§ 16-95-4. Transfer of aid. (a) Any school district in Rhode Island that may have a student, or students, who are currently or were last enrolled in said district and who are diagnosed with substance-use disorder or dependency, as defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR, may be referred to a Rhode Island recovery high school by a clinician licensed pursuant to chapter 69 of title 5 for voluntary enrollment in such school. If said student is admitted to said school, the sending school district shall ensure that payment, pursuant to subsection (b) for students who attend the recovery high school, is paid, and further, that upon completion of all other graduation requirements, said student or students shall receive a diploma.

(b) A sending school district shall transfer the per-pupil core-instructional amount, pursuant to chapter 7.2 of title 16 ("The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act") to a recovery high school for any student attending the recovery high school and meeting the following criteria: (1) The student is currently enrolled in the district or currently resides in the municipality in which the district is located; (2) The student is considered by a clinician, licensed pursuant to chapter 69 of title 5, to be clinically appropriate, using the criteria for substance-use disorders as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR; and (3) The student meets all matriculation criteria as outlined by the sending district and the department of elementary and secondary education, with determination of academic eligibility based on existing documentation provided by the district. The district and the recovery high school shall arrange to confer a diploma when a student completes state- and district-mandated graduation requirements.

(c) The state shall appropriate no less than five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) for the administration and programmatic costs of each recovery high school.

(d) A recovery high school shall submit to the council on elementary and secondary education academic data considered necessary by the council to provide information regarding each student's academic performance, subject to applicable health confidentiality laws and regulations.

(e) The council on elementary and secondary education, in consultation with the department of behavioral health, developmental disabilities and hospitals shall promulgate rules and regulations as necessary to implement and carry out the intent of this chapter.

History of Section. (P.L. 2011, ch. 331, § 1; P.L. 2011, ch. 388, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 142, art. 11, § 8; P.L. 2017, ch. 302, art. 12, § 2.)