2024 -- S 2321

========

LC004728

========

     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024

____________

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX

RELIEF ACT

     Introduced By: Senators Cano, Gallo, and Mack

     Date Introduced: February 12, 2024

     Referred To: Senate Finance

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

     SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-6 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:

     16-7.2-6. 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 four 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;

and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those

educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three

(3), and five (5) times the core-foundation amount;

     (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 develop 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, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure

that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls

is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs.

This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 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 shall be shared between the state and the city of

Central Falls. 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 Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined

in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional

support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a

stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The

department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as

may be determined by the general assembly;

     (e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools.

This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of-

district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The state will assume the costs of

non-public out-of-district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system.

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) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This

fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students

within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires

LC004728 - Page 2 of 7

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;

     (g) 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 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional

School 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 in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional

School 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; and

     (7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available

for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for

which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of

funding appropriated in any fiscal year;

     (h) Additional state support for English learners (EL). The amount to support EL students

shall be determined by multiplying an EL factor of fifteen percent (15%) by the core-instruction

per-pupil amount defined in § 16-7.2-3(a)(1) and applying that amount of additional state support

to EL students identified using widely adopted, independent standards and assessments identified

by the commissioner. All categorical funds distributed pursuant to this subsection must be used to

provide high-quality, research-based services to EL students and managed in accordance with

LC004728 - Page 3 of 7

requirements set forth by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The

department of elementary and secondary education shall collect performance reports from districts

and approve the use of funds prior to expenditure. The department of elementary and secondary

education shall ensure the funds are aligned to activities that are innovative and expansive and not

utilized for activities the district is currently funding;

     (i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school

resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority

who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing

assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have

completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an

accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years,

school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct

state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools.

Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of

salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource

officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that:

     (1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school:

     (i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand two hundred (1,200) students shall

require one school resource officer;

     (ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or more students shall

require two school resource officers;

     (2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be

eligible for reimbursement; and

     (3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new

positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and

     (j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to

the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7.

     (k) Civics education. This fund shall provide funding to support the effective instruction of

civics education in every district. The percentage of funding assigned to each district shall be

determined by district needs, including variables such as the size of the student population,

socioeconomic status, the amount of student who are multilingual learners, and other dimensions

of need as defined by the department of elementary and secondary education. This categorical

funding shall be, provided for and administered as follows:

     (1) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and for each fiscal year thereafter, the

LC004728 - Page 4 of 7

categorical funding provided pursuant to the provisions of § 16-7.2-6(k) shall be increased by a

minimum of fifty percent (50%) over the funding provided in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2024.

The increased funding shall be used exclusively for teacher professional development in civics,

including, but not limited to, specific pedagogical needs such as culturally responsive teaching,

media literacy, and project-based learning; the purchase and creation of civic education curriculum;

technical assistance and support for the implementation of student-led civic projects; partnerships

with local community organizations; and the evaluation of civic learning at the district level, with

the results made accessible to the public upon review by the department of elementary and

secondary education. Further uses of funding may include a state civics showcase, at the conclusion

of the instructional period in a given academic year, with the exact date to be specified at the

beginning of each instructional period, not less than four (4) weeks into the period. Allocation of

the increased funding shall be subject to approval of the commissioner of elementary and secondary

education;

     (2) For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2024, and each fiscal year thereafter, funding shall

include one million dollars ($1,000,000), with six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) specifically

designated for teacher professional development, support implementing student-led civics projects,

and other civic education related uses described and defined in subsection (k)(1) of this section.

The remaining funding shall be dedicated to oversight from the department of elementary and

secondary education which may include personnel, assessment, accountability systems, guidelines

and resources specifically designated to civics education. The allocation of funding shall be

approved and implemented by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education pursuant

to a request for proposal (RFP) process;

     (3) Any funds appropriated but unutilized in the appropriated fiscal year shall be retained,

carried forward, and used in subsequent fiscal years;

     (4) The department of elementary and secondary education shall be responsible for

oversight of the fund and assessing the effectiveness of its use throughout each school district of

the state. That assessment shall include, but not be limited to, direct input from teachers, parents,

and consideration of district need, as defined in the provisions of § 16-7.2-6(k); and

     (5) If any one or more provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of

this legislation or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is found to be invalid,

illegal, unenforceable or unconstitutional, the same is hereby declared to be severable and the

balance of this legislation shall remain effective and functional notwithstanding such invalidity,

illegality, unenforceability or unconstitutionality. The general assembly hereby declares that it

would have passed this legislation, and each provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase

LC004728 - Page 5 of 7

or word thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more provision, section, subsection,

sentence, clause, phrase, or word be declared invalid, illegal, unenforceable or unconstitutional,

including, but not limited to, each of the courses, assessment, funding, and diverse teacher

workforce provisions of this legislation.

     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.

========

LC004728

========

LC004728 - Page 6 of 7

EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATION EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX

RELIEF ACT

***

     This act would establish a new categorical funding category for civics education. A new

fund would be created and dedicated to civics education. This fund would be approved and

implemented by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education pursuant to a request for

proposal process.

     This act would take effect on July 1, 2024.

========

LC004728

========

LC004728 - Page 7 of 7