SLS 19RS-133 ORIGINAL
2019 Regular Session
SENATE BILL NO. 132
BY SENATOR CARTER
SCHOOLS. Establishes a systemwide needs program for the Orleans Parish school system.
(8/1/19)
1 AN ACT
2 To amend and reenact R.S. 17:3995(A)(1)(b)(iii) and to enact R.S. 17:100.12, relative to the
3 Orleans Parish school district; to establish a systemwide needs program for the
4 school district; to provide relative to program purpose, funding, and operation; and
5 to provide for related matters.
6 Notice of intention to introduce this Act has been published.
7 Be it enacted by the Legislature of Louisiana:
8 Section 1. R.S. 17:3995(A)(1)(b)(iii) is hereby amended and reenacted and R.S.
9 17:100.12 is hereby enacted to read as follows:
10 §100.12. Systemwide needs program
11 A.(1) There is hereby established for the Orleans Parish school district
12 a systemwide needs program. The program shall be funded, structured, and
13 operated as provided in this Section and polices adopted by the school board.
14 (2) The purpose of the program is to direct initiatives that will result in
15 districtwide improvements in areas that cannot be addressed efficiently or
16 effectively at the school level. Such initiatives may include teacher recruitment,
17 teacher preparation, professional development shared among schools, and
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 132
SLS 19RS-133 ORIGINAL
1 nonrecurring costs related to improving instructional materials and the use of
2 such materials.
3 B. The school district shall create a special fund for the purpose of
4 dedicating money to the program. The district shall annually deposit into the
5 fund one hundred twenty dollars per student in the district less the district's
6 expenditures that year for costs identified in R.S. 17:1990(C)(2)(a)(iii)(aa)(I)
7 through (IV). Expenditures may be made from the fund by the district
8 superintendent only to implement a plan for improvement in one or more
9 particular areas of focus as provided in this Section.
10 C. The superintendent shall:
11 (1) Develop and propose plans for improvement in particular areas of
12 focus. The superintendent shall develop such plans in collaboration with school
13 leaders in the school district as more specifically provided by school board
14 policy.
15 (2) Include related performance objectives and a proposed level of
16 funding in any plan for improvement in an area of focus.
17 (3) Submit such plans to the school board for approval. The
18 superintendent shall demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the school board, that
19 an area of focus will impact at least fifty percent of the public school students
20 or fifty percent of the public schools over the course of the funding cycle for the
21 area of focus.
22 (4) Consider how the expenditures from the fund could be coordinated
23 with other funds in order to increase the effectiveness of the program.
24 (5) Annually report to the school board on the performance objectives
25 and the expenditure of funds for the program.
26 D. The school board may approve a plan and appropriate expenditures
27 from the fund therefor. An approved area of focus shall be funded for a period
28 of not less than three years based on cost estimates developed by the
29 superintendent.
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SLS 19RS-133 ORIGINAL
1 E.(1) The superintendent shall implement an approved plan by awarding
2 funds through a competitive process. Funds may be awarded to:
3 (a) A school for the purpose of procuring materials or services from
4 district-approved organizations or vendors.
5 (b) An organization or vendor that either provides services directly to
6 schools, educators, or students or coordinates support by providing subgrants
7 to schools or contracting with organizations to provide goods or services to
8 schools, educators, or students, or any combination thereof.
9 (2) An applicant for funds shall demonstrate how the proposed good or
10 service will contribute to the achievement of the goals and objectives of the
11 approved plan.
12 (3) An applicant for funds shall demonstrate that at least twenty-five
13 percent of the funds it will expend to achieve its proposal are from sources other
14 than this program.
15 (4) Funding applications shall be approved according to school board
16 policy. No expenditure shall be made from the fund except as provided in this
17 Subsection. No expenditure of funds shall be made in excess of the amount
18 approved by the school board for a particular area of focus.
19 * * *
20 §3995. Charter school funding
21 A.(1) For the purpose of funding, a Type 1, Type 3, Type 3B not acting as
22 its own local education agency, and Type 4 charter school shall be considered an
23 approved public school of the local school board entering into the charter agreement.
24 Type 2 charter schools and a Type 3B charter school acting as its own local
25 education agency shall receive a per pupil amount each year authorized by the state
26 board each year as provided in the approved minimum foundation program formula.
27 The per pupil amount provided to a Type 1, 2, 3, 3B, or 4 charter school shall be
28 computed annually and shall be equal to the per pupil amount provided through the
29 minimum foundation program formula, determined by the allocation weights in the
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions. SB NO. 132
SLS 19RS-133 ORIGINAL
1 formula based upon student characteristics or needs, received by the school district
2 in which the student resides from the following sources based on the district's
3 membership count used in the minimum foundation program formula:
4 * * *
5 (b)
6 * * *
7 (iii) For the purposes of this Subparagraph, local revenues of the Orleans
8 Parish School Board also shall exclude the amounts set forth in R.S.
9 17:1990(C)(2)(a)(iii) until such provisions relative to the specified amounts expire
10 amount deposited into the fund created by R.S. 17:100.12(B).
11 * * *
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Cheryl Serrett.
DIGEST
SB 132 Original 2019 Regular Session Carter
Proposed law establishes a systemwide needs program for the Orleans Parish school district
to direct initiatives that will result in districtwide improvements in areas that cannot be
addressed efficiently or effectively at the school level.
Requires the school district to create a special fund to dedicate money to the program.
Provides for the annual deposit into the fund of $120 per student in the district less the
district's expenditures that year for costs identified in present law (relative to certain legacy
expenses). Limits expenditures from the fund by the district superintendent only to
implement a plan for improvement in one or more particular areas of focus. Requires the
district superintendent to submit such plans to the school board for approval.
Provides that funds to implement plans approved by the school board shall be awarded,
through a competitive process, to schools to procure materials or services from district-
approved organizations or vendors and to organizations or vendors that either provide
services directly to schools, educators, or students or coordinate support by providing
subgrants to schools or contracting with organizations to provide goods or services to
schools, educators, or students, or any combination thereof.
Provides that funding applications shall be approved according to school board policy.
Prohibits expenditures from the fund except as provided in proposed law. Prohibits
expenditures from the fund in excess of the amount approved by the school board for a
particular area of focus.
Effective August 1, 2019.
(Amends R.S. 17:3995(A)(1)(b)(iii); adds R.S. 17:100.12)
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Coding: Words which are struck through are deletions from existing law;
words in boldface type and underscored are additions.