2015 -- S 0144

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LC000702

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2015

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- FOUNDATION LEVEL SCHOOL SUPPORT

     Introduced By: Senators Gallo, Miller, Goodwin, McCaffrey, and Ruggerio

     Date Introduced: January 22, 2015

     Referred To: Senate Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-7-22 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7 entitled "Foundation

Level School Support [See Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board Of Education Act]" is

hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-7-22. Determination of average daily membership. -- Each community shall be

paid pursuant to the provisions of § 16-7-17 an amount based upon the following provisions:

      (1) On or before September 1 of each year the average daily membership of each city

and town for the reference year shall be determined by the commissioner of elementary and

secondary education from data supplied by the school committee in each community in the

following manner: The aggregate number of days of membership of all pupils enrolled full time

in grade twelve (12) and below, except that pupils below grade one who are not full time shall be

counted on a full-time equivalent basis:

     (i) Increased by the aggregate number of days of membership of pupils residing in the

particular city or town whose tuition in schools approved by the department of elementary and

secondary education in other cities and towns is paid by the particular city or town; and

     (ii) Decreased by the aggregate number of days of membership of nonresident pupils

enrolled in the public schools of the particular city or town and further decreased by the aggregate

number of days of membership equal to the number of group home beds calculated for the

purposes of reimbursement pursuant to § 14-64-1.1; and

     (iii) Decreased further, in the case of a city or town that is a member of a regional school

district during the first year of operation of the regional school district by the aggregate number of

days of membership of pupils residing in the city or town who would have attended the public

schools in the regional school district if the regional school district had been operating during the

previous year, divided by the number of days during which the schools were officially in session

during the reference year. The resulting figures shall be the average, daily membership for the

city or town for the reference year. For purposes of calculating the permanent foundation

education aid as described in § 16-7.2-3(1) and (2), the average, daily membership for school

districts shall exclude charter school and state school students, and beginning in school year

2014-2015, include an estimate to ensure that districts converting from a half-day to a full-day

kindergarten program pursuant to § 16-99-4 are credited on a full-time basis beginning in the first

year of enrollment and are funded notwithstanding the transition plan pursuant to § 16-7.2-7(c).

      (2) The average daily membership of pupils attending public schools shall apply for the

purposes of determining the percentage of the state's share under the provisions of §§ 16-7-16(3),

16-7-16(10), 16-7-18, 16-7-19, 16-7-20, 16-7-21 and 16-7.2-4.

      (3) In the case of regional school districts, the aggregate number of days of membership

by which each city or town is decreased in subdivision (1)(iii) of this section, divided by the

number of days during which the schools attended by the pupils were officially in session, shall

determine the average daily membership for the regional school district during the first year of

operation. After the first year of operation, the average, daily membership of each regional school

district, except the Chariho regional high school district, shall be determined by the commissioner

of elementary and secondary education from data supplied by the school committee of each

regional school district for the reference year in the manner provided in subdivision (1) of this

section.

     SECTION 2. Section 16-7.2-7 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The

Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-7.2-7. Transition plan. -- (a) The general assembly shall annually determine the

appropriation of education aid pursuant to this chapter using a transition plan to begin in fiscal

year 2012, not to exceed seven (7) years for LEA's for whom the calculated education aid

pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 is more than the education aid the LEA is receiving as of the effective date

of the formula, and ten (10) years for LEA's for whom the calculated education aid pursuant to §

16-7.2-3 is less than the education aid the LEA is receiving as of the effective date of the formula.

      (b) The local share of funding pursuant to § 16-7.2-5 shall be transitioned

proportionately over a period not to exceed five (5) years. The transition shall provide a

combination of direct aid to districts, funds for the categorical programs, and district savings

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through state-assumed costs, as determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. Updates

to any components of the permanent foundation education aid formula, such as student data,

property values, and/or median family income, that result in an increase or decrease in state

education aid that impacts the total state and local contribution by more than three percent (3%)

shall be transitioned over a period of time not to exceed three (3) years.

      (c) For districts that are converting from a half-day to a full-day kindergarten program

for the 2014-2015 2015-2016 school year and after, as defined by § 16-99-4, the increase in aid

provided pursuant to the formula for the increased reference average daily membership due to the

conversion of the kindergarten students from 0.5 full-time equivalent to 1.0 full-time equivalent is

not subject to the transition plan in subsection (a); instead, the increased kindergarten full-time

equivalents will be funded at the fully transitioned value of the formula beginning in FY 2017

2016.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- FOUNDATION LEVEL SCHOOL SUPPORT

***

     This act would provide that funding for kindergartens that have been converted from

part-time to full-time beginning with the 2015-2016 school year would be fully funded beginning

in fiscal year 2016.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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