HF 2076 (LSB 5264YH (2) 90)

HOUSE FILE 2076

BY  RINKER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to supplemental aid and modified supplemental amounts for certain school districts relating to open enrollment and including effective date and applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 257.31, subsection 5, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   If a district has unusual circumstances, creating an unusual need for additional funds, including but not limited to the circumstances enumerated in paragraphs “a” through “n” this subsection, the committee may grant supplemental aid to the district from any funds appropriated to the department of education for the use of the school budget review committee for the purposes of this subsection. The school budget review committee shall review a school district’s unexpended fund balance prior to any decision regarding unusual finance circumstances. Such aid shall be miscellaneous income and shall not be included in district cost. In addition to or as an alternative to granting supplemental aid the committee may establish a modified supplemental amount for the district. The school budget review committee shall review a school district’s unspent balance prior to any decision to establish a modified supplemental amount under this subsection.
    Sec. 2.  Section 257.31, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  o.  (1)  The percentage of students enrolled in the school district as the result of open enrollment under section 282.18 is equal to or greater than thirty-five percent of the total number of students enrolled in the school district. The committee shall not approve supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount that exceeds an amount equal to fifty percent of the product of the net increase in the school district’s enrollment due to open enrollment multiplied by the sum of the following amounts:
   (a)  The difference between the district’s regular program district cost per pupil minus the regular program state cost per pupil.
   (b)  The teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil.
   (c)  The professional development supplement district cost per pupil.
   (d)  The early intervention supplement district cost per pupil.
   (2)  Prior to filing a request for supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount based on the grounds specified in this paragraph, the board of directors shall hold a public hearing on the issue and shall publish the notice of the time and place of the public hearing. Notice of the time and place of the public hearing shall be published not less than ten nor more than twenty days before the public hearing in a newspaper that is a newspaper of general circulation in the school district.
   (3)  A school district is not eligible for supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount under this paragraph if a majority of the students enrolled in the school district as the result of open enrollment are students receiving online instruction from a private provider under section 256.43, subsection 2.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
    Sec. 4.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies July 1, 2024, for school budget years beginning on or after that date.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   Code section 257.31 provides that if a school district has unusual circumstances, creating an unusual need for additional funds, including but not limited to the circumstances enumerated in the Code section, the school budget review committee may grant supplemental aid to the district from certain funds appropriated to the department of education for the use of the school budget review committee or may establish a modified supplemental amount for the district, or both.
   This bill adds an additional circumstance under which a school district may request such amounts from the school budget review committee.
   Under the bill, if the percentage of students enrolled in the school district as the result of open enrollment is equal to or greater than 35 percent of the total number of students enrolled in the school district, such circumstance is an unusual circumstance. However, the bill excludes a district if a majority of the students enrolled as the result of open enrollment are students receiving online instruction from a private provider under Code section 256.43(2). Prior to filing a request with the school budget review committee, the school district must first hold a public hearing on the issue. The committee shall not approve supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount that exceeds an amount equal to 50 percent of the product of the net increase in the school district’s enrollment due to open enrollment multiplied by the sum of the following amounts: (1) the difference between the district’s regular program district cost per pupil minus the regular program state cost per pupil; (2) the teacher salary supplement district cost per pupil; (3) the professional development supplement district cost per pupil; and (4) the early intervention supplement district cost per pupil.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies July 1, 2024, for school budget years beginning on or after that date.