HSB 558 (LSB 5223XD (6) 85)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to incentives for whole grade sharing and reorganization or dissolution by school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 257.3, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  For purposes of this section, a reorganized school district is one which absorbs at least thirty percent of the enrollment of the school district affected by a reorganization or dissolved during a dissolution and in which action to bring about a reorganization or dissolution is initiated by a vote of the board of directors or jointly by the affected boards of directors to take effect on or after July 1, 2007 2015, and on or before July 1, 2014 2019. Each district which initiated, by a vote of the board of directors or jointly by the affected boards, action to bring about a reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or after July 1, 2007 2015, and on or before July 1, 2014 2019, shall certify the date and the nature of the action taken to the department of education by January 1 of the year in which the reorganization or dissolution takes effect. For a reorganization or dissolution that took effect on or after July 1, 2002, and on or before July 1, 2006, the reorganized school district shall continue to receive the benefits of paragraphs “a” and “b” of this subsection for the time specified in those paragraphs.
    Sec. 2.  Section 257.11, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2014, is amended to read as follows:
   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, and the amount generated by the weighting shall be paid following a reorganization or a dissolution that occurs on or before July 1, 2019. A school district which executes a whole grade sharing agreement and which adopts a resolution jointly with other affected boards to study the question of undergoing a reorganization or dissolution to take effect that successfully reorganizes or dissolves on or before July 1, 2014 2019, 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 in the year immediately preceding reorganization or dissolution. A district shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this paragraph “c” for a maximum of three not more than the equivalent of five years, beginning with the year in which the school district’s reorganization or dissolution takes effect. 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, 2014.  The newly reorganized school district, or the receiving district in the case of a dissolution, has the option of receiving the supplementary weighting equally over five budget years or of receiving the total of the supplementary weighting in the budget year in which the school district’s reorganization or dissolution takes effect.
    Sec. 3.  Section 257.11, subsection 5, Code 2014, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 4.  REPEAL.  Section 257.11A, Code 2014, is repealed.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill makes changes relating to certain incentives for school district reorganization or dissolution, and strikes obsolete language relating to supplementary weighting for students attending classes in a regional academy.
   The bill provides for a reduced uniform levy as an incentive for school districts that reorganized prior to July 1, 2015, allowing school districts to utilize the incentive if they reorganize on or before July 1, 2019. Obsolete language, providing for a reduced uniform levy or reorganization or dissolution that took effect between July 1, 2002, and July 1, 2006, is stricken.
   The bill also allows school districts that execute a whole grade sharing agreement and adopt a resolution to study the effect of undergoing a reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or before July 1, 2019, to receive a weighting of one-tenth of a percentage of a student’s school day during which the student attends classes in another district, is taught by a teacher jointly employed, or attends classes taught by a teacher employed by another district. This supplementary weighting is available for not more than five years, beginning with the year in which the reorganization or dissolution takes effect.
   The reorganized district, or the receiving district in the case of a dissolution, has the option of receiving the supplementary weighting equally over five budget years or in the budget year in which the reorganization dissolution takes effect.
   The bill repeals a provision that provides for supplementary weighting funding for three years for a reorganized school district in an amount that is equal to the funding that it received in the year preceding the effective date of its reorganization.