ARTICLE
12 AS AMENDED
RELATING TO
EDUCATION AID
SECTION 1. Sections 16-2-9.4 and 16-2-34 of the General Laws
in Chapter 16-2 entitled "School
Committees and
Superintendents" are hereby amended to read as follows:
16-2-9.4.
School district accounting compliance. -- (a) The office of auditor general
and the department of elementary and secondary education
shall promulgate a uniform system of
accounting, including a chart of accounts based on the
recommendations of the advisory council
on school finance, and require all accounts of the
school districts, regional school districts, state
schools and charter schools to be kept in accordance
therewith; provided, that in any case in
which the uniform system of accounting is not practicable,
the office of auditor general in
conjunction with the department of elementary and secondary
education shall determine the
manner in which the accounts shall be kept. The uniform
system of accounting shall also include
a standardized budget process to ensure districts can
annually assess investment priorities and
incorporate long range planning.
(b) For the purpose of
securing a uniform system of accounting and a chart of accounts
the advisory council on school finances, as defined in
section 16-2-9.2 may make such surveys of
the operation of any school districts, regional school
district, state school or charter school as they
shall deem necessary.
(c) Upon completion
of the implementation of the uniform chart of accounts, all the
school districts, regional school districts, state schools,
and/or charter schools, shall implement a
regents-approved budget model, and use best practices established by
the department of education
for long range planning, budget development, and budget
administration and reporting.
(c)(d) If
any school district, regional school district, state school or charter school
fails to
install and maintain the uniform system of accounting,
including a chart of accounts and
approved budget model,
or fails to keep its accounts and interdepartmental records, or refuses or
neglects to make the reports and to furnish the information in
accordance with the method
prescribed by the office of auditor general and the department
of education or hinders or prevents
the examination of accounts and financial records, the
auditor general and the commissioner of
education and/or their respective designee(s) shall may
make a report to the superintendent of
schools of the local education agency, the school committee
chairperson, the mayor or town
manager, and the president of the town council, and/or for a
charter school, to the board of
trustees or directors, as applicable, the board of regents for elementary and secondary
education
in writing, specifying the nature and extent of the
failure, refusal, neglect, hindrance, or
prevention, and the board of regents commissioner
is hereby authorized and directed to review
the matter so reported. If the regents commissioner
shall find that failure, refusal, neglect,
hindrance, or prevention exists and that the school district,
regional school district, state school or
charter school should properly comply in the matter so
reported, the regents commissioner shall
direct the school district, regional school district,
state school or charter school, in writing, to so
comply. If the failure, refusal, neglect, hindrance, or
prevention shall continue for a period of ten
(10) days following the
written direction, the regents commissioner may withhold
distribution of
state aid to said school district, regional school
district, state school or charter school.
(e) The department of
elementary and secondary education in consultation with the
division of municipal finance shall conduct periodic reviews
and analysis of school revenues and
expenses. The department shall also review and monitor
compliance with the approved budget
model and best practices. The department shall identify
those local education agencies considered
to be at risk of a year-end deficit or a structural deficit
that could impact future years. Such
potential deficits shall be identified based on the periodic
reviews, which may also include on-site
visits and reporting in accordance with the provisions of
section 45-12-22.2. Potential deficits
shall be reported to the office of municipal finance,
office of auditor general, superintendent,
chairman of the school committee, mayor or town manager, and
the president of the town council,
of the applicable school district, regional school
district, or state school, and/or for a charter
school, to the board of trustees or directors, as
applicable.
16-2-34.
established a seven (7) member board of trustees, which shall
govern the
District. With the exception of those powers and duties
reserved by the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education, and the board of regents for
elementary and secondary
education, the board of trustees shall have the powers and
duties of school committees.
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
the commissioner of elementary and
secondary education, as the executive agent of the board of
regents for elementary and secondary
education, is authorized to exercise in whole or in part care,
control, and management over the
public schools of the
trustees and board of regents, whenever the commissioner deems
such intervention to be
necessary and appropriate.
(b) The board of
regents for elementary and secondary education shall appoint the
members of the board of trustees from nominations made by the
commissioner of elementary and
secondary education. The chairperson shall also be selected in
this manner. The board of regents
shall determine the number, qualifications, and terms of
office of members of the board of
trustees, provided however, that at least four (4) of the
members shall be residents of the city and
parents of current or former
appointed at large.
(c) The board of
regents shall provide parameters for overall budget requests, approve
the budget, and otherwise participate in budget development.
(d) The commissioner of
elementary and secondary education shall recommend
parameters for overall budget requests, recommend a budget, and
otherwise participate in budget
development.
(e) The commissioner
shall approve the process for selection of the superintendent.
(f) The board of
trustees shall meet monthly and serve without compensation. The board
of trustees shall have broad policy making authority for
the operation of the school, as well as the
following powers and duties:
(1) To identify the
educational needs of the district;
(2) To develop
educational policies to meet the needs of students in the school district;
(3) To appoint a
superintendent to serve as its chief executive officer and to approve
assistant and associate superintendents from nominations made
by the superintendent;
(4) To provide policy
guidance and otherwise participate in budget development; and
(5) To develop staffing
policies which ensure that all students are taught by educators of
the highest possible quality.
(g) The superintendent
shall serve at the pleasure of the board of trustees with the initial
appointment to be for a period of not more than three (3) years;
provided, however, that the terms
and conditions of employment are subject to the approval
of the board of regents for elementary
and secondary education.
(h) It shall be the
responsibility of the superintendent to manage and operate the school
on a day-to-day basis. The superintendent's duties shall
include the following:
(1) To be responsible
for the care, supervision, and management of the schools;
(2) To recommend to the
board of trustees educational policies to meet the needs of the
district, and to implement policies established by the board
of trustees;
(3) To present
nominations to the board of trustees for assistant and associate
superintendents and to appoint all other school personnel;
(4) To provide for the
evaluation of all school district personnel;
(5) To establish a
school based management approach for decision making for the
operation of the school;
(6) To prepare a budget
and otherwise participate in budget development as required,
and to authorize purchases consistent with the adopted
school district budget;
(7) To report to the
board of trustees, on a regular basis, the financial condition and
operation of the schools, and to report annually on the
educational progress of the schools;
(8) To establish
appropriate advisory committees as needed to provide guidance on new
directions and feedback on the operation of the schools;
(9) With policy
guidance from the board of trustees and extensive involvement of the
administrators and faculty in the school, to annually prepare a
budget. The board of trustees shall
approve the budget and transmit it to the commissioner. The
board of regents for elementary and
secondary education, upon recommendation of the commissioner of
elementary and secondary
education, shall provide parameters for the overall budget
request. Based on review and
recommendation by the commissioner, the board of regents shall
approve the total budget and
incorporate it into its budget request to the governor and to the
general assembly. Line item
budgeting decisions shall be the responsibility of the
superintendent; and
(10) To negotiate,
along with the chairperson of the board of trustees and his or her
appointed designee, all district employment contracts, which
contracts shall be subject to the
approval of the commissioner of elementary and secondary
education with the concurrence of the
board of regents.
(i)
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to limit or otherwise interfere with
the rights
of teachers and other school employees to bargain
collectively pursuant to chapters 9.3 and 9.4 of
title 28, to exercise rights afforded under any statute
including, but not limited to, Title 16, or to
allow the commissioner, board of trustees or the superintendent
to abrogate any agreement by
collective bargaining.
(j) The appointment of
the special state administrator for the
District and the Central Falls School District
Advisory Group, created by chapter 312 of the
Rhode Island Public Laws of 1991, will no longer be in
effect upon the selection and appointment
of the board of trustees created in this section. All
powers and duties of the special state
administrator and the Central Falls School District Advisory Group are
hereby transferred and
assigned to the board of trustees created in this section,
upon the selection and appointment of
that board.
SECTION 2. Section 45-12-22.2 of the General Laws in Chapter
45-12 entitled
"Indebtedness of Towns
and Cities" is hereby amended to read as follows:
45-12-22.2. Monitoring of financial operations -- Corrective action. --
(a) The chief
financial officer of each municipality and each school district
within the state shall continuously
monitor their financial operations by tracking actual versus
budgeted revenue and expense.
(b) The chief financial
officer of the municipality shall submit a report on a monthly
basis to the municipality's chief executive officer, each
member of the city or town council, and
school district committee certifying the status of the
municipal budget from all fund sources,
including the school department budget from all fund
sources, or regional school district budget
from all fund sources. The chief financial officer of the municipality shall also submit a
quarterly
report on or before the 25th day of the month succeeding the
end of each fiscal quarter to the
division of municipal finance, the commissioner of
education, and the auditor general certifying
the status of the municipal budget, including the
school budget that has been certified by the
school department.
Each quarterly report submitted must be signed by the chief executive officer,
chief financial officer as well as the superintendent of
the school district and chief financial
officer for the school district. The report has to be
submitted to the city/town council president
and the school committee chair. It is encouraged, but not
required, to have the council
president/school committee chair sign the report. The chief financial
officer of the school
department or school district shall certify the status of the
school district's budget and shall assist
in the preparation of these reports. The monthly and
quarterly reports shall be in a format
prescribed by the division of municipal finance, the
commissioner of education, and the state
auditor general. The reports shall contain a statement as to
whether any actual or projected
shortfalls in budget line items are expected to result in a
year-end deficit, the projected impact on
year-end financial results including all accruals and
encumbrances, and how the municipality and
school district plans to address any such shortfalls. In
the event that the school reporting is not
provided, then state education aid may be withheld pursuant to
the provisions of section 16-2-
9.4(d).
(c) If any of the
quarterly reports required under subsection (b) above project a year-end
deficit, the chief financial officer of the municipality shall
submit to the state division of
municipal finance, the commissioner of education, and
the auditor general a corrective action
plan signed by the chief executive officer and chief
financial officer on or before the last day of
the month succeeding the close of the fiscal quarter,
which provides for the avoidance of a year-
end deficit or structural deficit that could impact
future years, and the school superintendent shall
also comply with the provisions of section 16-2-11(c) to
assist in this effort. The plan may
include recommendations as to whether an increase in property
taxes and/or spending cuts should
be adopted to eliminate the deficit. The plan shall
include a legal opinion by municipal counsel
that the proposed actions under the plan are permissible
under federal, state, and local law. The
state division of municipal affairs may rely on the written
representations made by the
municipality in the plan and will not be required to perform an
audit.
(d) If the division of
municipal finance concludes the plan required hereunder is
insufficient and/or fails to adequately address the financial
condition of the municipality, the
division of municipal finance can elect to pursue the remedies
identified in section 45-12-22.7.
(e) The reports
required shall include the financial operations of any departments or
funds of municipal government including the school
department or the regional school district,
notwithstanding the status of the entity as a separate legal body.
This provision does not eliminate
the additional requirements placed on local and regional
school districts by sections 16-2-9(f) and
16-3-11(e)(3).
SECTION 3. Section 16-7-39 of the General Laws in Chapter
16-7 entitled “Foundation
16-7-39.
Computation of school housing aid ratio. -- For
each community, the percent
of state aid for school housing costs shall be computed
in the following manner:
(1) The adjusted
equalized weighted assessed valuation for the district is divided by the
resident average daily membership for the district (grades
twelve (12) and below); (2) the
adjusted equalized weighted assessed valuation for the state
is divided by the resident average
daily membership for the state (grades twelve (12) and
below); (1) is then divided by (2) and the
resultant ratio is multiplied by a factor currently set at
sixty-two percent (62%) which represents
the approximate average district share of school support;
the resulting product is then subtracted
from one hundred percent (100%) to yield the housing aid
share ratio, provided that in no case
shall the ratio be less than thirty percent (30%).
Provided, that effective July 1, 2010, and
annually at the start of each fiscal year thereafter, the
thirty percent (30%) floor on said housing
aid share shall be increased by five percent (5%)
increments each year until said floor on the
housing aid share ratio reaches a minimum of not less than
forty percent (40%). This provision
shall apply only to school housing projects completed after
June 30, 2010 that received approval
from the board of regents prior to June 30, 2012. Provided further, for the fiscal year beginning
July 1, 2012 and for subsequent fiscal years, the
minimum housing aid share shall be thirty-five
percent (35%) for all projects receiving board of regents
approval after June 30, 2012. The
resident average daily membership shall be determined in
accordance with § 16-7-22(1).
SECTION 4. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter
35-4 entitled “The
Education Equity and
Property Tax Relief Act” is hereby amended to read as follows:
16-7.2-6.
Categorical programs, state funded expenses. -- In addition to the
foundation
education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 the permanent
foundation education aid program
shall provide direct state funding for:
(a) Excess costs
associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined
when an individual special education student's cost shall
be deemed to be "extraordinary."
Extraordinary costs are those educational costs that
exceed the state approved threshold based on
an amount above five times the core foundation amount
(total of core instruction amount plus
student success amount). The department of elementary
and secondary education shall prorate the
funds available for distribution among those eligible
school districts if the total approved costs for
which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the
amount of funding appropriated in
any fiscal year;
(b) Career and technical
education costs to help meet initial investment requirements
needed to transform existing or create new comprehensive
career and technical education
programs and career pathways in critical and emerging
industries and to help offset the higher
than average costs associated with facilities, equipment
maintenance and repair, and supplies
necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized
programs that are a priority for the
state. The department shall recommend criteria for the
purpose of allocating any and all career
and technical education funds as may be determined by the
general assembly on an annual basis.
The department of elementary and secondary education
shall prorate the funds available for
distribution among those eligible school districts if the total
approved costs for which school
districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of
funding available in any fiscal year;
(c) Programs to increase
access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten
programs. The department shall recommend criteria for the
purpose of allocating any and all early
childhood program funds as may be determined by the general
assembly;
(d) Central Falls Stabilization
Fund is established to assure that appropriate funding is
available to support the community, including students from the
community that attend the
charter schools, Davies, and the
city's capacity to meet the local share of education costs.
This fund requires that education aid
calculated pursuant to section 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs
outside the permanent foundation
education aid formula, including but not limited to transportation,
facility maintenance, and
retiree health benefits, that the difference between education aid calculated pursuant to §
16-7.2-3
and education aid, as of the effective date of the
formula, shall be shared between the
state and
the city of The state's share of the fund will be paid
directly to the
school district upon verification that the city has
transferred its share of the local contribution for
education. The
fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city
appropriation. The state's share of this fund may be supported
through a reallocation of current
state appropriations to the
in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its
contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24; and
(e) Excess costs
associated with transporting students to out of district non-public schools
and within regional school districts. (1) This fund will
provide state funding for the costs
associated with transporting students to out of district
non-public schools, pursuant to title 16,
Chapter 21.1. The state will assume the costs of non-public
out-of-district transportation for those
districts participating in the statewide system; and (2) This
fund will provide direct state funding
for the excess costs associated with transporting
students within regional school districts,
established pursuant to title 16, chapter 3. This fund requires
that the state and regional school
district share equally the student transportation costs net
any federal sources of revenue for these
expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary education
shall prorate the funds
available for distribution among those eligible school
districts if the total approved costs for
which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the
amount of funding available in any
fiscal year.
(f) Public school
districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization
bonus as set forth below.
(1) As used herein, the
term "regionalized" shall be deemed to refer to a regional school
district established under the provisions of chapter 16-3
including the
district.
(2) For those districts
that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus
shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that
regionalize after July 1, 2010, the
regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year
following the establishment of a
regionalized school district as set forth section 16-3, including
the
District.
(3) The regionalization
bonus in the first fiscal year shall be two percent (2.0%) of the
state's share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized
district as calculated pursuant to
§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that
fiscal year.
(4) The regionalization
bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the
state's share of the foundation education aid for the
regionalized district as calculated pursuant to
§§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that
fiscal year.
(5) The regionalization
bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year.
(6) The regionalization
bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall
be applied to
the state share of the permanent foundation education aid
for the member towns.
(7) The department of
elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds
available for distribution among those eligible regionalized
school districts if the total approve
costs for which regionalized school districts are seeking a
regionalization bonus exceed the
amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year.
(g) Categorical programs
defined in (a) through (f) shall be funded pursuant to the
transition plan in § 16-7.2-7.
SECTION 5. Sections 16-7-17, 16-7-38 and 16-7-41 of the
General Laws in Chapter 16-7
entitled "Foundation Level School Support" are
hereby amended to read as follows:
16-7-17. Time of
payment of state's share of the basic program and approved
expenditures. --
There shall be paid by the state to each community in twelve (12) monthly
installments an amount as determined by law to be the state's
share of the cost of the basic
program for the reference year and all approved expenditures
in excess of the basic program for
the reference year, provided, however, that these
payments to a community shall be reduced by
the amount of funds deposited by the department into the
local education agency EPSDT account
in accordance with section 40-8-18 on behalf of the
community. The July and August payments
payment shall be two and one half percent (2 1/2%) two
and fifty-four hundredths percent
(2.54%) of
the state's share based upon the estimated pupil data, valuation data, and
expenditure
data for the reference year and the September August
through June payments shall each be nine
and one half percent (9 1/2%) eight and eighty-six hundredths percent (8.86%)
of the aid due and
payable based upon the data for the reference year, except
for the city of
shall be paid during October and April in accordance with
chapter 344 of the Public Laws of
1982.
16-7-38.
Time for payments to communities. -- There shall
be paid during October and
April on
September 15 and March 15 of each year one-half (1/2) of the amount to
which each
community is entitled in terms of the computation in section
16-7-41.
16-7-41. Computation of school housing aid. -- (a) In each fiscal year the state shall pay
to each community a grant to be applied to the cost of school housing equal to the following:
The cost of each new
school housing project certified to the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education not later than July 15 of the
fiscal year shall be divided by the actual
number of years of the bond issued by the local community or
the Rhode Island Health and
Educational Building Corporation in support of the
specific project, times the school housing aid
ratio; and provided, further, with respect to costs of new
school projects financed with proceeds
of bonds issued by the local community or the Rhode
Island Health and
Corporation in support of the specific project, the
amount of the school housing aid payable in
each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount arrived at by
multiplying the principal and interest of
the bonds payable in each fiscal year by the school
housing aid ratio and which principal and
interest amount over the life of the bonds, shall, in no
event, exceed the costs of each new school
housing project certified to the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education. If a
community fails to specify or identify the appropriate
reimbursement schedule, the commissioner
of elementary and secondary education may at his or her
discretion set up to a five (5) year
reimbursement cycle for projects under five hundred thousand
dollars ($500,000); up to ten (10)
years for projects up to three million dollars
($3,000,000); and up to twenty (20) years for
projects over three million dollars ($3,000,000).
(b) Aid shall be
provided for the same period as the life of the bonds issued in support of
the project and at the school housing aid ratio
applicable to the local community at the time of the
bonds issued in support of the project as set forth in
section 16-7-39.
(c) Aid shall be paid
either to the community or in the case of projects financed through
the
Educational Building Corporation or its designee
including, but not limited to, a trustee under a
bond indenture or loan and trust agreement, in support of
bonds issued for specific projects of the
local community in accordance with this section, section
16-7-40 and section 16-7-44.
Notwithstanding the preceding, in case of failure of
any city, town or district to pay the amount
due in support of bonds issued on behalf of a city or
town school project financed by the Rhode
Island Health and Educational Building Corporation,
upon notification by the
Health and Educational Building Corporation, the
general treasurer shall deduct the amount from
aid provided under this section, section 16-7-40, and
section 16-7-44 and section 16-7-15 through
section 16-7-34.3
due the city, town or district and direct said funding to the Rhode Island
Health
and Educational Building Corporation or its designee.
(d) Notwithstanding any
provisions of law to the contrary, in connection with the
issuance of refunding bonds benefiting any local community,
any net interest savings resulting
from the refunding bonds issued by such community or a
municipal public buildings authority for
the benefit of the community or by the
for the benefit of the community, in each case in support
of school housing projects for the
community, shall be allocated between the community and the
state of
the applicable school housing aid ratio at the time of
issuance of the refunding bonds, calculated
pursuant to section 16-7-39, that would otherwise apply in
connection with school housing
projects of the community. In connection with any such
refunding of bonds, the finance director
or the chief financial officer of the community shall
certify such net interest savings to the
commissioner of elementary and secondary education.
Notwithstanding section 16-7-44 or any
other provision of law to the contrary, school housing projects
costs in connection with any such
refunding bond issue shall include bond issuance costs incurred
by the community, the municipal
public buildings authority or the
case may be, in connection therewith. In connection with
any refunding bond issue, school
housing project costs shall include the cost of interest
payments on such refunding bonds, if the
cost of interest payments was included as a school housing
cost for the bonds being refunded. A
local community or municipal public buildings authority
shall not be entitled to the benefits of
this subsection (d) unless the net present value savings
resulting from the refunding is at least
three percent (3%) of the refunded bond issue.
(e) Any provision of
law to the contrary notwithstanding, the commissioner of
elementary and secondary education shall cause to be monitored
the potential for refunding
outstanding bonds of local communities or municipal public
building authorities or of the Rhode
Island Health and Educational Building Corporation
issued for the benefit of local communities
or municipal public building authorities and benefiting
from any aid referenced in this section. In
the event it is determined by said monitoring that the
net present value savings which could be
achieved by refunding such bonds of the type referenced in the
prior sentence including any
direct costs normally associated with such refundings is equal to (i) at
least one hundred thousand
dollars ($100,000) and (ii) for the state and the communities
or public building authorities at least
three percent (3%) of the bond issue to be refunded
including associated costs then, in such event,
the commissioner (or his or her designee) may direct the
local community or municipal public
building authority for the benefit of which the bonds were
issued, to refund such bonds. Failure of
the local community or municipal public buildings
authority to timely refund such bonds, except
due to causes beyond the reasonable control of such local
community or municipal public
building authority, shall result in the reduction by the state
of the aid referenced in this section 16-
7-4.1 associated with the bonds directed to be
refunded in an amount equal to ninety percent
(90%) of the net present value savings reasonably
estimated by the commissioner of elementary
and secondary education (or his or her designee) which
would have been achieved had the bonds
directed to be refunded been refunded by the ninetieth (90th)
day (or if such day is not a business
day in the state of
of the directive of the commissioner (or his or her
designee) to refund such bonds. Such reduction
in the aid shall begin in the fiscal year following the
fiscal year in which the commissioner issued
such directive for the remaining term of the bond.
(f) Payments shall be
made in accordance with section 16-7-40 and this section.
SECTION 6. Section 16-7-23 of the General Laws in Chapter
16-7 entitled "Foundation
16-7-23.
Community requirements -- Adequate minimum budget provision.
-- (a)
The school committee's budget provisions of each
community for current expenditures in each
budget year shall provide for an amount from all sources
sufficient to support the basic program
and all other approved programs shared by the state. Each
community shall contribute local funds
to its school committee in an amount not less than its
local contribution for schools in the
previous fiscal year except to the extent permitted by section
sections 16-7-23.1 and 16-7-23.2.
Provided, that for the fiscal years 2010 and 2011 each
community shall contribute to its school
committee in an amount not less than ninety-five percent
(95.0%) of its local contribution for
schools for the fiscal year 2009. Calculation of the annual
local contribution shall not include
Medicaid revenues received by the
municipality or district pursuant to chapter 8 of title 40. A
community which has a decrease in enrollment may compute
maintenance of effort on a per pupil
rather than on an aggregate basis when determining its local
contribution; furthermore, a
community which experiences a nonrecurring expenditure for its
schools may deduct the
nonrecurring expenditure in computing its maintenance of effort.
The deduction of nonrecurring
expenditures shall be with the approval of the commissioner. Provided,
however, that
notwithstanding any provision of this title to the contrary, debt
service that is no longer carried on
the books of any school district shall not be included in
any school districts’ annual budget, nor
shall non-recurring debt service be included in maintenance
of effort as set forth in this chapter,
nor shall any non-recruiting debt service be included in
the operating budget of any school
district. For the purposes set forth above non-recurring
capital lease payments shall be considered
non-recurring debt service.
The courts of this state shall enforce this section by writ of mandamus
means of injunctive relief.
(b) Whenever any state
funds are appropriated for educational purposes, the funds shall
be used for educational purposes only and all state
funds appropriated for educational purposes
must be used to supplement any and all money allocated by
a city or town for educational
purposes and, in no event, shall state funds be used to
supplant, directly or indirectly, any money
allocated by a city or town for educational purposes. All state
funds shall be appropriated by the
municipality to the school committee for educational purposes in
the same fiscal year in which
they are appropriated at the state level even if the
municipality has already adopted a school
budget. All state and local funds unexpended by the end of
the fiscal year of appropriation shall
remain a surplus of the school committee and shall not
revert to the municipality. Any surplus of
state or local funds appropriated for educational purposes
shall not in any respect affect the
requirement that each community contribute local funds in an
amount not less than its local
contribution for schools in the previous fiscal year, subject to
subsection (a) of this section, and
shall not in any event be deducted from the amount of the
local appropriation required to meet the
maintenance of effort provision in any given year.
SECTION 7. Chapter 16-7 of the General Laws entitled "
Support" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following section:
16-7-23.2.
School deficit reduction -- Maintenance of effort provision.
– A city, town,
or regional school district appropriating authority may
appropriate supplemental funds to
eliminate or reduce a school budget deficit. To the extent that
such a supplemental appropriation
represents payment of past annual expenditure, the payment shall
not be used in the computation
of the maintenance of effort requirements established by
section 16-7-23.
SECTION 8. Chapter 16-25 of the General Laws entitled
"EDUCATION OF
CHILDREN WHO ARE DEAF OR
BLIND" is hereby repealed in its entirety.
CHAPTER
16-25
Education
of Children Who are Deaf or Blind
16-25-1.
Appointment of state beneficiaries at special institutions.
-- The governor, on
recommendation of the department of elementary and secondary
education and upon application
of the parent or guardian, may appoint any child who is
deaf, blind, or visually impaired being a
legal resident of this state, who shall appear to the
department to be a fit subject for education, as
a state beneficiary at any suitable institution or
school now established or that may be established
either within or without the state, for the period that he
or she may determine, within the limit of
ten (10) years; provided, that he or she may, upon the
special recommendation of the department,
extend the period and that he or she shall have the power to
revoke any appointment at any time
for cause.
16-25-2.
Supervision of beneficiaries -- Reports to general assembly. --
The
department of elementary and secondary education is invested
with the duty and responsibility of
supervising the education of all those beneficiaries, and no
child appointed as provided in section
16-25-1 shall be withdrawn from any institution or
school except with its consent, or the consent
of the governor; and the department shall annually
report its doings under this chapter to the
general assembly, with any further information in relation to
the several institutions at which
these beneficiaries have been placed that may be deemed
desirable.
16-25-3.
Repealed.. –
16-25-4. Care
and instruction of children who are blind or visually impaired under
school age. -- The department of elementary and secondary education shall have power
to
provide for the suitable care, maintenance, and instruction
of babies and children under school
age residing in this state who may be born blind or become
blind or visually impaired, in any case
where by reason of lack of means or other cause the parent
or parents of the children may be
unable to properly care for, maintain, and educate the
children.
16-25-5.
Contracts for care of children who are blind or visually impaired. --
For the
purpose of providing care, maintenance, and education of
children who are blind or visually
impaired, the department of elementary and secondary education
shall have power to contract
with any institution having or furnishing special
education and related services in this or any
other state at a contract price within the amount
appropriated.
16-25-6.
Payment of expenses of chapter. --
Each community, as defined in chapter 7 of
this title, shall contribute to the department of
elementary and secondary education in accordance
with regulations to be prescribed by the department.
16-25-7.
Repealed.. –
SECTION 9. Section 16-3.1-11 of the General Laws in Chapter
16-3.1 entitled
"Cooperative Service Among School Districts" is hereby amended to read as
follows:
16-3.1-11.
Urban collaborative. -- Notwithstanding the
provisions of any general or
special law to the contrary, the school committees of the
cities of
inclusion by existing member districts in accordance with
collaborative bylaws are authorized and
empowered to continue and/or initiate cooperative efforts to
provide alternate education programs
and/or diagnostic services required by law or regulation for
students achieving limited success in
traditional settings and to do all things necessary including,
but not limited to utilization of
technology, including television, all on a collaborative basis.
The various school committees may
assign and delegate to their respective school committee
chairs or designee or superintendents of
schools or designee, acting as a regional board any duties, responsibilities,
and powers that the
committees may deem necessary for the conduct, administration,
and management of the urban
collaborative. Beginning on July 1, 2013 the urban collaborative
shall be funded pursuant to the
provisions of section 16-7.2-3. The state share of the permanent
foundation education aid shall be
paid directly to the urban collaborative pursuant to the
provisions of section 16-7.2-7. The local
school district shall transfer the difference between the
calculated state share of the permanent
foundation education aid and the amount calculated pursuant to
the provisions of section 16-7.2-7
to the urban collaborative, until the transition of the
state share is complete. In addition, the local
school district shall pay the local share of education
funding to the urban collaborative as outlined
in section 16-7.2-5.
SECTION 10. This article shall take effect on July 1, 2012.