Text: HF02018 Text: HF02020 Text: HF02000 - HF02099 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. NEW SECTION. 297.37 SAFE SCHOOLS
1 2 INFRASTRUCTURE BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM.
1 3 1. A safe schools infrastructure block grant program is
1 4 established within the department of education. The purpose
1 5 of the program is to provide all school districts in the state
1 6 with financial resources to address and remedy fire and
1 7 personal safety needs, provide for school infrastructure
1 8 improvements, and furnish property tax relief.
1 9 a. As used in this section, "school facility" means a
1 10 schoolhouse and additions directly attached to a schoolhouse.
1 11 A school facility shall not include a stadium, fieldhouse,
1 12 school bus garage, or teacher's or superintendent's home.
1 13 b. As used in this section, "school infrastructure
1 14 improvements" means purchasing, building, furnishing,
1 15 reconstructing, repairing, improving, or remodeling a school
1 16 facility.
1 17 2. A school district shall expend program funds received
1 18 pursuant to subsection 3 as follows:
1 19 a. The highest priority for program fund expenditures
1 20 shall be the making of school infrastructure improvements
1 21 relating to unmet fire and personal safety needs. A school
1 22 district shall be considered to have unmet fire and personal
1 23 safety needs if one of the following applies:
1 24 (1) The school district has received an order or citation
1 25 from the state fire marshal, or a fire department chief or
1 26 fire prevention officer, for one or more fire safety
1 27 violations regarding a school facility, or in the opinion of
1 28 the state fire marshal, the school district is regarded as
1 29 operating one or more school facilities subject to significant
1 30 fire safety deficiencies.
1 31 (2) The school district has been notified of a violation
1 32 or deficiency of the state building code revealed during an
1 33 inspection of school facilities by a local building
1 34 department, or for the need for improvements consistent with
1 35 the standards and specifications contained in the state
2 1 building code that relate to ensuring that buildings and
2 2 facilities are accessible to and functional for persons with
2 3 disabilities.
2 4 A school district to which subparagraph (1) or (2) applies
2 5 shall be required to utilize program funds to correct the
2 6 applicable fire and personal safety violation or deficiency,
2 7 prior to expenditure of funds under this section for any other
2 8 purpose authorized by this section, unless the district
2 9 submits documentation to the department that conclusively
2 10 demonstrates that the violation or deficiency is sufficiently
2 11 serious or widespread that it would be more cost-effective for
2 12 the district to allocate program funds for new school facility
2 13 construction. A school district that provides such
2 14 documentation may distribute school infrastructure program
2 15 funds pursuant to paragraph "b", subparagraph (2), and if
2 16 funds remain unexpended after fire and personal safety needs
2 17 violations and deficiencies have been corrected through new
2 18 school facility construction, the funds may be utilized
2 19 pursuant to paragraph "b", subparagraph (3).
2 20 b. If the requirements of paragraph "a" have either been
2 21 satisfied or do not apply, the board of directors of a school
2 22 district may expend funds received pursuant to subsection 3 to
2 23 provide school infrastructure improvements or to furnish
2 24 property tax relief.
2 25 (1) The board of directors shall hold a public hearing on
2 26 the question of utilization of program funds received pursuant
2 27 to this section to provide school infrastructure improvements,
2 28 other than improvements to correct unmet fire and personal
2 29 safety needs or violations pursuant to paragraph "a", or to
2 30 furnish property tax relief. The board shall set forth its
2 31 proposal for utilization of the funds in a resolution and
2 32 shall publish the notice of the time and place of a public
2 33 hearing on the resolution. Notice of the time and place of
2 34 the public hearing shall be published not less than ten nor
2 35 more than twenty days before the public hearing in a newspaper
3 1 which is a newspaper of general circulation in the school
3 2 district.
3 3 At the hearing, or no later than thirty days after the date
3 4 of the hearing, the board shall take action to adopt the
3 5 resolution and the proposal shall be implemented unless within
3 6 twenty-eight days following the action of the board, the
3 7 secretary of the board receives a petition containing the
3 8 required number of signatures asking that an election be
3 9 called to approve or disapprove the action of the board in
3 10 utilizing the funds received pursuant to this section. The
3 11 petition must be signed by eligible electors equal in number
3 12 to not less than one hundred or thirty percent of the number
3 13 of voters at the last preceding regular school election,
3 14 whichever is greater.
3 15 The board shall either rescind its action or direct the
3 16 county commissioner of elections to submit the question to the
3 17 registered voters of the school district at the next following
3 18 regular school election or a special election. If a majority
3 19 of those voting on the question at the election favors
3 20 disapproval of the action of the board, the district shall not
3 21 proceed with implementation of the proposal and an additional
3 22 public hearing subject to a subsequent petition, as provided
3 23 in this subparagraph, shall be scheduled regarding an
3 24 alternative school board proposal. If a majority of those
3 25 voting on the question favors approval of the action, the
3 26 board shall certify the results of the election to the
3 27 department of management and the district shall proceed with
3 28 implementation.
3 29 At the expiration of the twenty-eight-day period, if a
3 30 petition is not filed, the board shall certify its action to
3 31 the department of management and the district shall implement
3 32 the proposal.
3 33 (2) Funds utilized for school infrastructure improvements
3 34 shall be allocated strictly for improvements to a school
3 35 facility as provided in subsection 1. A school district which
4 1 has submitted documentation to the department demonstrating
4 2 that unmet fire or personal safety needs are sufficiently
4 3 serious or widespread that new school facility construction
4 4 would be more cost-effective shall complete construction
4 5 necessary to correct the violation or deficiency prior to
4 6 utilizing funds for any other authorized purpose.
4 7 (3) A school district utilizing funds for property tax
4 8 relief shall be required to deposit amounts received in the
4 9 school district's debt service fund pursuant to section
4 10 298A.10. Notwithstanding provisions in section 298A.10 which
4 11 permit the transfer of funds remaining in the debt service
4 12 fund after payment of all outstanding debt, funds deposited
4 13 into the debt service fund for property tax relief pursuant to
4 14 this section shall remain in the fund to be used only for
4 15 property tax relief.
4 16 3. There is appropriated to the department of education
4 17 from amounts deposited in the tobacco settlement fund pursuant
4 18 to section 12.65, notwithstanding any other provision to the
4 19 contrary, twenty million dollars per year for a ten-year
4 20 period beginning July 1, 1999, to fund the safe schools
4 21 infrastructure block grant program. The funds shall be
4 22 distributed to school districts on a per pupil basis, in an
4 23 annual amount for each district calculated pursuant to a
4 24 formula whereby twenty million dollars is multiplied by a
4 25 fraction, the numerator of which is the ratio of the state
4 26 assessed property value per pupil to the district assessed
4 27 property value per pupil multiplied by the budget enrollment
4 28 for the school district, and the denominator of which is the
4 29 sum for all school districts in the state of the ratio, for
4 30 each respective school district, of the state-assessed
4 31 property value per pupil to the district-assessed property
4 32 value per pupil multiplied by the budget enrollment of the
4 33 school district. The state-assessed valuation per pupil and
4 34 district-assessed valuation per pupil calculations shall be as
4 35 determined by the department of management pursuant to section
5 1 257.20.
5 2 4. Safe schools infrastructure block grant funds
5 3 distributed to school districts shall be separately accounted
5 4 for by the district, and each district shall annually submit
5 5 to the department a detailed report regarding fund
5 6 utilization. The department shall submit a report to the
5 7 general assembly on an annual basis summarizing the
5 8 information received from each school district and noting
5 9 changing school infrastructure needs and updated, unmet fire
5 10 and safety need statistics.
5 11 EXPLANATION
5 12 This bill provides for the establishment and funding of a
5 13 safe schools infrastructure block grant program within the
5 14 department of education. The objective of the program is to
5 15 provide all school districts in the state with financial
5 16 resources to address and remedy fire and personal safety
5 17 needs, provide for school infrastructure improvements, and
5 18 furnish property tax relief.
5 19 The bill provides the highest priority for program fund
5 20 expenditures will be to address unmet fire and personal safety
5 21 needs. The bill provides that a school district which has
5 22 received an order or citation from the state fire marshal, or
5 23 a fire department chief or fire prevention officer, for one or
5 24 more fire safety violations regarding a school facility, or in
5 25 the opinion of the state fire marshal is regarded as operating
5 26 one or more school facilities subject to significant fire
5 27 safety deficiencies, will be regarded as having unmet fire
5 28 safety needs. The bill additionally provides that a school
5 29 district which has been notified of violations or deficiencies
5 30 of the state building code revealed during an inspection of
5 31 school facilities by a local building department, or for the
5 32 need for improvements consistent with the standards and
5 33 specifications contained in the state building code that
5 34 relate to ensuring that buildings and facilities are
5 35 accessible to and functional for persons with disabilities,
6 1 will be regarded as having unmet personal safety needs. The
6 2 bill provides that a school district will be required to
6 3 utilize program funds to correct the applicable fire and
6 4 personal safety violations or deficiencies unless the district
6 5 submits documentation to the department demonstrating that the
6 6 violations or deficiencies are sufficiently serious that it
6 7 would be more cost-effective for the district to allocate
6 8 program funds for new school facility construction.
6 9 The bill provides that after unmet fire and personal safety
6 10 needs have been addressed by a school district, or in the
6 11 event that the district either did not have unmet needs or the
6 12 needs were sufficiently serious that new school facility
6 13 construction was indicated, program funds may be allocated
6 14 either for school facility infrastructure improvements or to
6 15 furnish property tax relief. The bill defines a school
6 16 facility as a schoolhouse and additions directly attached
6 17 thereto, and provides that a school facility does not include
6 18 a stadium, fieldhouse, school bus garage, or teacher's or
6 19 superintendent's home. The bill defines "school
6 20 infrastructure improvements" as purchasing, building,
6 21 furnishing, reconstructing, repairing, improving, or
6 22 remodeling a school facility. A school district utilizing
6 23 funds for property tax relief will be required to deposit and
6 24 maintain unexpended amounts received in the school district's
6 25 debt services fund pursuant to Code section 298A.10. The bill
6 26 provides that prior to program fund expenditure for either
6 27 school infrastructure improvements or property tax relief, a
6 28 public hearing subject to reverse referendum will occur
6 29 regarding the school district board of director's proposal for
6 30 utilization of the funds.
6 31 The bill provides that the safe schools infrastructure
6 32 block grant program will be funded through an appropriation to
6 33 the department of education from amounts deposited in the
6 34 tobacco settlement fund pursuant to Code section 12.65, of $20
6 35 million per year for a 10-year period. The bill provides that
7 1 the funds will be distributed annually to school districts on
7 2 a per pupil basis pursuant to a formula which multiplies $20
7 3 million by an amount calculated to adjust for school districts
7 4 with low property assessed values per pupil relative to a
7 5 state average property assessed value per pupil.
7 6 The bill provides that safe schools infrastructure block
7 7 grant funds distributed to school districts shall be
7 8 separately accounted for by the district and that each
7 9 district shall annually submit to the department a detailed
7 10 report regarding fund utilization. The department is required
7 11 to submit a report to the general assembly on an annual basis
7 12 summarizing the information received from each school district
7 13 and noting changing school infrastructure needs and updated,
7 14 unmet fire and safety need statistics.
7 15 LSB 5520YH 78
7 16 rn/cls/14
Text: HF02018 Text: HF02020 Text: HF02000 - HF02099 Text: HF Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
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