School finance-amendments.

WORKING DRAFT

ORIGINAL SENATE

FILE

NO.
0047

ENROLLED ACT NO. 61, SENATE

FIFTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2005 GENERAL SESSION

AN ACT relating to school finance; continuing assistance to school districts for full-day kindergarten programs and the summer school grant program; providing assistance to school districts for health insurance; imposing reporting requirements; extending student performance data system pilot project funding; providing appropriations; and providing for effective dates.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

2004 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 108, Sections 801 and 1001(a)(intro), (c)(intro), (i) and (g) are amended to read:

[SECTION 8. FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN PROGRAMS]

Section 801.

(a)

To provide financial assistance to school districts for the provision of full-day kindergarten programs, each school district shall for school
year
years
2004-2005
and 2005-2006
, receive an amount payable from the school foundation program account determined in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. This payment shall be made by the department of education from amounts within the foundation program account appropriated by the legislature for purposes of this section and shall be in addition to the foundation program amount determined for each district under W.S. 21
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13
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309(p). If there is an insufficient amount within the foundation program account for payments under this section, the department shall make a pro rata reduction in the payments to districts for each kindergarten student.

(b)

School year 2004-2005 p
ayments to school districts for full-day kindergarten programs shall be computed by multiplying the number of students enrolled in full-day kindergarten programs within each district during school year 2004-2005 by one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and shall be distributed to districts on February 15 together with foundation program distributions for school year 2004-2005 under W.S. 21
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13
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313.
School year 2005-2006 payments to school district for full-day kindergarten programs shall be computed by multiplying the number of students enrolled in full-day kindergarten programs within each district during school year 2005-2006 by one thousand dollars ($1,000.00), and shall be distributed to districts together with school year 2005-2006 foundation program distributions under W.S. 21
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13
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313.
For purposes of computations under this subsection, the kindergarten enrollment count for each district shall be the enrollment taken during October, 2004
and October, 2005, as applicable
.

(c)

Each district shall report expenditures of amounts distributed under subsection (b) of this section to the department in the manner and at the time specified by the department. Not later than September 1, 2005,
for school year 2004-2005 distributions, and September 1, 2006, for school year 2005-2006 distributions,
the department shall provide a report of expenditures broken down by district and expenditure category to the joint education interim committee.

(d)

Any charter school operating within a district and providing a full-day kindergarten program under a contract with the district shall be eligible for funding from the district through payment distributions available to the district under this section.

[SECTION 10. SUMMER SCHOOL GRANT PROGRAM]

Section 1001.

(a)

The summer school grant program is established for the 2004 summer session
and the 2005 summer session
to provide financial assistance to districts for the provision of intervention and remediation instruction to students beyond the required school year specified by law under W.S. 21
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4
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301 and 21
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13
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307(a)(ii). Assistance made available under the grant program shall supplement district intervention and remediation programs and shall be made available to students requiring additional instruction to master statewide content and performance standards prescribed by the state board of education under W.S. 21
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2
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304(a)(iii) or otherwise seeking credit recovery for promotion to the subsequent grade level. Summer school programs eligible for assistance under this section shall also:

(c)

To receive grant assistance under this section, a district shall apply to the department of education on or before May 1, 2004
, for school year 2004-2005, and on or before April 1, 2005, for school year 2005-2006
. Application review by the department shall be completed by June 1, 2004
, for school year 2004-2005, and on or before May 1, 2005, for school year 2005-2006
. On or before June 1, 2004
, or May 1, 2005
, districts shall be notified by the department of any estimated grant amount to be made available to the district during the
2004
applicable
summer school session. Application to the department shall be in a manner and form prescribed by the department and shall include:

(i)

An estimate of the number of students to be enrolled in the summer school intervention and remediation program
during the school year
for which a grant is requested, broken down by grade level;

(g)

On or before December 1, 2004,
and on or before December 1, 2005,
the department shall review and report to the joint education interim committee on summer school remediation and intervention programs funded under this section, evaluate program effectiveness and provide recommendations for program improvement and continuation.

Section 2.

(a)

Prior to reevaluation of the education resource block grant model during the 2005 interim period preceding the 2006 budget session of the legislature, as required under W.S. 21
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13
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309(t), additional funding is provided under this section to assist school districts with the expenses of health insurance coverage for district employees during school year 2005-2006. The legislature recognizes the burden placed on school districts by the increased costs for health insurance and although the payments provided under this section are computed and distributed outside the block grant model, it is the intent of the legislature to address health insurance costs within the scope of the 2005 model reevaluation to ensure the model remains cost-based in light of these changing conditions.

(b)

Health insurance payments to school districts shall be computed by the department of education as follows:

(i)

Based upon school year 2003-2004 data, determine the statewide average health insurance plan participation for professional, certified and classified school district employees, as computed on a full-time equivalency (FTE) basis, weighted as to the proportion of employee only, split contracts, employee plus spouse or children and family coverage;

(ii)

Multiply the statewide average weighted participation per FTE computed under paragraph (i) of this subsection by the annualized state contribution rate as of January 1, 2005, on behalf of each employee and official enrolled in the state group health insurance plan, for employee only, split contracts, employee plus spouse or children and family coverage;

(iii)

Subtract from the amount computed under paragraph (ii) of this subsection the amount contained within the education resource block grant model for the health insurance component;

(iv)

For each school district, multiply the amount determined under paragraph (iii) of this subsection by the number of school year 2003-2004 district FTE professional, certified and classified staff.

(c)

Payments to school districts computed under subsection (b) of this section shall be made by the department of education from amounts within the foundation program account as appropriated by the legislature for purposes of this section and shall be in addition to the school year 2005-2006 foundation program amount computed for each district under W.S. 21
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13
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309(p). If there is an insufficient amount within the foundation program account for payments under this section, the department shall make a pro rata reduction in district payments. On April 1, 2005, payments shall be distributed by the department in accordance with computations under subsection (b) of this section to districts. It is the intent of the legislature that by distributing these funds at this time, districts will have sufficient time to negotiate health insurance plans with providers for coverage of employees during the 2005-2006 school year and to the extent possible, assist district efforts for staff retention and recruitment.

(d)

Payments received by school districts pursuant to this section shall be used only for the expenses associated with district employees health insurance benefits and shall supplement and not supplant the amount generated for districts by the health insurance component contained within the education resource block grant model. On or before September 1, 2005, each district receiving a payment under this section shall report payment expenditures to the department of education, in a form and manner specified by the department, comparing district employee health insurance benefits provided during school year 2005-2006 to the insurance benefits provided during the immediately preceding two (2) school years. Upon receipt, the department shall compile district reports filed under this subsection and submit the compilation to the management council, the joint education interim committee and the joint appropriations interim committee. In addition, the department shall submit the compiled district reports to the department of administration and information, human resource division by not later than September 15, 2005. The division shall use this information to develop a report analyzing the combined costs of this section and district distributions under the health insurance component within the block grant model, and comparing these costs to the costs of including school health insurance within the state employees' and officials' group health insurance program. The division's report shall be submitted to the management council, the joint education interim committee and the joint appropriations interim committee not later than November 1, 2005.

(e)

Any charter school operating within the district pursuant to W.S. 21
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3
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301 through 21
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3
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314 shall be included within the school district's computations under subsection (b) of this section and shall receive insurance benefits provided by the district during school year 2005-2006 through payments received under this section.

Section 3.

(a)

Six million two hundred thousand dollars ($6,200,000.00) is appropriated from the school foundation program account to the department of education for distributions to school districts for full-day kindergarten programs during school year 2005-2006, as authorized under section 1 of this act.

(b)

Four million five hundred thousand dollars ($4,500,000.00) is appropriated from the school foundation program account to the department of education to fund the summer school grant program, as continued for school year 2005-2006 under section 1 of this act, for the period commencing on the effective date of this act and ending June 30, 2006.

(c)

For the period commencing April 1, 2005, and ending June 30, 2006, thirty-three million three hundred twenty-one thousand four hundred nineteen dollars ($33,321,419.00) is appropriated from amounts within the school foundation program account for purposes of section 2 of this act.

(d)

Three hundred thousand dollars ($300,000.00) is appropriated from amounts within the school foundation program account to the department of education for the continuation of the student performance data system pilot projects implemented by the standards and body of evidence tracking (SBET) advisory group in accordance with 2003 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 131, Section 327(a). The appropriation is for continuation of the projects during the period commencing July 1, 2005, and ending June 30, 2006.

(e)

Forty thousand dollars ($40,000.00) is appropriated from the school foundation program account to the department of administration and information for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2005 to contract with a consultant to develop a report analyzing the combined costs and district distributions under the health insurance component within the block grant model under section 2(d) of this act.

Section 4.

(a)

Except as provided by subsection (b) of this section, this act is effective July 1, 2005.

(b)

Notwithstanding subsection (a) of this section, 2004 Wyoming Session Laws, chapter 108, section 1001 as amended under section 1 of this act, section 2 and section 3(b) and (c) of this act, are
effective immediately upon co
m
pletion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constit
u
tion.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the Senate.

Chief Clerk

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