Maryland 2024 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB856 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0856
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 856
8	8	F1 4lr1680
9	9	CF 4lr1681
10	10	By: Senator McKay
11	11	Introduced and read first time: February 2, 2024
12	12	Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Education – Minimum School Funding – Waiver 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of authorizing a county board to apply for a waiver from the State 3
21	21	Department of Education and the Accountability and Implementation Board from 4
22	22	minimum school funding requirements under certain circumstances; requiring the 5
23	23	Department and the Accountability and Implementation Board to grant a certain 6
24	24	waiver under certain circumstances; and generally relating to minimum school 7
25	25	funding. 8
26	26
27	27	BY repealing and reenacting, with amendments, 9
28	28	Article – Education 10
29	29	Section 5–234 11
30	30	Annotated Code of Maryland 12
31	31	(2022 Replacement Volume and 2023 Supplement) 13
32	32
33	33	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 14
34	34	That the Laws of Maryland read as follows: 15
35	35
36	36	Article – Education 16
37	37
38	38	5–234. 17
39	39
40	40	(a) (1) Except as provided by paragraph (2) of this subsection and subsections 18
41	41	(e) [and], (f), AND (G) of this section, for each of the following programs, “minimum school 19
42	42	funding” means at least 75% of the per pupil amount applicable to each of the following 20
43	43	programs: 21
44	44
45	45	(i) The foundation program under § 5–213 of this subtitle; 22
46	46	2 SENATE BILL 856
47	47
48	48
49	49	(ii) The compensatory education program under § 5–222 of this 1
50	50	subtitle; 2
51	51
52	52	(iii) The English learner education program under § 5–224 of this 3
53	53	subtitle; 4
54	54
55	55	(iv) The special education program under § 5–225 of this subtitle; 5
56	56
57	57	(v) Public providers of prekindergarten under § 5–229 of this 6
58	58	subtitle; 7
59	59
60	60	(vi) Transitional supplemental instruction under § 5–226 of this 8
61	61	subtitle; 9
62	62
63	63	(vii) The comparable wage index grant under § 5–216 of this subtitle; 10
64	64	and 11
65	65
66	66	(viii) The college and career readiness program under § 5–217 of this 12
67	67	subtitle. 13
68	68
69	69	(2) Except as provided by [subsection] SUBSECTIONS (e) AND (G) of this 14
70	70	section, for each of the following programs, “minimum school funding” means 100% of the 15
71	71	per pupil amount applicable to each of the following programs: 16
72	72
73	73	(i) Private providers of prekindergarten under § 5–229 of this 17
74	74	subtitle; and 18
75	75
76	76	(ii) The per pupil grant under the concentration of poverty program 19
77	77	under § 5–223 of this subtitle. 20
78	78
79	79	(b) (1) For each school, the county board shall distribute the minimum school 21
80	80	funding amount for the applicable program multiplied by the school enrollment for the 22
81	81	applicable program. 23
82	82
83	83	(2) On or before July 1, 2024, for fiscal year 2025, and each July 1 24
84	84	thereafter, each county board shall report on the county board’s compliance with this 25
85	85	section to the Department and the Accountability and Implementation Board established 26
86	86	under Subtitle 4 of this title. 27
87	87
88	88	(3) A county board may request a waiver under § 5–406 of this title from 28
89	89	this provision for reasons including: 29
90	90
91	91	(i) A significant shift in total school–level enrollment between the 30
92	92	prior year and the current year; 31
93	93
94	94	(ii) A significant shift in school–level enrollment of at–promise 32
95	95	students between the prior year and the current year; and 33 SENATE BILL 856 3
96	96
97	97
98	98
99	99	(iii) A significant difference in the amount of funding provided 1
100	100	through the formula and the amount of expenditures necessary for a category of at–promise 2
101	101	students. 3
102	102
103	103	(c) On or before July 1, 2023, the Department shall, in collaboration with the 4
104	104	Accountability and Implementation Board established under Subtitle 4 of this title: 5
105	105
106	106	(1) Implement a financial management system and student data system 6
107	107	capable of tracking and analyzing the requirements under this section and integrating local 7
108	108	school system data; and 8
109	109
110	110	(2) Update the “Financial Reporting Manual for Maryland Public Schools” 9
111	111	to ensure uniformity in reporting expenditures for each school. 10
112	112
113	113	(d) For fiscal years 2023 and 2024, each county board and the Department shall 11
114	114	report to the Accountability and Implementation Board established under Subtitle 4 of this 12
115	115	title expenditures for each school in accordance with the federal Every Student Succeeds 13
116	116	Act requirements for reporting expenditures. 14
117	117
118	118	(e) (1) A county board may exclude from the requirements of this section, 15
119	119	countywide obligations and contracts for goods and services that cannot be allocated at the 16
120	120	school level. 17
121	121
122	122	(2) If a county board makes the exclusion under paragraph (1) of this 18
123	123	subsection, the county board shall report the reason for the exclusion to the Department. 19
124	124
125	125	(f) For the purposes of this section, subsection (a)(1)(iv) of this section may be 20
126	126	reported in the aggregate for each county. 21
127	127
128	128	(G) A COUNTY BOARD MAY APPLY TO THE DEPARTMENT AND THE 22
129	129	ACCOUNTABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION BOARD FOR A WAIVER FROM THE 23
130	130	REQUIREMENTS OF THIS SECTION FOR A SCHOOL THAT HA S A TOTAL OF FEWER 24
131	131	THAN 300 STUDENTS AND THE DEPARTMENT AND THE ACCOUNTABILITY AND 25
132	132	IMPLEMENTATION BOARD SHALL GRANT THE WAIVER. 26
133	133
134	134	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 27
135	135	1, 2024. 28