House File 445 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 445 BY JONES , WORTHAN , and HUSEMAN A BILL FOR An Act relating to education funding weighting for children 1 living in certain facilities and including effective date 2 provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1674YH (7) 88 md/jh

H.F. 445 Section 1. Section 282.31, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 1 2019, is amended to read as follows: 2 b. (1) A child who lives in a facility or other placement 3 pursuant to section 282.19 , and who does not require special 4 education and who is enrolled in the educational program of the 5 district of residence at the time the child is placed, shall 6 be included in the basic enrollment of the school district in 7 which the child is enrolled. A child who lives in a facility 8 or other placement pursuant to section 282.19 , and who does 9 not require special education and who is not enrolled in 10 the educational program of the district of residence of the 11 child, shall be included in the basic enrollment of the school 12 district in which the facility or other placement is located. 13 However, for school budget years beginning on or after July 14 1, 2019, if a child under this paragraph “b” , is living in a 15 licensed individual or agency child foster care facility or 16 in an unlicensed relative foster care placement, as provided 17 in section 282.19, subsection 2, and, following a juvenile 18 court or agency determination under section 282.19, subsection 19 2, the child is enrolled in the school district where the 20 facility or placement is located, the child shall be assigned a 21 weighting equal to the weighting established in section 256B.9, 22 subsection 1, paragraph “b” , as if the child required special 23 education. 24 (2) However, on June 30 of a school year, if the board 25 of directors of a school district determines that the number 26 of children under this paragraph “b” who were counted in the 27 basic enrollment of the school district in that school year 28 in accordance with section 257.6, subsection 1 , is fewer than 29 the sum of the number of months all children were enrolled 30 in the school district under this paragraph “b” during the 31 school year divided by nine, the secretary of the school 32 district may submit a claim to the department of education by 33 August 1 following the school year for an amount equal to the 34 district cost per pupil of the district for the previous school 35 -1- LSB 1674YH (7) 88 md/jh 1/ 3

H.F. 445 year , including any amount attributable to weighting assigned 1 under subparagraph (1), multiplied by the difference between 2 the number of children counted and the number of children 3 calculated by the number of months of enrollment. The amount 4 of the claim shall be paid by the department of administrative 5 services to the school district by October 1. The department 6 of administrative services shall transfer the total amount 7 of the approved claim of a school district from the moneys 8 appropriated under section 257.16 and the amount paid shall 9 be deducted monthly from the state foundation aid paid to all 10 school districts in the state during the remainder of the 11 subsequent fiscal year in the manner provided in paragraph “a” . 12 Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act, being deemed of immediate 13 importance, takes effect upon enactment. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 This bill relates to the method by which children living in 18 certain foster care facilities and placements and enrolled in 19 public schools are counted for funding purposes. 20 Current Code section 282.31 provides that a child who lives 21 in certain residential or foster care facilities or placements 22 pursuant to Code section 282.19, and who does not require 23 special education and who is enrolled in the educational 24 program of the district of residence at the time the child 25 is placed, is included in the basic enrollment of the school 26 district in which the child is enrolled. Additionally, such 27 a child who is not enrolled in the educational program of the 28 district of residence of the child is included in the basic 29 enrollment of the school district in which the facility or 30 other placement is located. 31 The bill provides that for school budget years beginning on 32 or after July 1, 2019, if such a child is living in a licensed 33 individual or agency child foster care facility or in an 34 unlicensed relative foster care placement and if the juvenile 35 -2- LSB 1674YH (7) 88 md/jh 2/ 3

H.F. 445 court or responsible agency has determined that remaining in 1 the child’s prior school is not in the best interest of the 2 child, the child shall be assigned a weighting equal to the 3 weighting established in Code section 256B.9(1)(b), as if the 4 child required special education. 5 The bill takes effect upon enactment. 6 -3- LSB 1674YH (7) 88 md/jh 3/ 3