House File 436 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY UPMEYER
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the provision of incentives for school
2 district reorganizations and dissolution and operation of
3 regional academies.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 257.3, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code
1 2 2007, is amended to read as follows:
1 3 d. For purposes of this section, a reorganized school
1 4 district is one which absorbs at least thirty percent of the
1 5 enrollment of the school district affected by a reorganization
1 6 or dissolved during a dissolution and in which action to bring
1 7 about a reorganization or dissolution is initiated by a vote
1 8 of the board of directors or jointly by the affected boards of
1 9 directors to take effect on or after July 1, 2002, and on or
1 10 before July 1, 2006 2014. Each district which initiated, by a
1 11 vote of the board of directors or jointly by the affected
1 12 boards, action to bring about a reorganization or dissolution
1 13 to take effect on or after July 1, 2002, and on or before July
1 14 1, 2006 2014, shall certify the date and the nature of the
1 15 action taken to the department of education by January 1 of
1 16 the year in which the reorganization or dissolution takes
1 17 effect. For a reorganization or dissolution that took effect
1 18 on or after July 1, 2006, and on or before July 1, 2007, the
1 19 reorganized school district shall receive the benefits of
1 20 paragraphs "a" and "b" for the time specified in those
1 21 paragraphs as if the effective date of its reorganization was
1 22 July 1, 2007.
1 23 Sec. 2. Section 257.11, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code
1 24 2007, is amended by striking the paragraph and inserting in
1 25 lieu thereof the following:
1 26 c. Pupils attending class for all or a substantial portion
1 27 of a school day pursuant to a whole grade sharing agreement
1 28 executed under sections 282.10 through 282.12 shall be
1 29 eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this
1 30 subsection. A school district which executes a whole grade
1 31 sharing agreement and which adopts a resolution jointly with
1 32 other affected boards to study the question of undergoing a
1 33 reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or before July
1 34 1, 2014, shall receive a weighting of one=tenth of the
1 35 percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil
2 1 attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by
2 2 a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or
2 3 attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another
2 4 school district. A district shall be eligible for
2 5 supplementary weighting pursuant to this paragraph for a
2 6 maximum of three years. Receipt of supplementary weighting
2 7 for a second and third year shall be conditioned upon
2 8 submission of information resulting from the study to the
2 9 school budget review committee indicating progress toward the
2 10 objective of reorganization on or before July 1, 2014.
2 11 Sec. 3. Section 257.11, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code
2 12 2007, is amended to read as follows:
2 13 a. For the school budget year beginning July 1, 2002, and
2 14 succeeding budget years through the school budget year
2 15 beginning July 1, 2007, in order to provide additional funds
2 16 for school districts in which a regional academy is located, a
2 17 supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is
2 18 adopted.
2 19 Sec. 4. Section 257.11A, Code 2007, is amended to read as
2 20 follows:
2 21 257.11A SUPPLEMENTARY WEIGHTING AND SCHOOL REORGANIZATION.
2 22 1. In determining weighted enrollment under section 257.6,
2 23 if the board of directors of a school district has approved a
2 24 contract for sharing pursuant to section 257.11 and the school
2 25 district has approved an action to bring about a
2 26 reorganization to take effect on and after July 1, 2002, and
2 27 on or before July 1, 2006 2014, the reorganized school
2 28 district shall include, for a period of three years following
2 29 the effective date of the reorganization, additional pupils
2 30 added by the application of the supplementary weighting plan,
2 31 equal to the pupils added by the application of the
2 32 supplementary weighting plan in the year preceding the
2 33 reorganization. For the purposes of this subsection, the
2 34 weighted enrollment for the period of three years following
2 35 the effective date of reorganization shall include the
3 1 supplementary weighting in the base year used for determining
3 2 the combined district cost for the first year of the
3 3 reorganization. However, the weighting shall be reduced by
3 4 the supplementary weighting added for a pupil whose residency
3 5 is not within the reorganized district.
3 6 2. For purposes of this section, a reorganized district is
3 7 one in which the reorganization was approved in an election
3 8 pursuant to sections 275.18 and 275.20 and takes effect on or
3 9 after July 1, 2002, and on or before July 1, 2006 2014. Each
3 10 district which initiates, by a vote of the board of directors
3 11 or jointly by the affected boards, action to bring about a
3 12 reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or after July
3 13 1, 2002, and on or before July 1, 2006 2014, shall certify the
3 14 date and the nature of the action taken to the department of
3 15 education by January 1 of the year in which the reorganization
3 16 or dissolution takes effect.
3 17 3. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a school district which
3 18 was participating in a whole grade sharing arrangement during
3 19 the budget year beginning July 1, 2001, and which received a
3 20 maximum of two years of supplementary weighting pursuant to
3 21 section 257.11, subsection 2, paragraph "c", shall include
3 22 additional pupils added by the application of the
3 23 supplementary weighting plan, equal to the pupils added by the
3 24 application of the supplementary weighting plan in the year
3 25 preceding the reorganization, for a period of four years
3 26 following the effective date of the reorganization.
3 27 4. 3. A school district shall be eligible for a combined
3 28 maximum total of six years of supplementary weighting under
3 29 the provisions of this section and section 257.11, subsection
3 30 2, paragraph "c". A school district participating in a whole
3 31 grade sharing arrangement during the budget year beginning
3 32 July 1, 2001, that adopted a resolution jointly with other
3 33 affected boards to study the question of undergoing a
3 34 reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or after July
3 35 1, 2006, and on or before July 1, 2007, shall receive the
4 1 supplementary weighting pursuant to the provisions of this
4 2 section and section 257.11, subsection 2, paragraph "c", as if
4 3 the effective date of its reorganization was July 1, 2007.
4 4 EXPLANATION
4 5 This bill makes changes related to incentives for school
4 6 district reorganization and dissolution and operation of
4 7 regional academies.
4 8 The bill continues financial incentives for school
4 9 districts to reorganize under Code chapter 257 through the
4 10 school year ending June 30, 2014.
4 11 The bill leaves intact the reduced uniform levy for school
4 12 districts that reorganized prior to July 1, 2006, allowing
4 13 school districts to utilize the incentive if they reorganize
4 14 until on or before July 1, 2014.
4 15 The bill strikes the current whole grade sharing
4 16 arrangement, and replaces it with a modified and simplified
4 17 version. The new provision allows school districts that
4 18 execute a whole grade sharing agreement and adopt a resolution
4 19 to study the effect of undergoing a reorganization or
4 20 dissolution to take effect on or before July 1, 2014, to
4 21 weight one=tenth of a percentage of a student's school day
4 22 during which the student attends classes in another district,
4 23 is taught by a teacher jointly employed, or attends classes
4 24 taught by a teacher employed by another district. This
4 25 supplementary weighting is available for a total of three
4 26 years. However, the second and third year of supplementary
4 27 weighting funding is dependent upon the school district's
4 28 progress toward reorganization.
4 29 The bill provides supplementary weighting funding for
4 30 regional academies only through the school budget year
4 31 beginning July 1, 2007.
4 32 The bill also provides for supplementary weighting funding
4 33 for three years for a reorganized school district that is
4 34 equal to the funding that was received in the year preceding
4 35 the reorganization. The bill amends the definition of
5 1 reorganized school district for purposes of receiving this
5 2 supplementary weighting to include those districts where the
5 3 reorganization takes effect on or before July 1, 2014.
5 4 LSB 1629YH 82
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