procedures to ensure appropriate data
12      sharing with the coordinator, program manager and community
13      partner.
14            (9)   Other items required by the secretary to ensure the
15      success of the community engagement plan.
16      (c)   Plan approval.--
17            (1)   Within 30 days of receipt of the community
18      engagement plan, the secretary shall approve the community
19      engagement plan or notify the school district that revisions
20      to the community engagement plan are needed and transmit
21      suggested revisions to the board of school directors.
22            (2)   A community engagement plan that is denied by the
23      secretary may be revised and resubmitted at the direction of
24      the secretary.
25   Section 1507-O.       Duties of program manager.
26      The duties of the program manager shall include the
27   following:
28            (1)   The development of the evaluation and analysis of
29      indicators of student performance needs under section 1506-
30      O(a).

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 1            (2)   The development of a site plan to be provided to the
 2      community-engaged school within 90 days of the appointment of
 3      the program manager. The site plan shall include the
 4      following:
 5                  (i)    A summary of the needs identified under section
 6            1506-O(a).
 7                  (ii)    The goals and measures for addressing the
 8            identified needs of the community-engaged school.
 9                  (iii)    The manner in which the program manager will
10            work cooperatively with staff of the community-engaged
11            school.
12            (3)   The development of the annual report under section
13      1506-O(b)(6).
14   Section 1508-O.        Duties of department.
15      (a)   Application.--The department shall develop an
16   application process for a school district to apply on behalf of
17   an eligible school under section 1504-O for designation as a
18   community-engaged school.
19      (b)   Program guidelines.--Within 30 days of the effective
20   date of this subsection, the department shall develop guidelines
21   specifying minimum quality standards for an organization to
22   qualify as a program manager under this article.
23      (c)   Technical assistance.--
24            (1)   The department shall provide technical assistance to
25      community-engaged schools, including academic expertise and
26      assistance, training, program design, grant writing
27      assistance and data collection and analysis.
28            (2)   The department may enter into a contract to provide
29      the technical assistance required under paragraph (1).
30      (d)   Best practices.--The department shall facilitate the

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 1   sharing of best practices among community-engaged schools and
 2   with other schools in this Commonwealth. In sharing best
 3   practices under this subsection, the department shall ensure
 4   compliance with all student privacy laws, including 20 U.S.C. §
 5   1232g (relating to family educational and privacy rights).
 6      (e)   Annual report.--No later than December 31, 2027, and
 7   each year thereafter, the department shall submit an annual
 8   report of the information collected from the community-engaged
 9   schools under section 1506-O(b)(6) to the Governor, the
10   chairperson and minority chairperson of the Appropriations
11   Committee of the Senate, the chairperson and minority
12   chairperson of the Appropriations Committee of the House of
13   Representatives, the chairperson and minority chairperson of the
14   Education Committee of the Senate and the chairperson and
15   minority chairperson of the Education Committee of the House of
16   Representatives. The department shall post the annual report on
17   the department's publicly accessible Internet website.
18   Section 1509-O.   Community-engaged school grants.
19      (a)   Amount.--The department may award community-engaged
20   school grants to school districts on behalf of schools
21   designated as community-engaged schools upon approval of the
22   school's community engagement plan. The amount of the grant
23   under this section may not exceed $125,000 for each community-
24   engaged school.
25      (b)   Matching requirement.--A school district must match the
26   amount of the grant with school district money at least equal to
27   the State allocation.
28      (c)   Duration.--To the extent that funding for grants is
29   available and the school continues to follow its community
30   engagement plan to the secretary's satisfaction, an annual award

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 1   shall be made in five consecutive years.
 2      (d)   Limitation.--No school district may receive an annual
 3   grant allocation that exceeds 10% of the money available under
 4   the program.
 5      (e)   Diversity.--The secretary shall ensure that the grant
 6   funding under this program is geographically dispersed
 7   throughout this Commonwealth.
 8      (f)   Use and audit.--Grant money shall be used exclusively
 9   for the purpose of supporting a community-engaged school's
10   community engagement plan and are subject to audit by the
11   department and the Auditor General.
12      Section 2.   This act shall take effect immediately.




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