Chapter 182
2008 -- S 3082
Enacted 07/02/08
A N A C T
RELATING
TO EDUCATION -- PAUL W. CROWLEY RHODE ISLAND STUDENT INVESTMENT INITIATIVE
Introduced
By: Senators Paiva-Weed, C Levesque, Gibbs, Sen Picard, and Goodwin
Date Introduced:
June 05, 2008
It is enacted by the General Assembly as
follows:
SECTION 1. The
title of Chapter 16-7.1 of the General Laws entitled "The Rhode Island
Student Investment Initiative" is hereby
amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER
16-7.1
The Rhode Island Student
Investment Initiative
CHAPTER
16-7.1
THE PAUL W. CROWLEY
RHODE ISLAND STUDENT INVESTMENT INITIATIVE
Sections 16-7.1-1,
16-7.1-2, 16-7.1-3, 16-7.1-4, 16-7.1-5, 16-7.1-6, 16-7.1-7, 16-7.1-8, 16-7.1-9,
16-7.1-10, 16-7.1-11, 16-7.1-11.1, 16-7.1-12,
16-7.1-13, 16-7.1-14, 16-7.1-15, 16-7.1-16, 16-7.1-
17, 16-7.1-18 and 16-7.1-19 of the General Laws
in Chapter 16-7.1 entitled "The Rhode Island
Student Investment Initiative" are included
herein as follows:
16-7.1-1.
Legislative findings. -- (a) Legislative intent. - (1) The intent of
this legislation
is to enact a comprehensive state education aid
funding program which addresses four (4)
fundamental principles:
(i) Closing the
inequitable resource gaps among school districts and schools;
(ii) Closing
inequitable gaps in performance and achievement among different groups of
students, especially those correlated with
poverty, gender, and language background;
(iii) Targeting
investments to improve student and school performance; and
(iv) Establishing
a predictable method of distributing state education aid in a manner that
addresses the over-reliance on the property tax
to finance education.
(2) This
legislation is further designed to accelerate the implementation of the State
Comprehensive Education Strategy. The strategy
is an action plan for ensuring that all children
achieve at high levels and become lifelong
learners, productive workers, and responsible citizens.
The standard for expected student achievement is
currently being set at a high level both by the
board of regents and in Rhode Island's districts
and schools. High standards must be supported
and these expectations must now be reached by
all our students. All the state's children must
enjoy the success that comes with proficiency in
skill and knowledge.
(b) Evaluation of
success. - Improved student and school performance is the key
measure of the success of Rhode Island's
schools. This success cannot occur without investment
based on the four (4) fundamental principles as
stated in subsection (a) of this section. The
success of these investments shall be evaluated
based on: accountability for student and school
performance; accountability in terms of whether
the state's investment is sufficiently adequate
and equitable to support improvement in
performance; and on accountability for district and
school expenditures.
16-7.1-2.
Accountability for student performance. -- (a) The board of regents
shall
adopt and publish statewide standards of
performance and performance benchmarks in core
subject areas to include writing and mathematics
(grades four (4), eight (8), and ten (10)). These
standards and performance benchmarks shall be
ratified by the board and implemented, and
performance standards and performance benchmarks
for reading in two (2) grades shall be added.
(b) Districts and
schools need to be held accountable for student performance results.
Therefore, every school district receiving state
education aid under this title shall develop a
district strategic plan. The district strategic
plan shall: (1) be based on high academic standards
for student performance consistent with the
statewide standards and benchmarks; (2) be the
product of a shared community wide process which
defines a vision of what students should
know and be able to do; (3) address the needs of
each school in the district; (4) encourage the
development of school-based improvement planning
and implementation; (5) include a process
for mentoring of new teachers; (6) be designed
to improve student achievement with emphasis on
closing the performance gaps among groups of
students such as the performance gaps correlated
with poverty, gender, language background, and
disability; (7) include establishment of student
intervention teams to address the instructional
needs of diverse learners, include high standards of
student behavior designed to create an orderly
educational environment with due regard for the
rights of students, and an asset protection
plan; and (8) be consistent with Rhode Island's
comprehensive education strategy. In order to
assure the most efficient use of resources
implementing strategic plans, districts and
schools are encouraged to work together as consortia
and as part of the regional collaboratives.
(c) (1) The
strategic plan shall include strategies to improve the performance of students
in mathematics, reading, and writing. Each plan
must describe a scientific research based, as
described in the No Child Left Behind Act of
2001, Title 1, Part B, Section 1208 [20 U.S.C.
section 6368] reading instruction to improve the
reading skills of all students in the early grades
(kindergarten through grade five (5)) that is
aligned with the board of regents reading policy. The
district must develop, implement and evaluate a
Personal Literacy Program for each student in
these grades who is performing below grade
level. These strategies shall be based on the adequate
yearly progress expected for students and
schools. Annual performance targets for determining
whether schools and districts have made adequate
yearly progress will be set by the commissioner
of elementary and secondary education. The
general assembly expects these district strategies to
increase the number of fourth grade students
performing at or above the proficient standard in
mathematics, reading, and writing in each
district and school. The increase shall be established
annually in accordance with section 16-7.1-4.
(2) The general
assembly recognizes the contribution of school counselors to positive
educational change, to the implementation of the
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and to the
success of students in three (3) developmental
domains: academic, career, and personal/social. It
endorses the National Standards for School
Counseling Programs as developed by the American
School Counselor Association (ASCA). Further,
the general assembly encourages every district
to implement a K-12 standards-based comprehensive,
developmental school counseling program.
(d) Each
strategic plan must indicate the manner in which self-studies will be completed
at the school level in accordance with
guidelines established by the commissioner. Funds shall be
appropriated to the department of elementary and
secondary education to assist districts with on-
site reviews. Schools to be visited shall be
determined by the commissioner.
(e) Each
strategic plan must indicate the method in which school administrators and staff
shall achieve and maintain an orderly
educational environment in accordance with due process
and with due regard for the rights of students.
(f) Each
strategic plan shall include the development of inter-agency agreements for the
coordination of services among state and local
agencies responsible for service to children and
families. These agreements shall address the
identification and provision of services to pre-school
children with disabilities and children and
youth with behavioral health care needs.
(g) All district
strategic plans and annual updates shall be submitted to the commissioner
of elementary and secondary education no later
than May 1, of each year.
(h) All strategic
plans shall include strategies to decrease obesity and improve the health
and wellness of students and employees through
nutrition, physical activity, health education, and
physical education. Said strategies shall be
submitted by May 1st of each year to the Rhode Island
department of elementary and secondary education
and the Rhode Island department of health.
16-7.1-3.
Accountability for district and school expenditures. -- All school
districts
shall implement a uniform program to track
educational expenditures and investments. All school
districts shall prepare annual reports of its
programs which shall be submitted to the department
of elementary and secondary education by July 31
of each year. The business office in each
school district shall annually declare that the facts
and figures presented in the district expenditure
report are accurate to the best of their
knowledge. In the event that a report is not submitted
within thirty days of July 31, state educational
aid to the school district may be withheld. In
addition, each school committee shall annually
ratify the district expenditure report and transmit
the report to the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education no later than September 30
of each year. Furthermore, the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education in
conjunction with the Rhode Island Association of
School Business Officials shall determine the
feasibility of and implement when appropriate a
standard chart of accounts for all school districts.
If implemented, the municipalities shall
integrate use of this chart of accounts with municipal
accounts as appropriate.
16-7.1-4.
Annual report by Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education.
-- On or before March 31 of each year, the
commissioner of elementary and secondary education
shall annually publish a report detailing school
district and individual school performance
consistent with section 16-60-4(22). This report
shall also set annual performance benchmarks.
Also, the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education shall report to the house of
representatives and the senate, sitting as the
grand committee, no later than March 31 of each
year, the status of district and school
performance, status of the level of the state's investment in
education, and the status of district and school
expenditures.
16-7.1-5.
Intervention and support for failing schools. -- (a) The board of
regents shall
adopt a series of progressive support and
intervention strategies consistent with the
Comprehensive Education Strategy and the
principles of the "School Accountability for Learning
and Teaching" (SALT) of the board of
regents for those schools and school districts that continue
to fall short of performance goals outlined in
the district strategic plans. These strategies shall
initially focus on: (1) technical assistance in
improvement planning, curriculum alignment,
student assessment, instruction, and family and
community involvement; (2) policy support; (3)
resource oversight to assess and recommend that
each school has adequate resources necessary to
meet performance goal; and (4) creating
supportive partnerships with education institutions,
business, governmental, or other appropriate
nonprofit agencies. If after a three (3) year period of
support there has not been improvement in the
education of students as determined by objective
criteria to be developed by the board of
regents, then there shall be progressive levels of control
by the department of elementary and secondary
education over the school and/or district budget,
program, and/or personnel. This control by the
department of elementary and secondary
education may be exercised in collaboration with
the school district and the municipality. If
further needed, the school shall be reconstituted.
Reconstitution responsibility is delegated to the
board of regents and may range from
restructuring the school's governance, budget, program,
personnel, and/or may include decisions
regarding the continued operation of the school. The
board of regents shall assess the district's
capacity and may recommend the provision of
additional district, municipal and/or state
resources. If a school or school district is under the
board of regents' control as a result of actions
taken by the board pursuant to this section, the local
school committee shall be responsible for
funding that school or school district at the same level
as in the prior academic year increased by the
same percentage as the state total of school aid is
increased.
(b) For FY 2007,
the department shall dedicate one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000)
from funds appropriated to support progressive
support and intervention and SALT visits to
support the Rhode island Consortium for
Instructional Leadership and Training. This consortium
is engaged in training school leaders to be more
effective instructional leaders in the standards
based instruction environment.
16-7.1-6.
Core instruction equity fund. -- The general assembly recognizes that
Rhode
Island cities and towns primarily rely on the
local property tax to finance education programs, and
that the state's highest effective property tax
rates are concentrated in the state's urban
communities. Therefore, certain communities,
because of low tax capacity and high tax effort, are
unable to appropriate sufficient funds for the
support of core instructional programs. The general
assembly also recognizes the need to reduce
inequities in resource distribution among the state's
cities and towns as well as among the state's
districts and schools. Therefore, the general
assembly establishes the Core Instructional
Equity Fund to improve the capacity of cities and
towns to support the core instruction activities
that are the basis of daily teaching and learning in
all classrooms. The general assembly shall
annually appropriate and distribute some sum to meet
these needs. The sum shall be distributed based
upon the following formula:
(1) Data. - Data
used for the following calculations are defined as follows:
(i) Population
(state and municipal) shall be included from the most recent census;
(ii) Equalized
weighted assessed valuations (EWAV) from the most recently completed
and certified study pursuant to section 16-7-21;
(iii) Most recent
tax data certified by the local assessors to the department of
administration, and core instructional per pupil
cost as determined by the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education;
(iv) Most recent
resident average daily membership (ADM) pursuant to section 16-7-22;
(2) Methodology.
(i) Community
Property Tax Capacity Index Calculation
Calculate
statewide tax rate:
Step 1: total
statewide property tax yield/total statewide property tax base (EWAV) =
state average tax rate
Step 2: calculate
statewide yield per capita:
Total statewide
property tax yield/state population (most recent census) = state property
tax yield per capita
Step 3: calculate
municipal property tax yield per capita:
Municipal property
tax yield/population = municipal property tax yield per capita
Step 4: calculate
municipal property tax capacity:
(Municipal
property tax yield per capita/state property tax yield per capita) * 100 =
Community property tax capacity index
(ii) Total Tax
Capacity Index Calculation:
Step 5: calculate
community hypothetical property tax yield per capita:
(Statewide tax
rate * municipal property tax base (EWAV))/community population =
Hypothetical community property tax yield per
capita
Step 6: calculate
total tax capacity index:
(Hypothetical
municipal yield per capita/state average property tax yield per capita) *
100 = total tax capacity index
(iii) Tax Effort
Index Calculation:
Calculate property
tax effort calculation:
Step 7:
(Municipal property tax yield per capita/hypothetical municipal property tax
yield per capita) * 100 = Property Tax Effort
Index
(iv)
Capacity/Effort Index
Calculation of
the equity index:
Step 8: (Property
tax capacity index/tax effort index = Equity index
(v) Instructional
Cost Per Pupil
Calculate the
instructional cost per ADM:
Step 9: core
instructional district cost degrees istrict ADM = per pupil core instructional
district cost
Step 10: select
the statewide average per pupil instructional cost
Step 11: state
average per pupil core instructional cost s district per pupil core
instructional cost = core gap
Step 12: core gap
* ADM = weighted difference.
(3) Eligibility
to receive funds. - Only those districts which have a gap in instructional
core funding and which have capacity of less
than 0.50 per the equity index are eligible to receive
funds under this provision.
(4) For FY 2003,
districts shall receive the greater of the dollar amount received in FY
2002 or the dollar amount calculated as the FY
2003 entitlement. For FY 2003, ten percent (10%)
of these funds shall, in addition to the
purposes enumerated above, be used to increase student
and school performance, and shall be only spent
with the prior approval of the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education.
16-7.1-7.
[Repealed.] –
16-7.1-8.
Student equity investment fund. -- The general assembly recognizes the need
to improve fourth grade performances in
mathematics, reading, and writing. Therefore, the
general assembly establishes the Student Equity
Investment Fund to target students identified as
those requiring additional educational services.
The general assembly shall annually appropriate
some sum and distribute it based on each
district's proportion of resident children eligible for
USDA reimbursable school meals relative to the
total number of eligible students statewide. For
the purposes of this section, the date as of
eligibility for USDA reimbursable meals shall be
determined by the June report of the reference
year as defined in section 16-7-16. These resources
shall be used to close student performance gaps
in accordance with the district's strategic plan
pursuant to section 16-7.1-2. Beginning in FY
2003, the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education may require a district to
use up to five percent (5%) of the funds allocated by
this section to increase student and school
performance. The five percent (5%) set aside funds
shall only be spent with the prior approval of
the commissioner of elementary and secondary
education.
16-7.1-9.
Student language assistance investment fund. -- The general assembly
recognizes the strength Rhode Island's growing
cultural diversity brings to the overall economic
and social health of the state. Therefore, the
general assembly establishes the Student Language
Assistance Investment Fund to target state
resources to assist students who require additional
language educational services. The general
assembly shall annually appropriate some sum and
distribute it based on each district's
proportion of limited English proficiency students statewide
in the reference year as defined in section
16-7-16. These resources shall be used to close student
performance gaps in accordance with the
district's strategic plan pursuant to section 16-7.1-2.
16-7.1-10.
Professional development investment fund. -- (a) In order to continue
developing the skills of Rhode Island's
teachers, administrators and staff, the general assembly
establishes a Professional Development
Investment Fund. The general assembly shall annually
appropriate some sum and distribute it based on
a pupil-teacher ratio that shall be adjusted
annually by the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education. School districts, including
collaboratives established pursuant to chapter
3.1 of this title, may use funds received under this
category of education aid to replace up to, but
no more than, fifty percent (50%) of the amount
the school district spent for professional
development programs in the previous fiscal year. The
expenditure of these funds shall be determined
by a committee at each school consisting of the
school principal, two (2) teachers selected by
the teaching staff of the school, and two (2) parents
of students attending the school. Schools that
enroll students in the early grades (kindergarten
through grade three (3)) must expend these funds
on the development of scientific research based,
as described in the No Child Left Behind Act of
2001, Title 1, Part B, Section 1208 [20 U.S.C.
section 6368] reading instruction to improve
students reading performance.
Schools that have
met their performance targets in reading for the current academic year
and are not designated as a school in need of
improvement, may expend their Professional
Development Investment Funds on professional
development in the core academic subjects of
mathematics, writing, or reading to improve
student performance.
Collaborative
programs between schools are encouraged. These resources shall be used
to close student performance gaps in accordance
with the school's and district's strategic plan
pursuant to section 16-7.1-2. Additional funds
shall be allocated to the department of elementary
and secondary education to support teacher and
administrator professional development in all
districts, including, but not limited to:
(1) Supporting
mentoring systems;
(2) Providing
school districts with program support to assist teachers in local school
districts to improve reading instruction and
enhance the integration of reading throughout the
curriculum with the goal of improving student
performance to high standards;
(3) Support for
the design and implementation of leadership development for the teacher
to assume leadership roles or ultimately prepare
for administrator;
(4) Development
of a plan for formal training of school leaders in standards based
instruction, school improvement planning,
effective use of data in the decision-making process,
community involvement and creation of governance
structures;
(5) Support for
national board certification of teachers, application fees for a certificate
of clinical competence issued by the American
speech-language hearing association, and grants
for coordination and support of school based
teacher professional development; and
(6) The practice of
scientific research based reading instruction to improve reading
performance.
(b) In FY 2003,
the additional funds allocated to the department of elementary and
secondary education pursuant to this section
shall be used only to support the activities described
in subdivisions (a)(2) and (a)(5) of this
section.
(c) Out of the
funds appropriated by the general assembly for professional development
in subsection (a) of this section, twenty-five
percent (25%) shall be set aside for district-wide
professional development activities. The
expenditure of this district-wide professional
development set-aside shall be determined by a
committee in each district consisting of the
superintendent or his or her designee, three (3)
teachers appointed by the collective bargaining
agent, and one member of the Rhode Island
department of elementary and secondary education
field service team servicing that school
district designated by the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education. The expenditure must be
aligned with the district strategic plan as well as
ongoing professional development programs
approved by the department of elementary and
secondary education. Collaborative programs
between school districts are permissible.
(d) Beginning in
FY 2006, professional development funds shall only be spent with the
prior approval of the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education upon submission of a
district level plan which incorporates the
school level plans and which details the use of the
funds. These plans shall to the extent possible
call for professional development activities that
are embedded or do not otherwise encroach upon
student instruction time. The requirements of
this paragraph shall apply to both district-wide
professional development activities and
professional development activities determined
by the school-level committees.
16-7.1-11.
Early childhood investment fund. -- The general assembly establishes
the
Early Childhood Student Investment Fund to
provide schools and teaching staff for the early
grades with resources to begin improving student
performance and to provide early care and pre-
kindergarten programs. The general assembly
shall annually appropriate some sum and distribute
it based on each district's proportion of their
average daily membership for grades kindergarten
through and including third grade in the
reference year as defined in section 16-7-16 relative to
the statewide average daily membership for the same
grades in the same fiscal year. For purposes
of this section, average daily membership for
grades kindergarten through and including third
grade is determined in section 16-7-22. These
resources shall be used to close student
performance gaps in accordance with the
district's strategic plan pursuant to section 16-7.1-2.
These early childhood investment funds shall be
used in coordination with the literacy set-aside
funds, chapter 67 of this title. In addition,
these funds may be used for early childhood pilot
programs, including Child Opportunity Zones
(COZs), that; (1) combine and/or leverage some or
all of the following state, federal and/or local
funds insofar as allowable: student equity
investment fund; literacy set-aside; special
education funds; Title I funds; and any other
appropriate funds; (2) that focus on beginning
to improve student performance through
developmentally appropriate early childhood
education and integrated social and health service
support. Funding emphasis for early childhood
programs shall be given by the districts to the
schools serving concentrations of at-risk
students and shall be integrated with programs for
special needs students; all day kindergarten
programs may be funded; and school links shall be
made with programs and students to facilitate
full assessment of students' school readiness and
needs prior to entry into first grade and to
help receiving schools meet the entering child's needs.
Programs shall include the development and
expansion of child care providers, the development
of innovative start-up arrangements linked to
small businesses, the development of programs and
providers in geographically underserved areas,
the establishment of before and after school
programs with priority to be given to programs
linked to schools, to infantoddler programs,
programs related to child opportunity zone
family centers, and programs that serve children with
special health needs or developmental risks. A
district may not fund any program that does not
meet standards as established by the board of
regents. Districts may contract for services with
programs which meet board of regents standards.
Any program that receives funds under this
section must keep records on the children's
attendance and progress so that data will be available
to conduct longitudinal studies.
16-7.1-11.1.
Full day kindergarten investment fund. -- (a) Beginning in fiscal year
2001, the general assembly shall appropriate and
distribute to each locally or regionally operated
district a sum equal to the number of full-time
kindergarten students reported as a member of
each district as of the reference year as
defined in section 16-7-16(11) times a per pupil amount,
which shall be:
(1) Fifteen
hundred dollars ($1,500) for those districts with a tax effort index of below
0.6 as calculated pursuant to section 16-7.1-6;
(2) One thousand
dollars ($1,000) for those districts with a tax effort index of below 1.0
as calculated pursuant to section 16-7.1-6; and
(3) Five hundred
dollars ($500) for all other districts.
(b) Funding under
this section shall be in addition to any and all other aid received by the
district, including aid received under this
chapter, chapter 77.1 of this title, and any minimum
increase of aid provided for under section
16-7.1-15.
(c) For fiscal
year 2007, aid received pursuant to this section shall be equal to aid
received in the fiscal year 2006 enacted budget
by the 2005 general assembly.
16-7.1-12.
Student technology investment fund. -- The general assembly establishes
the
Student Technology Investment Fund to provide
schools and teaching staff with up-to-date
educational technology and training to help
students meet the demands of the 21st century. Rhode
Island's Comprehensive Education Strategy calls
for providing support to all schools for
educational technology. The funds may be used
for: curriculum development to improve teaching
and learning, in-service professional
development to support the effective use of technology in
schools; and infrastructure requirements such as
equipment, technology related instructional
materials, software and networking of systems.
These resources shall be used to close student
performance gaps in accordance with the
district's strategic plan pursuant to section 16-7.1-2 and
be consistent with the technology plan of the
Rhode Island Comprehensive Strategy. The general
assembly shall annually appropriate some sum and
distribute it based on each district's proportion
of their average daily membership in the
reference year as defined in section 16-7-16. For
purposes of this section, average daily
membership shall be defined in section 16-7-22. School
districts may use funds received under this
category of education aid to replace up to, but no more
than, thirty five percent (35%) of the amount
the school district spent for technology related
expenditures in the previous fiscal year.
District plans for the use of technology shall be reviewed
by the legislative technology task force.
16-7.1-13.
State leadership in conducting annual assessments of student
performance. -- Setting high standards
for student performance must be paired with related
assessments that will determine what progress
the state is making toward bringing all children to
high levels of achievement. A state assessment
program shall be continued and expanded in core
areas (mathematics, reading, writing and
health). The program shall include performance
standards and an annual report that
disaggregates performance by race, poverty, native language
and gender. The general assembly shall annually
appropriate funds to support the programs, and
the amount shall be recalculated annually. The
commissioner of education shall implement the
state assessment program.
16-7.1-14.
Joint commission. -- The special joint commission established in
section 16-
79-2 supports the funding program established in
section 16-7.1-15 and shall continue to assess
its effectiveness as a comprehensive state
education aid funding program. The commission will
examine the needs of pre-kindergarten aged
children and adult education programs. The
commission will also examine compensation and
benefit programs of persons employed in public
education.
16-7.1-15. The
Rhode Island student investment initiative The Paul W. Crowley
Rhode Island student investment initiative. -- (a) Each locally or
regionally operated school
district shall receive as a base the same amount
of school aid as each district received in fiscal
year 1997-1998, adjusted to reflect the
increases or decreases in aid enacted to meet the minimum
and maximum funding levels established for FY
2000 through FY 2007. Each school district shall
also receive school aid through each investment
fund for which that district qualifies pursuant to
sections 16-7.1-8, 16-7.1-9, 16-7.1-10,
16-7.1-11, 16-7.1-12, 16-7.1-16 and 16-7.1-19. These
sums shall be in addition to the base amount described
in this section. For FY 2008, the reference
year for the data used in the calculation of aid
pursuant to section 16-7.1-8, section 16-7.1-9,
section 16-7.1-10, section 16-7.1-11, section
16-7.1-11.1, section 16-7.1-12, section 16-7.1-16,
sections 16-7.1-19 and 16-77.1-2(b) shall be FY
2004. Calculation and distribution of education
aid under sections 16-5-31, 16-5-32, 16-7-20,
16-7-20.5, 16-7-34.2, 16-7-34.3, 16-24-6, 16-54-4,
and 16-67-4 is hereby suspended. The funding of
the purposes and activities of chapter 67 of this
title, the Rhode Island Literacy and Dropout
Prevention Act of 1967, shall be the same amount of
the base amount of each district funded for that
purpose in fiscal year 1997-1998. In addition each
district shall expend three percent (3%) of its
student equity and early childhood funds under the
provisions of chapter 67 of this title.
(b) Funding for
full day kindergarten programs in accordance with section 16-7.1-11.1
shall be in addition to funding received under
this section.
(c) Funding
distributed under sections 16-77.1-2(b) and 16-64-1.1 shall be in addition to
funding distributed under this section.
(d) There shall be
an appropriation to ensure that total aid distributed to communities in
FY 2008 under this section and sections
16-7.1-11.1, 16-64-1.1 and 16-77.1-2(b) shall be as
follows:
Barrington
2,599,526
Burrillville 13,854,743
Charlestown 2,002,832
Coventry 20,075,081
Cranston 35,580,911
Cumberland 13,257,009
East Greenwich
1,949,761
East Providence 26,888,254
Foster 1,416,463
Glocester 3,213,847
Hopkinton 6,241,352
Jamestown 531,908
Johnston 10,915,364
Lincoln 7,403,268
Little Compton 368,810
Middletown 10,497,116
Narragansett
1,897,159
Newport 11,871,080
New Shoreham 106,345
North Kingstown 11,986,005
North Providence
13,262,872
North Smithfield 4,834,237
Pawtucket 67,023,559
Portsmouth 6,700,042
Providence 194,109,756
Richmond 6,188,615
Scituate 3,407,183
Smithfield 5,743,568
South Kingstown 10,548,698
Tiverton
5,932,058
Warwick 37,626,000
Westerly
6,843,077
West Warwick
20,440,547
Woonsocket
47,616,613
Bristol-Warren 20,498,190
Exeter-West
Greenwich 7,661,019
Chariho 398,334
Foster-Glocester 5,729,861
Central Falls 43,873,873
This special
provision shall not limit entitlements as determined by application of other
formula provisions in this section.
(e) Children with
disabilities. - (1) Based on its review of special education within the
context of Rhode Island school reform, the
general assembly recommends addressing the needs of
all children and preventing disability through
scientific research based, as described in the No
Child Left Behind Act of 2001, Title 1, Part B,
Section 1208 [20 U.S.C. section 6368] reading
instruction and the development of Personal
Literacy Programs for students in the early grades
performing below grade level in reading and
implement a system of student accountability that
will enable the state to track individual
students over time. Additionally, the department of
elementary and secondary education must provide
districts with rigorous criteria and procedures
for identifying students with learning
disabilities and speech/language impairments. Additional
study is required of factors that influence
programming for students with low incidence
disabilities; those with disabilities that
severely compromise life functions; and programming for
students with disabilities through urban special
education. Alternatives for funding special
education require examination.
(2) All
departments and agencies of the state shall furnish any advice and information,
documentary and otherwise, to the general
assembly and its agents that is deemed necessary or
desirable by the study to facilitate the
purposes of this section.
16-7.1-16.
Targeted school aid. -- (a) In addition to those funds described in
section 16-
7.1-15, each district with a tax effort index
below 1.0 as calculated pursuant to section 16-7.1-6
and with a free and reduced lunch count in
grades K-3 greater than forty percent (40%) shall
receive targeted school aid. Districts shall be
eligible for aid based on the proportion that their
average daily membership bears to the total
average daily membership of districts eligible for aid
under this section. The local school district
shall determine the amount it proposes to spend on the
program priorities referred to in this section
and the programs and proposed expenditures shall be
a part of the district's strategic plan and/or
annual updates required under section 16-7.1-2.
(b) The commissioner
may require a school district to reserve up to five percent (5%) of
its targeted aid for intervention remedies.
These five percent (5%) set-aside funds shall only be
spent with the prior approval of the
commissioner of elementary and secondary education. If
however by March 1, the amount reserved is not
expended or expected to be spent in the
academic year, then the district may expend the
funds in accordance with the priorities of this
section and with the approval of the
commissioner. In addition, there shall be an appropriation for
comprehensive on-site school reviews and other
accountability measures that the commission
deems appropriate in accordance with policies
and procedures to be determined by the
commissioner and to carry out the purposes of
section 16-7.1-2. The commissioner may give
priority to districts receiving targeted funds
for the use of this appropriation.
(c) Districts may
use targeted funds in new or expanded programs for:
(1) Early
childhood education;
(2) Helping
schools to improve instruction to meet high standards;
(3) Reducing
class size at the elementary level;
(4) After school
programming for middle schools, junior, and senior high schools in
accordance with section 16-7.1-17;
(5) Establishing
and implementing innovative organizations and methods of instruction
at the middle, junior high, and/or high school
levels;
(6) Child
opportunity zones;
(7) Teacher
mentoring;
(8) Curriculum
revision to meet new standards;
(9) School and
district intervention; or
(10) Other
programs which the commissioner believes will result in increased student
performance.
16-7.1-17.
Urban after-school programs. -- (a) There is hereby established an
after-
school program for middle schools and junior and
senior high schools to be administered by the
department of elementary and secondary
education.
(b) Each district
receiving targeted funds under this section must use a portion of these
funds to establish programs as defined in this
section at the middle or junior high school level and
may establish a program at the senior high
school level. Each program shall be located in or near
middle schools or junior or senior high schools
in school districts identified as "at risk" by the
legislature in accordance with section 16-7.1-16
and which have an equity index below one. The
purpose of the programs is to provide students
an opportunity to engage in a gainful activity, such
as an athletic, cultural, arts, academic,
community service, remediation, and/or career exploration
activity after-school or during the time the
schools are not in session. Districts may contract for
services with programs that meet board of regents
standards. The commissioner may require that
districts that receive targeted funds establish
these programs either district-wide or at an
individual school within the district. Nothing
contained in this section shall prevent the
commissioner from interpreting middle or junior
high school to mean middle or junior high
school age.
(c) The
department of elementary and secondary education is authorized to promulgate
rules and regulations for the administration and
monitoring of the programs for providing any
assistance to plan and design the programs, and
for annually performing an evaluation of the
overall quality of the after-school programs.
Qualifying school districts will be required to submit
a plan and other reports as may be requested
relating to the use of the after-school program funds
to the commissioner of elementary and secondary
education.
16-7.1-18.
Investment funds -- Funding. -- Funding of the investment funds
enumerated
in section 16-7.1-6, 16-7.1-8, 16-7.1-9, 16-7.1-10,
16-7.1-11, and 16-7.1-12 shall be by funds set
aside from the state operations aid to be
provided to school districts in the same manner as funds
set aside and provided to school districts
pursuant to chapter 67 of this title for literacy programs.
The amount to be set aside will be that amount
designated for each investment fund in the state
budget as enacted. The funds thus set aside and
provided to school districts shall be used for the
purposes required by the terms of sections
16-7.1-6, 16-7.1-8, and 16-7.1-9. The fund thus set
aside and provided to school districts shall be
restricted to be used for the purposes required by
the terms of sections 16-7.1-10, 16-7.1-11, and
16-7.1-12. The full set aside amount will be
available for use by the school district. Use of
this set aside amount must be based on the strategic
plan required to be submitted by local school
districts to the department of elementary and
secondary education by chapter 7.1 of this
title.
16-7.1-19.
Vocational technical equity fund. -- (a) The general assembly
recognizes the
need to support the academic instruction
component of vocational education for students enrolled
in career and technical education programs. To
accomplish this, the general assembly shall
appropriate some sum per student for each
student who attends a locally operated career and
technical center based on the enrollments
reported to the department of elementary and secondary
education for the reference year as defined in
section 16-7-16. The sum shall be five hundred
dollars ($500) per student. Funding under this
section will be limited to those students enrolled in
programs that are part of the career and
technical education system as approved by the
department of elementary and secondary
education.
(b) For fiscal
year 2007, aid received pursuant to this section shall be equal to aid
received in the fiscal year 2006 enacted by the
2005 general assembly.
SECTION 2. This
act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC03065
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