Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H6045 Compare Versions

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

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5	5	2025 -- H 6045
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7	7	LC002278
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9	9	S T A T E O F R H O D E I S L A N D
10	10	IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
11	11	JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025
12	12	____________
13	13
14	14	A N A C T
15	15	RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX
16	16	RELIEF ACT
17	17	Introduced By: Representatives Shallcross Smith, Cotter, Ackerman, Kazarian, Hull,
18	18	Fellela, Read, Morales, Tanzi, and Potter
19	19	Date Introduced: March 07, 2025
20	20	Referred To: House Finance
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23	23	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
24	24	SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The 1
25	25	Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2
26	26	16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. 3
27	27	In addition to the foundation education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent 4
28	28	foundation education-aid program shall provide direct state funding for: 5
29	29	(a) Excess costs associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined when 6
30	30	an individual special education student’s cost shall be deemed to be “extraordinary.” Extraordinary 7
31	31	costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount 8
32	32	above four times the core foundation amount (total of core instruction amount plus student success 9
33	33	amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 10
34	34	for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school 11
35	35	districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 12
36	36	and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those 13
37	37	educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three 14
38	38	(3), and five (5) times the core foundation amount; 15
39	39	(b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements 16
40	40	needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education 17
41	41	programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher-18
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45	45	than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies 1
46	46	necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the state. 2
47	47	The department shall develop criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all career and technical 3
48	48	education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. The department 4
49	49	of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among 5
50	50	those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking 6
51	51	reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 7
52	52	(c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. 8
53	53	The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early childhood 9
54	54	program funds as may be determined by the general assembly; 10
55	55	(d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure 11
56	56	that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls 12
57	57	is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs. 13
58	58	This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside 14
59	59	the permanent foundation education-aid formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, 15
60	60	facility maintenance, and retiree health benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of 16
61	61	Central Falls. The fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city 17
62	62	appropriation. The state’s share of this fund may be supported through a reallocation of current 18
63	63	state appropriations to the Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined 19
64	64	in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional 20
65	65	support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a 21
66	66	stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The 22
67	67	department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as 23
68	68	may be determined by the general assembly; 24
69	69	(e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools. 25
70	70	This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of-26
71	71	district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The state will assume the costs of 27
72	72	non-public out-of-district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system. 28
73	73	The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for 29
74	74	distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school 30
75	75	districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 31
76	76	(f) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This 32
77	77	fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students 33
78	78	within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires 34
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82	82	that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation costs net any 1
83	83	federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary 2
84	84	education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if 3
85	85	the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount 4
86	86	of funding available in any fiscal year; 5
87	87	(g) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization bonus 6
88	88	as set forth below: 7
89	89	(1) As used herein, the term “regionalized” shall be deemed to refer to a regional school 8
90	90	district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 9
91	91	School district; 10
92	92	(2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus 11
93	93	shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the 12
94	94	regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a 13
95	95	regionalized school district as set forth in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 14
96	96	School District; 15
97	97	(3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year shall be two percent (2.0%) of the 16
98	98	state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to 17
99	99	§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; 18
100	100	(4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the 19
101	101	state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to 20
102	102	§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; 21
103	103	(5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year; 22
104	104	(6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to 23
105	105	the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns; and 24
106	106	(7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 25
107	107	for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for 26
108	108	which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of 27
109	109	funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 28
110	110	(h) [Deleted by P.L. 2024, ch. 117, art. 8, § 1.] 29
111	111	(i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school 30
112	112	resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority 31
113	113	who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing 32
114	114	assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have 33
115	115	completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an 34
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119	119	accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years, 1
120	120	school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct 2
121	121	state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools. 3
122	122	Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of 4
123	123	salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource 5
124	124	officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that: 6
125	125	(1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school: 7
126	126	(i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand two hundred (1,200) students shall 8
127	127	require one school resource officer; 9
128	128	(ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or more students shall 10
129	129	require two school resource officers; 11
130	130	(2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be 12
131	131	eligible for reimbursement; and 13
132	132	(3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new 14
133	133	positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and 15
134	134	(j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to 16
135	135	the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7. 17
136	136	(k) State support for social worker staffing. In grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12), 18
137	137	each public school shall have among its staff at least one full-time social worker for every two 19
138	138	hundred fifty (250) students. For purposes of this section, "social worker" means any person who 20
139	139	holds a valid professional certificate in school social work issued by the state department of 21
140	140	education. 22
141	141	(l) In addition to the state support for school social workers, the general assembly shall 23
142	142	appropriate an additional sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) for fiscal year 2026 for the 24
143	143	purpose of allowing school districts or municipalities to employ additional social workers. 25
144	144	SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. 26
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151	151	EXPLANATION
152	152	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
153	153	OF
154	154	A N A C T
155	155	RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX
156	156	RELIEF ACT
157	157	***
158	158	This act would require all public schools, in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12), to 1
159	159	have at least one full-time certified school social worker for every two hundred fifty (250) students 2
160	160	and provide for an appropriation by the general assembly in the amount of two million dollars 3
161	161	($2,000,000) in the budget for Fiscal Year 2026 to the various school districts and municipalities 4
162	162	to employ additional social workers. 5
163	163	This act would take effect upon passage. 6
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