Strategic Waivers School System (SWSS/IE2)

A Strategic Waiver School System receives flexibility through waivers of certain state education laws (Title 20), rules, and guidelines in exchange for greater accountability for increased student performance.​ A Strategic Waiver School System operates under the terms of a SWSS contract between the State Board of Education and the local Board of Education.

Requested flexibility from education laws, rules, and guidelines allows us to operate our system in the most efficient and effective ways, including how we choose to spend the dollars we receive, how we hire, train, and certify staff, and how we structure academic processes in our schools.

In 2009, GCPS became one of the first two districts in the state to operate with waivers, and it was initially known as IE² (Investing in Educational Excellence). We renewed that contract in 2015, and this contract would be our 3^rd renewal.

State law requires that if you elect to be a SWSS, you must have at least one of the following four waivers: Class Size Requirement (128), Certification Requirement (128), Expenditure Controls (128), and Salary Schedule Requirements (124). GCPS has all four of these waivers.

(Numbers in parentheses represent the number of school systems with each waiver).

GCPS has 42 waivers under the current contract. However, we are asking for 29 waivers in our next contract as some are no longer needed.

Each year, the state DOE will provide a report, which includes a list of schools that did not meet the accountability portion of the contract. District staff will work closely with schools to identify and capture the areas of improvement in the school's Local School Plan for Improvement (LSPI). Schools must meet the accountability component of the contract for 3 of the 5 years or in year 5. If, at the end of the contract, a school does not meet the accountability component of the contract, then school personnel could be removed, the school could become a Charter School, or the school could lose any flexibility from state statutes or associated rules in the contract.

GCPS would have to operate as a Title 20 No Waiver system. There are only two school systems in the state with this designation. A Title 20 No Waiver system must remain under all current laws, rules, regulations, policies, and procedures. A key assumption is that making this election does not create a hardship for the district. Not having waivers would certainly create a hardship for our school system.

GCPS entered our first contract in 2009. That contract included a waiver for class size. Enrollment in our schools fluctuates throughout the year. In some cases, this fluctuation could cause a class to go over the maximum allowed by the state. For every section that is over by a single student, we would have to hire an additional teacher and create a new section, or we would lose funding for that class. Hiring a new teacher mid-year, or even after the school year has started, can be extremely difficult. Having this waiver allows us to keep the funding in the event a class or classes go over the maximum number. Also, having this waiver allows us to hire staff who support teachers and students, i.e., instructional coaches, additional counselors, etc. 

GCPS does not have any plans to increase class size.  Our focus remains on keeping class sizes at manageable levels and decreasing classes wherever and whenever possible. Despite only increasing student enrollment by approximately 4,800 over the past 4 years, we have added an additional approximately 2,100 points to our local schools in an effort to reduce class sizes.

Click on this Class Size Rules and Regulations link for more information on class size.

https://www.gadoe.org/External-Affairs-and-Policy/Policy/Pages/IE2.aspx

https://www.gcpsk12.org/about-us/divisions-and-teams/superintendent/strategic-waivers-school-system-swssie2