Relating to temporary parental discretion for the retention of a student at grade level

Description

Senate File 265 temporarily provides for the 2021-2022 school year that if a parent submits a request prior to August 15, 2021, to a school district or a nonpublic school for the student to be retained at the student’s current grade level, the school district or nonpublic school will not promote the student to the next grade level if adequate academic progress was not made by the student in the 2020-2021 school year.

Background

There are a variety of approaches in determining grade promotion or retention of students, and policy making can take place through State legislation, by State education authorities, or by local education authorities. Examples of promotion and retention policies are as follows:

• Promotion gate policies, in which a student is expected to meet an established performance threshold before being promoted to the next grade.
• Use of an assessment to determine student eligibility for promotion or retention.
• The completion of remediation to meet proficiency levels.
• Requirement of a minimum number of attendance days.

In the State of Iowa, the determination to retain a student is a local decision and often involves decision making between the parent, teacher, and school administrators. For the history of recent State of Iowa legislation regarding grade retention, please read here. Table 1 shows recent year history of student retention history by grade level.2016-2017

School Year

Student

Enrollment

Number

of

Retained

Students

Retention

Percentage

2019-2020

School Year

Student

Enrollment

Number

of

Retained

Students

Retention

Percentage

2020-2021

School Year

Student

Enrollment

Number

of

Retained

Students

Retention

Percentage

Kindergarten 38,196 3,589 9.4% 39,832 3,646 9.2% 37,746 3,719 9.9% Grade 1 36,017 120 0.3% 35,894 90 0.3% 35,244 108 0.3% Grade 2 36,599 61 0.2% 35,274 37 0.1% 34,985 48 0.1% Grade 3 37,888 25 0.1% 35,253 34 0.1% 34,590 16 0.0% Grade 4 37,860 26 0.1% 36,360 11 0.0% 34,796 22 0.1% Grade 5 37,312 22 0.1% 37,185 13 0.0% 35,942 21 0.1% Grade 6 36,761 17 0.0% 38,547 26 0.1% 36,850 10 0.0% Grade 7 36,379 26 0.1% 38,823 45 0.1% 38,495 29 0.1% Grade 8 36,576 39 0.1% 38,189 35 0.1% 38,587 19 0.0% Grade 9 37,224 330 0.9% 38,725 355 0.9% 38,993 280 0.7% Grade 10 37,056 292 0.8% 37,614 277 0.7% 38,197 232 0.6% Grade 11 36,831 264 0.7% 37,145 267 0.7% 36,752 183 0.5% Grade 12 36,889 2,035 5.5% 37,013 1,875 5.1% 37,280 1,832 4.9% Total 481,588 6,846 1.4% 485,854 6,711 1.4% 478,457 6,519 1.4% Table 1 – Student Retention by School Year and Grade Level

Fiscal Impact

State Foundation School Aid provides funding to local school districts and area education agencies and is based on a per pupil formula. For FY 2021, the State cost per pupil is $7,048. Any resulting increase in enrollment from an additional year of schooling for a student will result in an additional cost per student through the school aid formula. The number of additional students being retained cannot be determined. However, there may be an increase as a result of changes in school settings resulting from COVID-19.

Sources

• Department of Education
• LSA calculations