Rhode Island 2025 Regular Session

Rhode Island House Bill H6236 Compare Versions

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

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5	5	2025 -- H 6236
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7	7	LC002711
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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 -- TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL PUPILS BEYOND CITY
16	16	AND TOWN LIMITS
17	17	Introduced By: Representatives Cortvriend, Donovan, Knight, Speakman, Finkelman,
18	18	Kennedy, Azzinaro, McGaw, Edwards, and Carson
19	19	Date Introduced: April 11, 2025
20	20	Referred To: House Finance
21	21
22	22
23	23	It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
24	24	SECTION 1. Section 16-21.1-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-21.1 entitled 1
25	25	"Transportation of School Pupils Beyond City and Town Limits [See Title 16 Chapter 97 — The 2
26	26	Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as follows: 3
27	27	16-21.1-2. School bus districts established. 4
28	28	(a) There are hereby established school bus districts within the state to provide bus 5
29	29	transportation in the interest of public safety, health, and welfare for pupils in grades kindergarten 6
30	30	through twelve (12), or in special education programs, who attend public schools, including 7
31	31	vocational schools and special education programs provided in accord with regulations of the board 8
32	32	of regents for elementary and secondary education, consolidated schools, regional schools 9
33	33	established under the provisions of § 16-3-1 et seq., or who participate in cooperative programs as 10
34	34	provided by § 16-3.1-1 et seq., and nonpublic nonprofit schools which are consolidated, 11
35	35	regionalized, or otherwise established to serve residents of a specific area within the state which 12
36	36	schools satisfy the requirements of law for any of the grades of school, kindergarten through twelve 13
37	37	(12), as follows: 14
38	38	(1) Region I: The towns of Burrillville, North Smithfield, and Cumberland, and the city of 15
39	39	Woonsocket; 16
40	40	(2) Region II: The county of Kent, except the town of West Greenwich and the towns of 17
41	41	Foster, Glocester, and Scituate towns of East Greenwich and West Warwick, and the city of 18
42	42
43	43
44	44	LC002711 - Page 2 of 7
45	45	Warwick; 1
46	46	(3) Region III: The towns town of Lincoln, Smithfield, Johnston, North Providence, 2
47	47	Barrington, Warren, and Bristol, and the cities of Cranston, Central Falls, East Providence, 3
48	48	Pawtucket, and Providence; 4
49	49	(4) Region IV: The county of Washington and the towns of Jamestown and West 5
50	50	Greenwich towns of Exeter, Jamestown, Narragansett, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, and 6
51	51	West Greenwich; 7
52	52	(5) Region V: The towns of Little Compton, Middletown, Portsmouth, and Tiverton, and 8
53	53	the city of Newport. 9
54	54	(6) Region VI: The towns of Barrington, Bristol, and Warren, and the city of East 10
55	55	Providence; 11
56	56	(7) Region VII: The towns of Lincoln, Smithfield, and North Providence, and the cities of 12
57	57	Central Falls and Pawtucket; 13
58	58	(8) Region VIII: The towns of Glocester, Foster, Scituate, and Coventry; 14
59	59	(9) Region IX: The towns of Charlestown, Hopkinton, Richmond, and Westerly. 15
60	60	(b) A pupil attending a school, including a public school, vocational school, special 16
61	61	education program provided in accord with regulations of the board of regents for elementary and 17
62	62	secondary education, a regional school established under the provisions of § 16-3-1 et seq., as 18
63	63	authorized by § 16-3.1-1 et seq., or a nonpublic nonprofit school for grades kindergarten through 19
64	64	twelve (12), consolidated, regionalized, or otherwise established to serve residents of a specific 20
65	65	area within the state for any of the grades of schools, kindergarten through twelve (12), in the 21
66	66	interest of public safety, health, and welfare, shall be provided with bus transportation to the school 22
67	67	or facility which the pupil attends, within the region in which the pupil resides, by the school 23
68	68	committee of the city or town within which the pupil resides. The cost of transporting a pupil 24
69	69	attending a charter school, the William M. Davies, Jr. Career and Technical High School 25
70	70	(“Davies”), or the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (“the Met Center”) within 26
71	71	the established region shall be charged to the receiving school at the same grade level transportation 27
72	72	per pupil cost of the resident district. Districts may offer transportation to charter schools, Davies, 28
73	73	or the Met Center outside the established region in order to facilitate efficiency provided there is 29
74	74	not additional cost to the resident district. 30
75	75	(c) Any pupil receiving transportation prior to December 30, 2025 under the regions 31
76	76	established in 1977, shall not be impacted by the new regions until July 1, 2029. 32
77	77	SECTION 2. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The 33
78	78	Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 34
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82	82	16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. 1
83	83	In addition to the foundation education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent 2
84	84	foundation education-aid program shall provide direct state funding for: 3
85	85	(a) Excess costs associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined when 4
86	86	an individual special education student’s cost shall be deemed to be “extraordinary.” Extraordinary 5
87	87	costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount 6
88	88	above four times the core foundation amount (total of core instruction amount plus student success 7
89	89	amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 8
90	90	for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school 9
91	91	districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 10
92	92	and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those 11
93	93	educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three 12
94	94	(3), and five (5) times the core foundation amount; 13
95	95	(b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements 14
96	96	needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education 15
97	97	programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher-16
98	98	than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies 17
99	99	necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the state. 18
100	100	The department shall develop criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all career and technical 19
101	101	education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. The department 20
102	102	of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among 21
103	103	those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking 22
104	104	reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 23
105	105	(c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. 24
106	106	The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early childhood 25
107	107	program funds as may be determined by the general assembly; 26
108	108	(d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure 27
109	109	that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls 28
110	110	is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs. 29
111	111	This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside 30
112	112	the permanent foundation education-aid formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, 31
113	113	facility maintenance, and retiree health benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of 32
114	114	Central Falls. The fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city 33
115	115	appropriation. The state’s share of this fund may be supported through a reallocation of current 34
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119	119	state appropriations to the Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined 1
120	120	in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional 2
121	121	support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a 3
122	122	stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The 4
123	123	department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as 5
124	124	may be determined by the general assembly; 6
125	125	(e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools. 7
126	126	This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of-8
127	127	district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. Funding shall not be less than the 9
128	128	amount that was provided in fiscal year 2026 or fiscal year 2027, whichever year's amount is higher 10
129	129	or the greater of the two (2) fiscal years. The state will assume the costs of non-public out-of-district 11
130	130	transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system. Any unused portion of the 12
131	131	fund shall be used for the purpose of creating a student transportation subsidy for students who are 13
132	132	homeless, students in foster care, and students receiving high special needs services. The 14
133	133	department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution 15
134	134	among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are 16
135	135	seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; 17
136	136	(f) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This 18
137	137	fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students 19
138	138	within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires 20
139	139	that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation costs net any 21
140	140	federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary 22
141	141	education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if 23
142	142	the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount 24
143	143	of funding available in any fiscal year; 25
144	144	(g) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization bonus 26
145	145	as set forth below: 27
146	146	(1) As used herein, the term “regionalized” shall be deemed to refer to a regional school 28
147	147	district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 29
148	148	School district; 30
149	149	(2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus 31
150	150	shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the 32
151	151	regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a 33
152	152	regionalized school district as set forth in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional 34
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156	156	School District; 1
157	157	(3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year shall be two percent (2.0%) of the 2
158	158	state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to 3
159	159	§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; 4
160	160	(4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the 5
161	161	state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to 6
162	162	§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; 7
163	163	(5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year; 8
164	164	(6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to 9
165	165	the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns; and 10
166	166	(7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available 11
167	167	for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for 12
168	168	which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of 13
169	169	funding appropriated in any fiscal year; 14
170	170	(h) [Deleted by P.L. 2024, ch. 117, art. 8, § 1.] 15
171	171	(i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school 16
172	172	resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority 17
173	173	who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing 18
174	174	assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have 19
175	175	completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an 20
176	176	accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years, 21
177	177	school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct 22
178	178	state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools. 23
179	179	Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of 24
180	180	salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource 25
181	181	officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that: 26
182	182	(1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school: 27
183	183	(i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand two hundred (1,200) students shall 28
184	184	require one school resource officer; 29
185	185	(ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or more students shall 30
186	186	require two school resource officers; 31
187	187	(2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be 32
188	188	eligible for reimbursement; and 33
189	189	(3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new 34
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193	193	positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and 1
194	194	(j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to 2
195	195	the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7. 3
196	196	SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 4
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203	203	EXPLANATION
204	204	BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
205	205	OF
206	206	A N A C T
207	207	RELATING TO EDUCATION -- TRANSPORTATION OF SCHOOL PUPILS BEYOND CITY
208	208	AND TOWN LIMITS
209	209	***
210	210	This act would amend the composition of school bus districts within the state to provide 1
211	211	transportation to students in grades kindergarten through 12. This act would change the total 2
212	212	number of districts from five (5) to nine (9) districts, to promote greater efficiency, cost savings, 3
213	213	and for many students, reducing the amount of time spent on a school bus. Students receiving 4
214	214	transportation prior to December 30, 2025, under regions established in 1977, would be 5
215	215	grandfathered into their old districts until July 1, 2029. This act would also provide that the 6
216	216	categorical aid for excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public 7
217	217	schools would not be less than the higher of what was provided in fiscal years 2026 or 2027, and 8
218	218	that any unused portions of this expense would be used to create a student transportation subsidy 9
219	219	for students who are homeless, in foster care, or high special needs students. 10
220	220	This act would take effect upon passage. 11
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