SSB 1046 (LSB 1125XD (5) 86)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the duties and authority of the state board of education and the department of education, to the programs and activities under the purview of the state board and the department, and providing for properly related matters affecting school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256.7, subsection 15, Code 2015, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256.9, subsections 26, 27, 36, 40, 54, and 59, Code 2015, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 3.  Section 257.1, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2015, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 4.  Section 257.14, Code 2015, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   257.14  Budget adjustment.
   1.  For the budget year commencing July 1, 2013, and succeeding budget years, a district shall be eligible for a budget adjustment in an amount equal to the difference between the regular program district cost for the budget year and one hundred one percent of the regular program district cost for the base year.
   2.  The board of directors of a school district that wishes to receive a budget adjustment pursuant to this subsection shall adopt by May 15, annually, a resolution to receive the budget adjustment and shall notify the department of management of the adoption of the resolution and the amount of the budget adjustment to be received.
    Sec. 5.  Section 282.8, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   282.8  Attending school outside state.
   1.  The boards of directors of school districts located near the state boundaries may designate schools of equivalent standing across the state line for attendance of both elementary and high secondary school pupils when the public school in the adjoining state is nearer than any appropriate public school in a pupil’s district of residence or in Iowa. Distance shall be measured by the nearest traveled public road. Arrangements shall be subject to reciprocal agreements made between the chief state school officers of the respective states. Notwithstanding section 282.1, arrangements between districts pursuant to the reciprocal agreements made under this section shall establish tuition and transportation fees in an amount acceptable to the affected boards, but the tuition and transportation fees fee established shall not be less than the lower average cost per pupil of the tuition fee established pursuant to section 282.24 for the school district or the equivalent tuition rate for the non-Iowa school district for the previous school year, and the transportation fee established shall not be less than the lower average transportation cost per mile for yellow school buses as described in section 321.373 for the previous school year of the two affected school districts. For the purpose of this section average cost per pupil for the previous school year is determined by dividing the district’s operating expenditures for the previous school year by the number of children enrolled in the district in the previous school year on the date specified in section 257.6, subsection 1.  If the tuition fee for the school district in the adjoining state is a variable rate, the test of which tuition fee is lower shall be determined for each student. 
   2.  A person attending school in another state pursuant to this section shall continue to be treated as a pupil of the district of residence in the apportionment of the current school fund and the payment of state aid for state school foundation aid purposes under section 257.6.
   3.  Notwithstanding the tuition provisions of subsection 1, the tuition fee established for a child requiring special education shall be equal to the actual cost of the special education instructional program provided to that child under the child’s individualized education program.
   4.  If the chief state school officers of the respective states have not entered into a reciprocal agreement under section 282.7, subsection 3, or the agreement has expired or been terminated, or the distance to the public school in the adjoining state is not nearer than an appropriate public school in the pupil’s district of residence or an appropriate public school in Iowa, the pupil attending school outside the state shall not be considered a resident child for purposes of tuition payments to the receiving district and shall not be treated as a pupil of the district of residence for state school foundation aid purposes under section 257.6.
   5.  The whole grade sharing provisions of sections 282.10 through 282.12 and the open enrollment provisions of section 282.18 shall not apply to agreements made between districts under this section.
    Sec. 6.  Section 282.10, subsection 4, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  A whole grade sharing agreement shall be signed by the boards of the districts involved in the agreement not later than February 1 of the school year preceding the school year for which the agreement is to take effect. The boards of the districts shall negotiate as part of the new or existing agreement the disposition of funding provided under chapter 284 except for the following:
   a.  Funding for the beginning teacher mentoring and induction programs pursuant to section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph “b”.
   b.  The teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil as provided in section 257.9, unless all of the districts subject to the agreement are receiving such funding.
   c.  Teacher leadership supplemental aid payments as provided in section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph “e”, unless all of the districts subject to the agreement are receiving such payments. This paragraph “c” is repealed June 30, 2018.
    Sec. 7.  Section 282.12, subsection 4, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  The number of pupils participating in a whole grade sharing agreement shall be determined on the date specified in section 257.6, subsection 1, and on the third second Friday of February January of each year.
    Sec. 8.  Section 282.18, subsection 7, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  A pupil participating in open enrollment shall be counted, for state school foundation aid purposes, in the pupil’s district of residence. A pupil’s residence, for purposes of this section, means a residence under section 282.1. The board of directors of the district of residence shall pay to the receiving district the sum of the state cost per pupil for the previous school year, and plus the teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil for the previous fiscal year as provided in section 257.9, or the teacher leadership supplement foundation aid for the previous fiscal year as provided in section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph “e”, if both the district of residence and the receiving district are receiving such supplements, plus any moneys received for the pupil as a result of the non-English speaking weighting under section 280.4, subsection 3, for the previous school year multiplied by the state cost per pupil for the previous year. If the pupil participating in open enrollment is also an eligible pupil under section 261E.6, the receiving district shall pay the tuition reimbursement amount to an eligible postsecondary institution as provided in section 261E.7.
    Sec. 9.  Section 282.18, subsection 9, paragraph c, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  Quarterly payments On or before February 15 and July 15 of each year, the receiving district shall bill the resident district. Payments shall be made by the district of residence to the receiving district in a timely manner.
    Sec. 10.  Section 284.12, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   284.12  Reports —— rules Rules.
   1.  The department shall annually report the statewide progress on the following:
   a.  Student achievement scores in mathematics and reading at the fourth and eighth grade levels on a district-by-district basis as reported to the local communities pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 21, paragraph “c”.
   b.  Evaluator training program.
   c.  Changes and improvements in the evaluation of teachers under the Iowa teaching standards.
   2.  The report shall be made available to the chairpersons and ranking members of the senate and house committees on education, the deans of the colleges of education at approved practitioner preparation institutions in this state, the state board, the governor, and school districts by January 1. School districts shall provide information as required by the department for the compilation of the report and for accounting and auditing purposes.
   3.  In developing administrative rules for consideration by the state board, the department shall consult with stakeholders who might reasonably be affected by the proposed rule, including persons representing teachers, administrators, school boards, approved practitioner preparation institutions, and other appropriate education stakeholders.
    Sec. 11.  Section 282.24, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The maximum tuition fee that may be charged for elementary and high secondary school students residing within another school district or corporation except students attending school in another district under section 282.7, subsection 1 or 3, is the district cost per pupil of the receiving district as computed in section 257.10.
    Sec. 12.  Section 282.24, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 13.  REPEAL.  Sections 256.19, 279.38A, 279.55, 279.56, and 279.57, Code 2015, are 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 statutory changes affecting the duties and authority of the state board of education and the department of education, repeals certain programs, and modifies or eliminates provisions relating to certain programs and activities under the purview of the state board and the department.
   CERTAIN DIRECTOR’S DUTIES STRICKEN. The bill strikes from Code section 256.9, which provides for the duties of the director of the department of education, provisions which require the director to cause to be printed in book form, every four years, all school laws in force and any amendments or changes in school laws, along with other information which may aid school officers; to develop a model written publications code for the regulation of time, place, and manner of student expression; and to submit to the general assembly an annual report regarding the activities, findings, and student progress under the core curriculum, as well as an annual report on the necessity of waiving statutory obligations for school districts in the event of a disaster.
   BUDGET GUARANTEE LANGUAGE. The bill amends Code section 257.14 to strike obsolete language relating to the budget guarantee.
   ATTENDING SCHOOL OUTSIDE THE STATE. The bill makes a number of changes to Code section 282.8. The Code section authorizes the boards of directors of school districts located near the state boundaries to designate schools of equivalent standing across the state line for attendance of pupils, to establish reciprocal agreements between such districts, and to establish tuition and transportation fees in an amount acceptable to the affected boards.
   Currently, Code section 282.8 provides that tuition and transportation fees shall not be less than the lower average cost per pupil for the previous school year of the two affected school districts. The bill amends the provision to establish that the tuition fee for students not requiring special education shall not be less than the lower of the tuition fee established pursuant to Code section 282.24 for students attending school outside the district of residence or the equivalent tuition rate for the non-Iowa school district for the previous school year, and the transportation fee established shall not be less than the lower average cost per mile for yellow school buses for the previous school year of the two affected school districts. The bill also provides that if the tuition fee for the school district in the adjoining state is a variable rate, the test of which tuition fee is lower shall be determined for each student. For students requiring special education, the bill provides that the tuition fee shall be equal to the actual cost of the special education instructional program provided to that child under the child’s individualized education program.
   If there is no agreement between districts, or if the distance requirements are not met, the bill provides that the tuition limitations of Code section 282.1 shall not apply, and a student attending school in the other state shall not be treated as a pupil of the district of residence in Iowa for purposes of tuition payments to the receiving district or for purposes of the school aid formula. The bill further establishes that an agreement reached under Code section 282.8 does not qualify as a whole grade sharing agreement and the open enrollment provisions do not apply to such an agreement.
   WHOLE GRADE SHARING AGREEMENTS. Whole grade sharing is a procedure used by school districts in which all or a substantial portion of the pupils in any grade in two or more school districts share an educational program for all or a substantial portion of a school day under a written agreement. Currently, the boards of the school districts participating in the agreement must negotiate, as part of the new or existing agreement, the disposition of funding provided under Code chapter 284, the student achievement and teacher quality program. The bill provides exemptions from the disposition negotiation requirement relating to beginning teacher mentoring and induction funds; the teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil, unless all of the districts subject to the agreement are receiving such funding; and the teacher leadership supplemental aid payments, unless all districts subject to the agreement are receiving such funding. Because the funding for the teacher leadership supplemental aid payments is scheduled to end with the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the bill repeals the relevant provision June 30, 2018.
   The bill also changes, from the third Friday of February to the second Friday of January of each year, the second of two dates used to determine the number of pupils participating in a whole grade sharing agreement.
   OPEN ENROLLMENT PAYMENTS. In addition to other statutory requirements for open enrollment payments, the bill provides that the board of directors of the district of residence must pay to the receiving district the teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil for the previous fiscal year or the teacher leadership supplement foundation aid for the previous fiscal year if both the district of residence and the receiving district are receiving such supplements. Such a limitation currently exists in Code section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph “e”, regarding the teacher leadership supplement foundation aid. Currently, the district of residence must pay to the receiving district the teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil for the previous fiscal year whether or not both districts are receiving the teacher leadership supplement state cost per pupil.
   Currently, a district of residence must make quarterly payments to the receiving district. Under the bill, the receiving district must bill the district of residence biannually, and the district of residence must make payments in a timely manner.
   STATEWIDE PROGRESS REPORTS. Currently, the department of education must make an annual report to the general assembly on statewide progress in student achievement on mathematics and reading at the fourth and eighth grades, on the evaluator training program, and on changes and improvements in teacher evaluations. The bill eliminates that reporting requirement.
   STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT AND TEACHER QUALITY PROGRAM. Currently, in developing administrative rules for consideration by the state board of education, the department must consult with persons representing teachers, administrators, school boards, approved practitioner preparation institutions, and other appropriate education stakeholders. The bill provides that the department must consult stakeholders when those stakeholders might reasonably be affected by the proposed rule.
   TERMINOLOGY CHANGES. Code sections 282.8 and 282.24 are amended to replace references to “elementary and high school” with the term “elementary and secondary school”. Definitions for junior high school and high school are also stricken from Code section 282.24.
   REPEALS. The bill repeals the following:
   1.  TEACHER EXCHANGE PROGRAM. The teacher exchange program was enacted in 1991, contingent on an appropriation of moneys by the general assembly, to permit school districts to exchange licensed instructional personnel with other districts in order to promote the exchange and enhancement of instructional methods and materials and encourage the educational development of Iowa’s teachers. The bill eliminates the provisions relating to the teacher exchange program, including provisions directing the state board to adopt rules to administer the program, directing the director of the department of education to administer the program, establishing the program, and providing for participation in the program by school districts and teachers.
   2.  PILOT PROJECTS TO IMPROVE INSTRUCTIONAL PROGRAMS. When first enacted in 1987, the provision was part of a program to offer incentives to school districts that established pilot projects to utilize a modified block schedule for offering classes in the districts and sharing the certificated instructional personnel. Implementation by the department of education is dependent on whether the general assembly appropriates funding for the pilot projects.
   3.  SCHOOL BOARD ORGANIZATIONS. A provision that allows school district board members and school administrators to join, pay dues to, and participate in local, regional, and national organizations which directly relate to the functions of the board of directors. The language included reporting requirements for the boards and for those organizations that administer or distribute federal education grants and open meetings and public records requirements.