Form revised February 6, 2008

FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS

Department:	Contact Person/Phone:	DOF Analyst/Phone:
Neighborhoods/ Office for Education Division	Donnie Grabowski/233-2603	Becky Guerra/684-5339

Legislation Title:

A RESOLUTION approving amendments to a City of Seattle/Seattle School District Partnership Agreement as required by Ordinance 121529.

· Summary of the Legislation:

The proposed Resolution approves revisions to the original language of the “High Risk Youth” Program language in the Family & Education Levy’s Partnership Agreement between the City and the Seattle School District.  The Partnership Agreement was originally approved via Resolution 30768. 

· Background:

Ordinance 121529, which related to the establishment of the 2004 Families & Education Levy (“Levy”), stated that voter-approved taxes and interest earnings deposited into the 2004 Families and Education Subfund of the Educational and Developmental Services Fund be spent only in accordance with an implementation and evaluation plan.  The ordinance further stated in Section 9 that there shall be a Partnership Agreement developed and approved by the City and Seattle School District to establish roles and responsibilities of the City and School District in developing the plan.  This Resolution, which amends a portion of the Partnership Agreement language for the Levy’s High Risk Youth program, is being submitted in conjunction with a Council Bill, which proposes amending a portion of the original implementation and evaluation plan language established for the Levy.  This Resolution will approve amendments to the Partnership Agreement to reflect those changes to the implementation and evaluation plan.

After two years of modest results with the Seattle Team for Youth (STFY) investment funded by the Levy’s High Risk Youth Program, and because of emerging data about the importance of 9^th grade transition in reducing drop-out rates, the Office for Education (OFE) is recommending to align Levy resources with high school academic achievement strategies implemented at the high school level beginning in the 2008-2009 school year.  (HSD is currently working on proposed recommendations for reprogramming STFY.) OFE is recommending a Request for Investment (RFI) process, asking schools to propose how Levy funds would be integrated into the schools’ efforts to identify at-risk students and implement academic intervention strategies based on a best practices summary compiled by OFE.  High schools receiving Levy funding would be required to implement strategies that address 9^th grade transition, personalize course planning, focus on attendance, provide opportunities for additional learning time, and align with current Levy and school programs.

X_ This legislation has financial implications.

The Human Services Department may request alternate funding sources to continue a revised STFY program, which would have financial implications, but would be beyond the scope of this legislation.