2024 -- S 2597 | |
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LC004828 | |
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND | |
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY | |
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2024 | |
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A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX | |
RELIEF ACT | |
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Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, Miller, DiMario, Valverde, F. Lombardi, Gallo, and | |
Date Introduced: March 01, 2024 | |
Referred To: Senate Finance | |
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: | |
1 | SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The |
2 | Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: |
3 | 16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. |
4 | In addition to the foundation education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent |
5 | foundation education-aid program shall provide direct state funding for: |
6 | (a) Excess costs associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined when |
7 | an individual special education student’s cost shall be deemed to be “extraordinary.” Extraordinary |
8 | costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount |
9 | above four times the core foundation amount (total of core-instruction amount plus student success |
10 | amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available |
11 | for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school |
12 | districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year; |
13 | and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those |
14 | educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three |
15 | (3), and five (5) times the core-foundation amount; |
16 | (b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements |
17 | needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education |
18 | programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher- |
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1 | than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies |
2 | necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the state. |
3 | The department shall develop criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all career and technical |
4 | education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. The department |
5 | of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among |
6 | those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking |
7 | reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; |
8 | (c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. |
9 | The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early childhood |
10 | program funds as may be determined by the general assembly; |
11 | (d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure |
12 | that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls |
13 | is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs. |
14 | This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside |
15 | the permanent foundation education-aid formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, |
16 | facility maintenance, and retiree health benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of |
17 | Central Falls. The fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city |
18 | appropriation. The state’s share of this fund may be supported through a reallocation of current |
19 | state appropriations to the Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined |
20 | in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional |
21 | support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a |
22 | stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The |
23 | department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as |
24 | may be determined by the general assembly; |
25 | (e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools. |
26 | This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of- |
27 | district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The state will assume the costs of |
28 | non-public out-of-district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system. |
29 | The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for |
30 | distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school |
31 | districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year; |
32 | (f) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This |
33 | fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students |
34 | within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires |
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1 | that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation costs net any |
2 | federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary |
3 | education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if |
4 | the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount |
5 | of funding available in any fiscal year; |
6 | (g) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization bonus |
7 | as set forth below: |
8 | (1) As used herein, the term “regionalized” shall be deemed to refer to a regional school |
9 | district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional |
10 | School district; |
11 | (2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus |
12 | shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the |
13 | regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a |
14 | regionalized school district as set forth in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional |
15 | School District; |
16 | (3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year shall be two percent (2.0%) of the |
17 | state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to |
18 | §§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; |
19 | (4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the |
20 | state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to |
21 | §§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year; |
22 | (5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year; |
23 | (6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to |
24 | the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns; and |
25 | (7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available |
26 | for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for |
27 | which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of |
28 | funding appropriated in any fiscal year; |
29 | (h) Additional state support for English learners (EL). The amount to support EL students |
30 | shall be determined by multiplying an EL factor of fifteen percent (15%) by the core-instruction |
31 | per-pupil amount defined in § 16-7.2-3(a)(1) and applying that amount of additional state support |
32 | to EL students identified using widely adopted, independent standards and assessments identified |
33 | by the commissioner. All categorical funds distributed pursuant to this subsection must be used to |
34 | provide high-quality, research-based services to EL students and managed in accordance with |
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1 | requirements set forth by the commissioner of elementary and secondary education. The |
2 | department of elementary and secondary education shall collect performance reports from districts |
3 | and approve the use of funds prior to expenditure. The department of elementary and secondary |
4 | education shall ensure the funds are aligned to activities that are innovative and expansive and not |
5 | utilized for activities the district is currently funding; |
6 | (i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school |
7 | resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority |
8 | who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing |
9 | assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have |
10 | completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an |
11 | accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years, |
12 | school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct |
13 | state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools. |
14 | Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of |
15 | salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource |
16 | officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that: |
17 | (1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school: |
18 | (i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand two hundred (1,200) students shall |
19 | require one school resource officer; |
20 | (ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or more students shall |
21 | require two school resource officers; |
22 | (2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be |
23 | eligible for reimbursement; and |
24 | (3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new |
25 | positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and |
26 | (j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to |
27 | the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7. |
28 | (k) State support for social worker staffing. In grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12), |
29 | each public school shall have among its staff at least one full-time social worker for every two |
30 | hundred fifty (250) students. For purposes of this section, "social worker" means any person who |
31 | holds a valid professional certificate in school social work issued by the state department of |
32 | education. |
33 | (l) In addition to the state support for school social workers, the general assembly shall |
34 | appropriate an additional sum of two million dollars ($2,000,000) for fiscal year 2025 for the |
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1 | purpose of allowing school districts or municipalities to employ additional social workers. |
2 | SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage. |
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LC004828 | |
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EXPLANATION | |
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL | |
OF | |
A N A C T | |
RELATING TO EDUCATION -- THE EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND PROPERTY TAX | |
RELIEF ACT | |
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1 | This act would require all public schools, in grades kindergarten through twelve (K-12), to |
2 | have at least one full-time certified school social worker for every two hundred fifty (250) students |
3 | and provide for an appropriation by the general assembly in the amount of two million dollars |
4 | ($2,000,000) in the budget for Fiscal Year 2025 to the various school districts and municipalities |
5 | to employ additional social workers. |
6 | This act would take effect upon passage. |
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LC004828 | |
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