HF 214 (LSB 1448YH (2) 91)

HOUSE FILE 214

BY  EHLERT, BAGNIEWSKI, SRINIVAS, WILSON, KRESSIG, WICHTENDAHL, BROWN-POWERS, and B. MEYER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to funding of approved local preschool programs and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 256C.5, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  “Preschool budget enrollment” means the figure that is equal to fifty percent of the actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool programming provided by a school district approved to participate in the preschool program on October 1 of the base year, or the first Monday in October if October 1 falls on a Saturday or Sunday.
    Sec. 2.  Section 256C.5, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  For the initial school year for which a school district approved to participate in the preschool program receives that approval and implements the preschool program, the funding for the preschool foundation aid payable to that school district shall be paid from the appropriation made for that school year in section 256C.6, Code 2011, or in another appropriation made for purposes of this chapter. For that school year, the preschool foundation aid payable to the school district is the product of the regular program state cost per pupil for the school year multiplied by sixty percent of the school district’s eligible student enrollment on the date in the school year determined by rule.
    Sec. 3.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   The amount of state funding for each school district’s approved local program under Code chapter 256C is determined using a preschool budget enrollment that is equal to 50 percent of the actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool programming provided by a school district on October 1 of the base year. This bill changes the preschool budget enrollment used to determine funding to an amount equal to 100 percent of the actual enrollment of eligible students in the preschool programming provided by a school district on October 1 of the base year. The bill also modifies the funding calculation for the initial school year for which a school district is approved to participate in the program.
   The bill applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2026.