House File 152 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 152 BY COLLINS , DETERMANN , HARRIS , DUNWELL , HORA , RINKER , WOOD , GEHLBACH , BODEN , WILZ , JOHNSON , LATHAM , GOLDING , HENDERSON , SORENSEN , YOUNG , NORDMAN , and BRADLEY A BILL FOR An Act relating to school resource officers by establishing 1 a rural school security grant program and making 2 appropriations. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1443YH (4) 90 md/jh
H.F. 152 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 256.26 Rural school security grant 1 program —— fund. 2 1. The department shall create a rural school security grant 3 program to provide grants to school districts for the hiring 4 and equipping of a school resource officer. 5 2. a. A school district with a basic enrollment for the 6 budget year under section 257.6, subsection 2, of one thousand 7 pupils or less may apply for a grant under the program to hire 8 and equip one school resource officer in the school district. 9 b. A school district may collaborate and partner with one or 10 more school districts or law enforcement agencies to hire and 11 equip the school resource officer position for which the grant 12 application is filed. The school resource officer position may 13 be the position from which the school receives supplementary 14 weighting under section 257.11, subsection 5. 15 c. The applicant school district must specify in the 16 application the amount and sources of other funding for the 17 school resource officer position, including amounts received by 18 the school district as the result of supplementary weighting 19 for a school resource officer under section 257.11, subsection 20 5. 21 d. Grant funds may be used by the school district for school 22 resource officer salaries, benefits, and equipment. 23 3. The department shall, in consultation with the 24 department of public safety’s school safety bureau, develop 25 a grant application and selection and evaluation criteria. 26 Applicants that meet the selection and evaluation criteria 27 shall be awarded grants on a first-come-first-served basis. 28 4. A grant awarded to a school district in any single 29 fiscal year shall not exceed an amount equal to the lesser of 30 twenty thousand dollars or twenty percent of the amount of 31 other school district funding sources specified in the school 32 district’s application to hire and equip the school resource 33 officer. Amounts paid by a collaborator or partner school 34 district or law enforcement agency shall be part of the amount 35 -1- LSB 1443YH (4) 90 md/jh 1/ 3
H.F. 152 of other school district funding sources specified in the 1 application. 2 5. A rural school security grant fund is established in the 3 state treasury under the control of the department. There is 4 appropriated from the general fund of the state to the rural 5 school security grant fund for the fiscal year beginning July 6 1, 2023, four million dollars. Moneys credited to the fund are 7 appropriated to the department for purposes of distributing 8 grants under this section. The department may accept gifts, 9 grants, bequests, and other private contributions, as well 10 as state or federal moneys, for deposit in the fund. Moneys 11 available in the rural school security grant fund for a fiscal 12 year shall be distributed as grants to eligible school district 13 applicants pursuant to this section. Notwithstanding section 14 8.33, moneys in the fund at the close of the fiscal year shall 15 not revert but shall remain available for expenditure for the 16 purposes designated for subsequent fiscal years. 17 6. For purposes of this section, “school resource officer” 18 means the same as defined in section 257.11, subsection 5. 19 EXPLANATION 20 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 21 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 22 This bill directs the department of education to establish 23 a rural school security grant program to provide grants to 24 school districts with basic enrollments for the budget year of 25 1,000 or less for the hiring and equipping of a school resource 26 officer. Under the bill, a school district may collaborate and 27 partner with one or more school districts or law enforcement 28 agencies to hire and equip the school resource officer position 29 for which the grant application is filed. The applicant school 30 district must specify in the application the amount and sources 31 of other funding for the school resource officer position, 32 including amounts received by the school district as the 33 result of supplementary weighting under Code section 257.11, 34 subsection 5. Grant funds may be used for school resource 35 -2- LSB 1443YH (4) 90 md/jh 2/ 3
H.F. 152 officer salaries, benefits, and equipment. 1 The bill directs the department of education, in 2 consultation with the department of public safety’s school 3 safety bureau, to develop a grant application and selection 4 and evaluation criteria. Applicants that meet the selection 5 and evaluation criteria shall be awarded grants on a 6 first-come-first-served basis. 7 A grant awarded to a school district in any single fiscal 8 year shall not exceed an amount equal to the lesser of $20,000 9 or 20 percent of the amount of other school district funding 10 sources specified in the school district’s application from 11 other school district funding sources to hire and equip the 12 school resource officer. 13 The bill establishes a rural school security grant fund 14 and appropriates $4 million to the fund for the fiscal year 15 beginning July 1, 2023. Moneys in the fund at the close of a 16 fiscal year shall not revert but shall remain available for 17 expenditure for the purposes designated for subsequent fiscal 18 years. 19 -3- LSB 1443YH (4) 90 md/jh 3/ 3