Read the full stored bill text
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 0
HB495
SLED488-1
By Representative Kiel
RFD: Education Policy
First Read: 24-Feb-26
1
2
3
4
5
SLED488-1 02/24/2026 KMS (L)cr 2026-1018
Page 1
First Read: 24-Feb-26
SYNOPSIS:
Under existing law, public K-12 schools are
annually assigned a grade based on school and district
performance.
This bill would exclude the academic performance
of students who transfer from a failing school from
consideration when assigning a grade to a school or
school district for the first three years of enrollment
of the transferring student.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to public K-12 education and the school report
card; to amend Section 16-6C-2, Code of Alabama 1975, to
exclude the academic achievement of any student who transfers
from a failing school from being considered in assigning the
annual grade to a school or school district for the first
three years of enrollment of the transferring student.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Section 16-6C-2 of the Code of Alabama 1975,
is amended to read as follows:
"§16-6C-2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 2
"§16-6C-2
(a) In addition to any other labels or designations
assigned to public schools and public school districts
pursuant to a federal, state, school, district, or other
assessment or accountability system, the State Superintendent
of Education, consistent with this chapter, shall develop a
school grading system reflective of school and district
performance. The grading system shall utilize the traditional
A, B, C, D, or F framework.
(1) Schools receiving a grade of "A" are making
excellent progress.
(2) Schools receiving a grade of "B" are making above
average progress.
(3) Schools receiving a grade of "C" are making
satisfactory progress.
(4) Schools receiving a grade of "D" are making less
than satisfactory progress.
(5) Schools receiving a grade of "F" are failing to
make adequate progress.
(b) In developing this school grading system, the State
Superintendent of Education shall seek input from parents,
teachers, school administrators, existing State Department of
Education advisory groups or task forces, and other education
stakeholders on how the system can properly reflect not only
the overall academic proficiency of each public school but
also the academic improvements made by each public school,
along with other key performance indicators that give a total
profile of the school or the school system, or both.
(c) The State Superintendent of Education shall
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 3
(c) The State Superintendent of Education shall
prescribe the design and content of the school grading system
by not later than December 31, 2012. It is the intent of the
Legislature that the system be in place by no later than the
2013-2014 school year. The system may not be utilized by the
State Superintendent of Education or the State Department of
Education until sufficient rules have been adopted by the
State Board of Education pursuant to the Alabama
Administrative Procedure Act.
(d) Using an easy to understand grading scale, the
school grading system shall describe achievement in the state,
each district, and each school. Additionally, the State
Superintendent of Education shall not be precluded from also
assigning grades to school feeder patterns or grades that
reflect the fiscal health and fiscal efficiency of a school or
school system.
(e) The State Superintendent of Education shall make
these grades available to the general public and shall post
these grades on the website of the State Department of
Education as soon as the grades are available. Additionally,
appropriate grade information shall be delivered to the parent
or guardian of each public school student at least once
annually in the same manner that student report cards are
currently delivered.
(f)(1) Using state-authorized assessments and other key
performance indicators that give a total profile of the school
or the school system, or both, a school's grade, at a minimum,
shall be based on a combination of student achievement scores,
achievement gap, college and career readiness, learning gains,
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 4
achievement gap, college and career readiness, learning gains,
and other indicators as determined by the State Superintendent
of Education to impact student learning and success.
(2)a. Commencing with the 2021-2022 school year, the
academic achievement of each student identified as an English
language learner who has not shown proficiency on ACCESS for
EL, or other state-approved English proficiency assessment,
may not be considered in assigning an academic achievement
grade to a school or school system for the first five years of
enrollment of the student. The educational progress of each of
these students shall continue to be measured in the academic
growth category and the progress in English language
proficiency category, and, at the end of the five-year period
for the student, his or her proficiency shall again be
considered in assigning an academic achievement grade to a
school or school system on the state A-F school grading
system.
b. Commencing with the 2024-2025 school year, the
academic achievement of each student identified as a transfer
student from a nonpublic school may not be considered in
assigning an academic achievement grade to a school or school
system for the first three years of enrollment of the transfer
student. The educational progress of each of these transfer
students shall continue to be measured in the academic growth
category, and, beginning with the fourth year of enrollment of
the transfer student, his or her academic achievement shall be
considered in assigning an academic achievement grade to a
school or school system on the state A-F school grading
system.
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 5
system.
c. Commencing with the 2026-2027 school year, the
academic achievement of each student identified as a transfer
student from a failing school may not be considered in
assigning an academic achievement grade to a school or school
system for the first three years following enrollment of the
transfer student. The educational progress of each transfer
student shall continue to be measured in the academic growth
category, and, beginning with the fourth year of enrollment of
the transfer student, his or her academic achievement shall be
considered in assigning an academic achievement grade to a
school or school system on the state A-F school grading
system.
(3) The State Superintendent of Education may not amend
the state Every Student Succeeds Act option for including test
scores of English language learners enrolled in United States
schools. The option provides as follows: For the first year of
enrollment, the test scores shall be reported, but the results
on both the reading/language arts and math tests shall be
excluded from the federal accountability system; for the
second year of enrollment, a measure of student growth on both
tests shall be included in the federal accountability system;
and for the third year of enrollment, proficiency on both
tests shall be included in the federal accountability system.
Additionally, the option requires English language learners
who have successfully left the English language learner
subgroup by attaining English proficiency to be included in
that subgroup for accountability purposes for four years.
(g) The state A-F school grading system shall be
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
HB495 INTRODUCED
Page 6
(g) The state A-F school grading system shall be
consistently applied so that grades of one school or system
may be compared to the grades of any other school or system."
Section 2. This act shall become effective on June 1,
2026.
141
142
143
144