NRS386.740. Requirements of school empowerment plan; request for waiver from certain statutes and regulations; budget for empowerment school and discretion over certain percentage of money.

      1.  Each empowerment plan for a school must:

      (a) Set forth the manner by which the school will be governed;

      (b) Set forth the proposed budget for the school, including, without limitation, the cost of carrying out the empowerment plan, and the manner by which the money apportioned to the school will be administered;

      (c) Prescribe the academic plan for the school, including, without limitation, the manner by which courses of study will be provided to the pupils enrolled in the school and any special programs that will be offered for pupils;

      (d) Prescribe the manner by which the achievement of pupils will be measured and reported for the school, including, without limitation, the results of the pupils on the examinations administered pursuant to NRS 389.550 and, if applicable for the grade levels of the empowerment school, the end-of-course examinations administered pursuant to NRS 389.805 and the college and career readiness assessment administered pursuant to NRS 389.807;

      (e) Prescribe the manner by which teachers and other licensed educational personnel will be selected and hired for the school, which must be determined and negotiated pursuant to chapter 288 of NRS;

      (f) Prescribe the manner by which all other staff for the school will be selected and hired, which must be determined and negotiated pursuant to chapter 288 of NRS;

      (g) Indicate whether the empowerment plan will offer an incentive pay structure for staff and a description of that pay structure, if applicable;

      (h) Indicate the intended ratio of pupils to teachers at the school, designated by grade level, which must comply with NRS 388.700 or 388.720, as applicable;

      (i) Provide a description of the professional development that will be offered to the teachers and other licensed educational personnel employed at the school;

      (j) Prescribe the manner by which the empowerment plan will increase the involvement of parents and legal guardians of pupils enrolled in the school;

      (k) Comply with the plan to improve the achievement of the pupils enrolled in the school prepared pursuant to NRS 385.357;

      (l) Address the specific educational needs and concerns of the pupils who are enrolled in the school; and

      (m) Set forth the calendar and schedule for the school.

      2.  If the empowerment plan includes an incentive pay structure, that pay structure must:

      (a) Provide an incentive for all staff employed at the school;

      (b) Set forth the standards that must be achieved by the pupils enrolled in the school and any other measurable objectives that must be met to be eligible for incentive pay; and

      (c) Be in addition to the salary or hourly rate of pay negotiated pursuant to chapter 288 of NRS that is otherwise payable to the employee.

      3.  An empowerment plan may:

      (a) Request a waiver from a statute contained in this title or a regulation of the State Board or the Department.

      (b) Identify the services of the school district which the school wishes to receive, including, without limitation, professional development, transportation, food services and discretionary services. Upon approval of the empowerment plan, the school district may deduct from the total apportionment to the empowerment school the costs of such services.

      4.  For purposes of determining the budget pursuant to paragraph (b) of subsection 1, if a public school which converts to an empowerment school is a:

      (a) Charter school, the amount of the budget is the amount equal to the apportionments and allowances from the State Distributive School Account pursuant to NRS 387.121 to 387.126, inclusive, and its proportionate share of any other money available from federal, state or local sources that the school or the pupils enrolled in the school are eligible to receive.

      (b) Public school, other than a charter school, the empowerment team for the school shall have discretion of 90 percent of the amount of money from the state financial aid and local funds that the school district apportions for the school, without regard to any line-item specifications or specific uses determined advisable by the school district, unless the empowerment team determines that a lesser amount is necessary to carry out the empowerment plan.

      (Added to NRS by 2007, 3280; A 2009, 2328, 2330; 2011, 879; 2013, 1927, 3264, 3806)