Text: SF02298 Text: SF02300 Text: SF02200 - SF02299 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 256D.1 LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND
1 2 INTENT.
1 3 It is the intent of the general assembly to provide
1 4 assistance to enable public school districts to work with
1 5 local community collaborative efforts to reduce gaps in
1 6 service and eliminate duplication in meeting the needs of
1 7 children from birth through grade three. These needs, at a
1 8 minimum, include child development, child care, children's
1 9 health and safety, and parent education needs. Therefore, the
1 10 general assembly finds that it is in the best interest of the
1 11 state to encourage and fund early childhood and elementary
1 12 education programs focused on children from birth through
1 13 grade three in the school districts. The goal of these
1 14 programs is to improve student achievement in the basic
1 15 educational subject matters, such as reading, language arts,
1 16 and mathematics, and to accomplish proficiency in those
1 17 subjects by grade four. Toward that goal, it is the intent of
1 18 this chapter to establish and fund an early childhood and
1 19 elementary education improvement program.
1 20 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION. 256D.2 EARLY CHILDHOOD AND
1 21 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM APPROPRIATION.
1 22 1. There is appropriated from the general fund of the
1 23 state to the department of education for the fiscal year
1 24 beginning July 1, 1998, and for each succeeding fiscal year,
1 25 the sum of thirty million dollars for the early childhood and
1 26 elementary education improvement program.
1 27 2. For each fiscal year for which moneys are appropriated
1 28 in subsection 1, the amount of moneys allocated to school
1 29 districts shall be in the proportion that the basic enrollment
1 30 of a district bears to the sum of the basic enrollments of all
1 31 school districts in the state for the budget year. However, a
1 32 district shall not receive less than twenty-five thousand
1 33 dollars in a fiscal year. The Iowa braille and sight saving
1 34 school, the Iowa school for the deaf, and the Price laboratory
1 35 school at the university of northern Iowa shall annually
2 1 certify their basic enrollments to the department of education
2 2 by October 1.
2 3 3. For each year for which an appropriation is made to the
2 4 early childhood and elementary education improvement program,
2 5 the department of education shall notify the department of
2 6 revenue and finance of the amount to be paid to each school
2 7 district based upon the distribution plan set forth for the
2 8 appropriation made pursuant to this section. The allocation
2 9 to each school district under this section shall be made in
2 10 one payment on or about October 15 of the fiscal year for
2 11 which the appropriation is made, taking into consideration the
2 12 relative budget and cash position of the state resources.
2 13 4. Moneys received under this section shall not be
2 14 commingled with state aid payments made under section 257.16
2 15 to a school district and shall be accounted for by the school
2 16 district separately from state aid payments.
2 17 5. Moneys received under this section shall supplement and
2 18 not supplant existing moneys or moneys otherwise received and
2 19 used by the school district for similar early childhood or
2 20 elementary education purposes.
2 21 6. Payments made to school districts under this section
2 22 are miscellaneous income for purposes of chapter 257 and are
2 23 considered encumbered. Each school district shall maintain a
2 24 separate listing within its budget for payments received and
2 25 expenditures made pursuant to this section.
2 26 7. Moneys received under this section shall not be used
2 27 for payment of any collective bargaining agreement or
2 28 arbitrator's decision negotiated or awarded under chapter 20.
2 29 8. For purposes of this chapter, "school district" means a
2 30 public school district, the Iowa braille and sight saving
2 31 school, the Iowa school for the deaf, and the Price laboratory
2 32 school at the university of northern Iowa.
2 33 Sec. 3. NEW SECTION. 256D.3 EARLY CHILDHOOD AND
2 34 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM – REPORTS.
2 35 1. By July 1, 1999, and by July 1 of each succeeding year,
3 1 each school district shall submit to the department of
3 2 education an annual report that describes the ways in which
3 3 the school district used the moneys received under this
3 4 chapter for early childhood and elementary education
3 5 improvement purposes.
3 6 2. By July 1, 1999, and by July 1 of each succeeding year,
3 7 the Iowa braille and sight saving school, the Iowa school for
3 8 the deaf, and the Price laboratory school at the university of
3 9 northern Iowa, shall each submit to the state board of regents
3 10 and department of education an annual report that describes
3 11 the ways in which the moneys received under this chapter for
3 12 early childhood and elementary education improvement purposes
3 13 were used.
3 14 3. The department shall submit, to the chairpersons and
3 15 ranking members of the house and senate education committees
3 16 by January 1, 2000, a report summarizing the ways in which the
3 17 school districts are making use of the moneys received under
3 18 this chapter. The department shall make the report available
3 19 to school districts upon request.
3 20 Sec. 4. NEW SECTION. 256D.4 EARLY CHILDHOOD AND
3 21 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM EXPENDITURES.
3 22 1. School districts shall expend funds received pursuant
3 23 to section 256D.2 to support education practices, programs, or
3 24 assistance for children from birth through grade three that
3 25 include, but are not limited to, the following: preschool
3 26 services provided on a voluntary basis to four-year-old
3 27 children deemed at risk of not succeeding in elementary
3 28 school, in accordance with criteria established for the
3 29 definition of at-risk children by the child development
3 30 coordinating council; parent education programs provided on a
3 31 voluntary basis to parents of children from birth through
3 32 grade three; children's services relating to child development
3 33 and school readiness, child care, and children's health and
3 34 safety; all-day, everyday, kindergarten; reducing adult-to-
3 35 student ratios through the hiring of teachers and adult
4 1 teaching assistants; volunteer coordinator programs;
4 2 implementation of instructional programs designed to improve
4 3 student achievement in the areas of reading, language arts,
4 4 and mathematics; parental involvement programs; and
4 5 contributions toward implementation of an extended school day
4 6 or year program.
4 7 2. Funds expended in accordance with this chapter may be
4 8 used to support education practices, programs, or assistance
4 9 for children from birth through grade three, as provided in
4 10 this section, that may be located in buildings other than a
4 11 building owned or leased by the school district.
4 12 3. School districts expending program funds to support
4 13 education practices, programs, or assistance for children from
4 14 birth through age four shall consult with the departments of
4 15 public health and human services in developing and
4 16 implementing the practices, programs, or assistance.
4 17 EXPLANATION
4 18 This bill establishes an early childhood and elementary
4 19 education improvement program, focused on children from birth
4 20 through grade three, with an annual appropriation of $30
4 21 million from the state general fund to the department of
4 22 education.
4 23 The bill includes legislative intent to provide assistance
4 24 to enable public school districts to work with local community
4 25 collaborative efforts to reduce gaps in service and eliminate
4 26 duplication in meeting the needs of children from birth
4 27 through grade three. The general assembly finds, according to
4 28 the bill, that it is in the best interest of the state to
4 29 encourage and fund early childhood and elementary education
4 30 programs in public school districts. The bill defines the
4 31 goals of an eligible program and lists the components of early
4 32 childhood and elementary education practices and programs for
4 33 which state funding may be expended.
4 34 The bill provides for a per pupil annual distribution of
4 35 the funds appropriated, but stipulates that a school district
5 1 shall receive no less than $25,000. The bill defines the term
5 2 "school district" to include public school districts, the Iowa
5 3 braille and sight saving school, the Iowa school for the deaf,
5 4 and the Price laboratory school at the university of northern
5 5 Iowa.
5 6 The bill requires that school districts report to the
5 7 appropriate state agencies ways in which the moneys received
5 8 under the program were spent by the school districts. The
5 9 bill also requires the department of education to submit to
5 10 the chairpersons and ranking members of the house and senate
5 11 committees on education reports summarizing the ways school
5 12 districts are using program moneys.
5 13 LSB 3462XS 77
5 14 kh/jw/5.1
Text: SF02298 Text: SF02300 Text: SF02200 - SF02299 Text: SF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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