Rhode Island 2023 Regular Session

Rhode Island Senate Bill S0786 Compare Versions

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

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5	5	2023 -- S 0786
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7	7	LC002595
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9	9	S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO EDUCATION - THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
16	16	ACT
17	17	Introduced By: Senators Felag, Rogers, de la Cruz, Lauria, and Ujifusa
18	18	Date Introduced: March 23, 2023
19	19	Referred To: Senate Finance
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22	22	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
23	23	SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The 1
24	24	Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
25	25	16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. 3
26	26	In addition to the foundation education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent 4
27	27	foundation education-aid program shall provide direct state funding for: 5
28	28	(a) Excess costs associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined when 6
29	29	an individual special education student’s cost shall be deemed to be “extraordinary.” Extraordinary 7
30	30	costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount 8
31	31	above five times the core foundation amount (total of core-instruction amount plus student success 9
32	32	amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 10
33	33	for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school 11
34	34	districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 12
35	35	and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those 13
36	36	educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three 14
37	37	(3), and four (4) times the core-foundation amount; 15
38	38	(b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements 16
39	39	needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education 17
40	40	programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher-18
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44	44	than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies 1
45	45	necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the state. 2
46	46	The department shall develop criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all career and technical 3
47	47	education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. The department 4
48	48	of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among 5
49	49	those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking 6
50	50	reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 7
51	51	(c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. 8
52	52	The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early childhood 9
53	53	program funds as may be determined by the general assembly; 10
54	54	(d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure 11
55	55	that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls 12
56	56	is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs. 13
57	57	This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside 14
58	58	the permanent foundation education-aid formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, 15
59	59	facility maintenance, and retiree health benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of 16
60	60	Central Falls. The fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city 17
61	61	appropriation. The state’s share of this fund may be supported through a reallocation of current 18
62	62	state appropriations to the Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined 19
63	63	in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional 20
64	64	support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a 21
65	65	stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The 22
66	66	department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as 23
67	67	may be determined by the general assembly; 24
68	68	(e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools. 25
69	69	This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of-26
70	70	district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The state will assume the costs of 27
71	71	non-public out-of-district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system. 28
72	72	The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for 29
73	73	distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school 30
74	74	districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 31
75	75	(f) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This 32
76	76	fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students 33
77	77	within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires 34
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81	81	that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation costs net any 1
82	82	federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary 2
83	83	education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if 3
84	84	the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount 4
85	85	of funding available in any fiscal year; 5
86	86	(g) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization bonus 6
87	87	as set forth below: 7
88	88	(1) As used herein, the term “regionalized” shall be deemed to refer to a regional school 8
89	89	district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 9
90	90	School district; 10
91	91	(2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus 11
92	92	shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the 12
93	93	regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a 13
94	94	regionalized school district as set forth in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 14
95	95	School District; 15
96	96	(3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 16
97	97	2023 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be two percent (2.0%) of the state's share of the foundation 17
98	98	education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to §§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that 18
99	99	fiscal year; 19
100	100	(4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the 20
101	101	state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to 21
102	102	§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; 22
103	103	(5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year; 23
104	104	(6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to 24
105	105	the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns; and 25
106	106	(7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 26
107	107	for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for 27
108	108	which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of 28
109	109	funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 29
110	110	(h) Additional state support for English learners (EL). The amount to support EL students 30
111	111	shall be determined by multiplying an EL factor of ten percent (10%) by the core-instruction per-31
112	112	pupil amount defined in § 16-7.2-3(a)(1) and applying that amount of additional state support to 32
113	113	EL students identified using widely adopted, independent standards and assessments identified by 33
114	114	the commissioner. All categorical funds distributed pursuant to this subsection must be used to 34
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118	118	provide high-quality, research-based services to EL students and managed in accordance with 1
119	119	requirements set forth by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The 2
120	120	department of elementary and secondary education shall collect performance reports from districts 3
121	121	and approve the use of funds prior to expenditure. The department of elementary and secondary 4
122	122	education shall ensure the funds are aligned to activities that are innovative and expansive and not 5
123	123	utilized for activities the district is currently funding. The department of elementary and secondary 6
124	124	education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among eligible recipients if the total 7
125	125	calculated costs exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 8
126	126	(i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school 9
127	127	resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority 10
128	128	who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing 11
129	129	assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have 12
130	130	completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an 13
131	131	accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years, 14
132	132	school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct 15
133	133	state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools. 16
134	134	Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of 17
135	135	salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource 18
136	136	officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that: 19
137	137	(1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school: 20
138	138	(i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand twelve hundred (1,200) students shall 21
139	139	require one school resource officer; 22
140	140	(ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand twelve hundred (1,200) or more students 23
141	141	shall require two school resource officers; 24
142	142	(2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be 25
143	143	eligible for reimbursement; and 26
144	144	(3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new 27
145	145	positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and 28
146	146	(j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to 29
147	147	the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7. 30
148	148	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2023. 31
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155	155	EXPLANATION
156	156	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
157	157	OF
158	158	A N A C T
159	159	RELATING TO EDUCATION - THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX RELIEF
160	160	ACT
161	161	***
162	162	This act would amend the existing provisions of the Education Equity and Property Tax 1
163	163	Relief Act by providing that the annual amount of the regionalization bonus would be two percent 2
164	164	(2%) of the state's share of the foundation education aid formula for the fiscal year beginning July 3
165	165	1, 2023 and for each fiscal year thereafter. 4
166	166	This act would take effect on July 1, 2023. 5
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