SSB 1211 (LSB 2359XC (3) 91)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS BILL BY CHAIRPERSON DAWSON)

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying 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, paragraph o, Code 2025, is amended by striking the paragraph and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   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. 2.  REPEAL.  2024 Iowa Acts, chapter 1152, section 45, is repealed.
    Sec. 3.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment.
    Sec. 4.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies July 1, 2025, 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(5) establishes circumstances under which the school budget review committee (committee) may grant supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount to a district. This bill strikes the current provisions for school districts with high open enrollment into the district and inserts new provisions to qualify for supplemental aid or a modified supplemental amount.
   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, 2025, for school budget years beginning on or after that date.
   The bill also repeals 2024 Iowa Acts, chapter 1152, section 45, which limited school district property tax levies for the budget year beginning July 1, 2025, if the school district received a modified supplemental amount under Code section 257.31(5) for the budget year beginning July 1, 2024.