2021 -- S 0461

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LC002274

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2021

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION - STATE AID

     Introduced By: Senators Cano, Seveney, Pearson, Murray, and Gallo

     Date Introduced: March 04, 2021

     Referred To: Senate Education

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-5-30 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-5 entitled "State Aid [See

Title 16 Chapter 97 - The Rhode Island Board of Education Act]" is hereby amended to read as

follows:

     16-5-30. Withholding of aid for infraction of laws or regulations -- Report to general

assembly.

     (a) The commissioner of elementary and secondary education (commissioner) may, for

violation or neglect of law or for violation or neglect of rules and regulations in pursuance of law

by any city or town or city or town officer or school committee, or for nonpayment of tuition owed

by one community or local education agency (LEA) to another including but not limited to those

children in state custody, vocational education, or special education, order the general treasurer to

withhold the payment of any portion of the public money that has been or may be apportioned to

the city or town or LEA; and the general treasurer upon the receipt in writing of the order shall hold

the public money due the city or town or LEA until the time as the commissioner by writing requests

the withheld funds for the purposes of eliminating the violation or neglect of law or regulation that

caused the order to be issued, or the commissioner of elementary and secondary education shall

notify the treasurer that the city or town has complied with the order as the department of

elementary and secondary education (department) shall make in the premises, in which case

payment shall be made to the town immediately.

     (b) If the violation is for nonpayment of tuition, the following process shall occur:

     (1) The creditor community or LEA shall notify the department of the violation no later

than thirty (30) days after learning that the violation occurred.

     (2) and it has been determined by the The commissioner shall determine that whether the

tuition is, in fact, owed, no later than thirty (30) days after being notified by the creditor community

or LEA.

     (3) then the The commissioner shall, subject to the debtor community's or LEA's right to

appeal to the superior court, order the general treasurer to deduct the amount owed from the debtor

community's or LEA's school aid and to pay the community or LEA which is owed the tuition.

     (c) The board of regents for council on elementary and secondary education shall report to

the general assembly annually all infractions of school law which shall be brought to its attention,

with a record of this action as the department shall have taken in each instance.

     SECTION 2. Section 16-7.2-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The

Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:

     16-7.2-3. Permanent foundation education aid established.

     (a) Beginning in the 2012 fiscal year, the following foundation education-aid formula shall

take effect. The foundation education aid for each district local education agency (LEA) shall be

the sum of the core instruction amount in subdivision (a)(1) and the amount to support high-need

students in subdivision (a)(2), which shall be multiplied by the district LEA state-share ratio

calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-4 to determine the foundation aid.

     (1) The core-instruction amount shall be an amount equal to a statewide, per-pupil core-

instruction amount as established by the department of elementary and secondary education

(department), derived from the average of northeast regional expenditure data for the states of

Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire from the National Center for

Education Statistics (NCES) that will adequately fund the student instructional needs as described

in the basic education program and multiplied by the district LEA average daily membership as

defined in § 16-7-22. Expenditure data in the following categories: instruction and support services

for students, instruction, general administration, school administration, and other support services

from the National Public Education Financial Survey, as published by NCES, and enrollment data

from the Common Core of Data, also published by NCES, will be used when determining the core-

instruction amount. The core-instruction amount will be updated annually. For the purpose of

calculating this formula, school districts' LEAs' resident average daily membership shall exclude

charter school and state-operated school students.

     (2) The amount to support high-need students beyond the core-instruction amount shall be

determined by multiplying a student success factor of forty percent (40%) by the core instruction

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per-pupil amount described in subdivision (a)(1) and applying that amount for each resident child

whose family income is at or below one hundred eighty-five percent (185%) of federal poverty

guidelines, hereinafter referred to as "poverty status."

     (b) The department of elementary and secondary education shall provide an estimate of the

foundation education aid cost as part of its budget submission pursuant to § 35-3-4. The estimate

shall include the most recent data available as well as an adjustment for average daily membership

growth or decline based on the prior year experience.

     (c) In addition, the department shall report updated figures based on the average daily

membership as of October 1 by December 1.

     (d) The department shall report updated figures based on the average daily membership as

of February 1 by February 15. Included in this report, the department shall specifically identify the

number of students who began the academic year at one LEA in the state but, as of the February 1

report, had transferred to a different LEA within the state. The department shall notify the

appropriate LEAs of any such transfers by February 15. For every student who transferred, the

initial LEA shall cause tuition to be paid to the new LEA, prorated as of the February 1 report, by

March 1.

     (d)(e) Local education agencies LEAs may set aside a portion of funds received under

subsection (a) to expand learning opportunities such as after school and summer programs, full-

day kindergarten and/or multiple pathway programs, provided that the basic education program and

all other approved programs required in law are funded.

     (e)(f) The department of elementary and secondary education shall promulgate such

regulations as are necessary to implement fully the purposes of this chapter.

     SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION - STATE AID

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     This act would establish a process for reporting violations relating to the nonpayment of

tuition between local education agencies (LEAs) within thirty (30) days and a process to reallocate

tuition for students transferring from one LEA to another as of February 1 of each year.

     This act would take effect upon passage.

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