257.11  Supplementary weighting plan.

1.  Regular curriculum.  Pupils in a regular curriculum attending all their classes in the district in which they reside, taught by teachers employed by that district, and having administrators employed by that district, are assigned a weighting of one.

2.  District-to-district sharing.

a.  In order to provide additional funds for school districts which send their resident pupils to another school district, which jointly employ and share the services of teachers under section 280.15, or which use the services of a teacher employed by another school district, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted.

b.  If the school budget review committee certifies to the department of management that the shared classes or teachers would otherwise not be implemented without the assignment of additional weighting, pupils attending classes in another school district, attending classes taught by a teacher who is employed jointly under section 280.15, or attending classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district are assigned a weighting of forty-eight hundredths of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district.

c.  Pupils attending class for all or a substantial portion of a school day pursuant to a whole grade sharing agreement executed under sections 282.10 through 282.12 shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this subsection as follows:

(1)  A school district which was participating in a whole grade sharing arrangement during the budget year beginning July 1, 2001, and which adopts a resolution jointly with the other affected boards to study the question of undergoing a reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or before July 1, 2006, shall receive a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district. A district shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this subparagraph for a maximum of two years. Receipt of supplementary weighting for a second year shall be conditioned upon submission of information resulting from the study to the school budget review committee indicating progress toward the objective of reorganization on or before July 1, 2006.

(2)  A school district which was not participating in a whole grade sharing arrangement during the budget year beginning July 1, 2001, which executes a whole grade sharing agreement pursuant to sections 282.10 through 282.12 for the budget year beginning July 1, 2003, and which adopts a resolution jointly with the other affected boards to study the question of undergoing a reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or before July 1, 2006, shall receive a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district. A district shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this subparagraph for a maximum of three years. Receipt of supplementary weighting for a second and third year shall be conditioned upon submission of information resulting from the study to the school budget review committee indicating progress toward the objective of reorganization on or before July 1, 2006.

3.  District-to-community college sharing.

a.  In order to provide additional funds for school districts which send their resident pupils to a community college for classes, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted.

b.  If the school budget review committee certifies to the department of management that the class would not otherwise be implemented without the assignment of additional weighting, pupils attending a community college-offered class or attending a class taught by a community college-employed teacher are assigned a weighting of forty-eight hundredths of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends class in the community college or attends a class taught by a community college-employed teacher. The following requirements shall be met for the purposes of assigning an additional weighting for classes offered through a sharing agreement between a school district and community college. The class must be:

(1)  Supplementing, not supplanting, high school courses.

(2)  Included in the community college catalog or an amendment or addendum to the catalog.

(3)  Open to all registered community college students, not just high school students.

(4)  For college credit and the credit must apply toward an associate of arts or associate of science degree, or toward an associate of applied arts or associate of applied science degree, or toward completion of a college diploma program.

(5)  Taught by a teacher meeting community college licensing requirements.

(6)  Taught utilizing the community college course syllabus.

(7)  Of the same quality as a course offered on a community college campus.

4.  At-risk programs and alternative schools.

a.  In order to provide additional funding to school districts for programs serving at-risk pupils and alternative school pupils in secondary schools, a supplementary weighting plan for at-risk pupils is adopted. A supplementary weighting of forty-eight ten-thousandths per pupil shall be assigned to the percentage of pupils in a school district enrolled in grades one through six, as reported by the school district on the basic educational data survey for the base year, who are eligible for free and reduced price meals under the federal National School Lunch Act and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. § 1751-1785, multiplied by the budget enrollment in the school district; and a supplementary weighting of one hundred fifty-six one-hundred-thousandths per pupil shall be assigned to pupils included in the budget enrollment of the school district. Amounts received as supplementary weighting for at-risk pupils shall be utilized by a school district to develop or maintain at-risk pupils' programs, which may include alternative school programs.

b.  Notwithstanding paragraph "a", a school district which received supplementary weighting for an alternative high school program for the school budget year beginning July 1, 1999, shall receive an amount of supplementary weighting for the next three school budget years as follows:

(1)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2000, the greater of the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a", or sixty-five percent of the amount received for the budget year beginning July 1, 1999.

(2)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2001, the greater of the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a", or forty percent of the amount received for the budget year beginning July 1, 1999.

(3)  For the budget year beginning July 1, 2002, and succeeding budget years, the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a".

If a school district receives an amount pursuant to this paragraph "b" which exceeds the amount the district would otherwise have received pursuant to paragraph "a", the department of management shall annually determine the amount of the excess that would have been state aid and the amount that would have been property tax if the school district had generated that amount pursuant to paragraph "a", and shall include the amounts in the state aid payments and property tax levies of school districts. The department of management shall recalculate the supplementary weighting amount received each year to reflect the amount of the reduction in funding from one budget year to the next pursuant to subparagraphs (1) through (3). It is the intent of the general assembly that when weights are recalculated under this subsection, the total amounts generated by each weight shall be approximately equal.

c.  If the amount to be received under paragraph "a" or "b" by a school district or a consortium of school districts is less than fifty thousand dollars and the school district or consortium received funds under section 279.51, subsection 1, paragraph "c" or "e", Code 1999, for school-based youth services during the budget year beginning July 1, 1999, such school district or consortium shall receive a total amount under this subsection of fifty thousand dollars for each of the budget years beginning July 1, 2000, and July 1, 2001. The department of management shall adjust the supplementary weighting of a school district or the school district acting as the fiscal agent for a consortium eligible under this paragraph in a manner to assure that the district or the consortium receives the total sum of fifty thousand dollars as guaranteed in this paragraph. If the consortium elects not to continue a school-based youth service program, the funds shall be distributed equally to the school districts in the consortium. This paragraph is repealed effective July 1, 2002, for budget years beginning on or after that date. To the extent possible, the total amount of moneys generated by the enactment of this subsection, including this paragraph, shall be equivalent to the amount generated under this subsection without the inclusion of this paragraph. The department of management shall adjust the weighting assigned in this subsection to reflect this intent.

5.  Regional academies.

a.  For the school budget year beginning July 1, 2002, and succeeding budget years, in order to provide additional funds for school districts in which a regional academy is located, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted.

b.  A school district which establishes a regional academy shall be eligible to assign its resident pupils attending classes at the academy a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes at the regional academy. For the purposes of this subsection, "regional academy" means an educational institution established by a school district to which multiple schools send pupils in grades seven through twelve, and may include a virtual academy. A regional academy shall include in its curriculum advanced-level courses and may include in its curriculum vocational-technical programs. The maximum amount of additional weighting for which a school district establishing a regional academy shall be eligible is an amount corresponding to fifteen additional pupils.

6.  Shared classes delivered over the Iowa communications network.  A pupil attending a class in which students from one or more other school districts are enrolled and which is taught via the Iowa communications network is not deemed to be attending a class in another school district or in a community college for the purposes of this section and the school district is not eligible for supplementary weighting for that class under this section.

7.  Pupils ineligible.  A pupil eligible for the weighting plan provided in section 256B.9 is not eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this section. A pupil attending an alternative program or an at-risk pupils' program, including alternative high school programs, is not eligible for supplementary weighting under subsection 2.

8.  School finance appropriations report.  The department of education shall annually prepare a report regarding school finance provisions or programs receiving a standing appropriation, including supplementary weighting programs. The report shall provide information regarding amounts received or accessed by school districts pursuant to the provisions or programs, whether the amounts received represent an increase or decrease over amounts received during the previous budget year and the percentage increase or decrease, conclusions regarding the adequacy of amounts received by school districts and whether the amounts received are equitable between school districts based upon input from the school districts and analysis by the department, and the rationale for current trends being observed by the department and projections regarding possible trends in the future. The report shall be submitted to the general assembly by January 1 each year, and copies of the report shall be forwarded to the chairpersons and members of the committee on education in the senate and in the house of representatives.

Section History: Recent form

  89 Acts, ch 135, § 11; 90 Acts, ch 1190, § 7; 93 Acts, ch 180, § 96; 95 Acts, ch 111, § 1; 95 Acts, ch 209, § 13; 2000 Acts, ch 1198, §1, 6; 2001 Acts, ch 126, §5, 6

Internal References

  Referred to in § 257.6, 257.11A, 280.13A, 282.7


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