ENTITLED, An Act to
impose sanctions on schools and certified school personnel for
compromising the integrity of a state-required academic achievement test.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
Section
1.
That chapter
13-3
be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as
follows:
If the superintendent of a school district has sufficient evidence that cheating occurred on a
state-required academic achievement test, the superintendent of the school district shall investigate
the circumstances. For the purposes of this section, cheating is the unauthorized acquiring of
knowledge of the achievement test by a student or providing unauthorized access to secure test
questions or tampering or altering of student answer sheets by school district personnel.
Section
2.
That chapter
13-3
be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as
follows:
Following the investigation, the superintendent shall report the results of the investigation to
the secretary of the Department of Education. Upon receiving the report, the secretary shall
determine whether the alleged cheating occurred and, if so, if it was severe enough to affect the
results of the achievement test. If the secretary finds that the cheating did occur, the affected score
sheets may not count and shall be discarded. The secretary shall also determine if the cheating was
severe enough to affect the school's adequate yearly progress under the terms of the state
accountability system established pursuant to
§
13-3-62. If the cheating was severe enough to affect
the school's adequate yearly progress, the secretary may determine that the school does not meet
adequate yearly progress for that school year. The decision of the secretary regarding adequate
yearly progress may be appealed to the South Dakota Board of Education.
Section
3.
That chapter
13-42
be amended by adding thereto a NEW SECTION to read as
follows: