School finance amendments.

2018
STATE OF WYOMING
18LSO-0220
Numbered
1.2

HOUSE BILL

NO.

HB0030

School finance amendments.

Sponsored by:
Joint Education Interim Committee

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to school finance; requiring school districts to comply with department of workforce services programs as specified; requiring the average daily membership calculation within the school district funding model to be calculated at the school district level; revising workers' compensation provisions for special education professionals; prohibiting school districts from leasing buses; amending provisions regarding school bus purchase reimbursements; amending school district funding for groundskeepers; repealing funding to school districts for assessments; requiring a report; requiring the department of education to establish special education staffing guidelines as required by existing statute; and providing for effective dates.

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

Section
1
.

W.S.
21
‑
3
‑
11
0
(a)
by creating a new paragraph (xxxvi), 21
‑
13
‑
309(m)(iv)(A),
21
‑
13
‑
320(j)(iii)
,
by creating new paragraph
s
(iv)
and (v)
and (m) and 27
‑
14
‑
108(d)(xvi) and (f) by creating a new paragraph (x) are amended to read:

21
‑
3
‑
110
.

Duties of boards of trustees.

(a)

The board of trustees in each school district shall:

(xxxvi)

Participate in
programs of the department of workforce services
necessary
to receive premium discounts for the state workers
'
compensation program.

21
‑
13
‑
309
.

Determination of amount to be included in foundation program for each district.

(m)

In determining the amount to be included in the foundation program for each district, the state superintendent shall:

(iv)

Based upon reports from each district on schools operating within that district for the current school year and on grade configurations contained within each reported school during that school year, compute the average daily membership (ADM) for each reported school and each grade within each reported school in accordance with identified grade configurations subject to the following:

(A)

If t
he
district's
average
daily membership (ADM)

ADM
for
the three (3)
immediately
preceding school years is greater than the district's ADM from the previous school year,
each reported school shall be computed based upon the average of the school's ADM counts completed at the end of the three (3) immediately preceding school years
,

or

otherwise each reported school
within the district shall be computed based on
the school's ADM for the previous school year
;
, whichever is greater;

21
‑
13
‑
320
.

Student transportation; amount within school foundation program formula for transportation maintenance and operations expenditures and school bus purchases; district reporting requirements.

(j)

Effective for the school year 2018
‑
2019 and each school year thereafter the amount computed under this section shall be in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. Each district shall receive:

(iii)

An amount calculated in accordance with subsection (g) of this section for each school bus purchased or initially leased on or after March 15, 2017
but before July 1, 2018
, if the school district first applied to the department and the department determined the purchase or lease was necessary to alleviate an emergency
;
.
plus

(iv)

One hundred percent (100%) reimbursement for each school bus purchased on or after July 1, 2018, if the school district first applied to the department and the department determined the purchase was necessary to alleviate an emergency; plus

(v)

One hundred percent (100%) reimbursement for a bus purchase that will be fully or partially paid for or rebated under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, 42 U.S.C. 16131 et seq., or other similar program minus the amount that will be paid for or rebated under the applicable program.

(m)

No district shall purchase a school bus
or enter into a new lease for a school bus
on or after March 15, 2017 unless it first applies to the department and the department determines that an emergency exists necessitating the purchase or lease of the bus
, except that, beginning July 1, 2018, a district may purchase a bus

that will be fully or partially paid for or rebated under the Diesel Emissions Reduction Act, 42 U.S.C. 16131 et seq., or other similar program as confirmed by a letter of
assurance from the state or federal government
.
No district shall enter into a new lease for a school bus on or after July 1, 2018.

27
‑
14
‑
108
.

Extrahazardous industries, employments, occupations; enumeration; definitions; optional coverage.

(d)

This act applies to governmental entities engaged in an industrial classification listed under subsection (a) of this section and to employees of governmental entities engaged in or employed as the following:

(xvi)

Public school educational assistants who provide services to special education students
while working directly with special education students
and certified special education teachers and related services providers as defined by 34 C.F.R. 300.18 and 300.156 and W.S. 21
‑
2
‑
802 and 21
‑
7
‑
303 who provide services to eligible students
with behavioral, emotional, cognitive, learning, physical or health disabilities that require educational services to be provided outside of the regular classroom because the use of supplementary aids and services cannot
be achieved satisfactorily in the regular classroom
while working directly with eligible students
;

(f)

As used in this section:

(x)

"Eligible student" means a student with behavioral, emotional, cognitive, learning, physical or health disabilities who requires educational services to be provided outside of the regular classroom because the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily in the regular classroom.

Section
2
.

2011 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 185, ATTACHMENT "A" (b
)(
xxxiii) is amended to read:

ATTACHMENT "A" ATTACHMENT "A" CONTAINS AN ENUMERATION OF EDUCATION RESOURCE BLOCK GRANT MODEL COMPONENTS SUMMARIZING AND EXECUTING RECOMMENDATIONS CONTAINED IN THE 2010 COST OF EDUCATION STUDY AS FOLLOWS:

(b)

Notwithstanding components specified in the 2010 cost of education study accepted by the
legislature, the Wyoming education resource block grant model components and the resourcing for those components, as enacted by the legislature, shall be as follows:

(xxxiii)

Maintenance and operations: Based on ADM, gross square footage, number of buildings and classrooms,

and
age of buildings
and site acreage
for custodians
,

and
maintenance workers
,

and groundskeepers,
computed in accordance with the 2010 cost of education study. Any building without allowable gross square footage for purposes of major maintenance computations under W.S. 21
‑
15
‑
109 shall use the actual educational gross square footage as approved by
the school facilities commission. Groundskeeper FTE computations

for elementary, middle and high school
s
shall be computed in accordance with the 2010 cost of education study, subject to the following. The site acreage
shall be based upon the lesser of the actual site acreage on which the facility is situated as defined by department rule and regulation, or the school facility guidelines and site acreages established by the school facilities commission under W.S. 21
‑
15
‑
114. Acreages acquired on or prior to July 1, 1997, and acreages acquired after July 1, 1997 through an exchange with
another governmental entity if the acreages involved in the exchange were originally acquired by the district and the governmental entity on or prior to July 1, 1997, shall not be subject to groundskeeper FTE computation limitations
, except as follows
.

Groundskeeper FTE computations for district level sites shall be equal to 10% of the groundskeeper FTEs for elementary, middle and high schools
.

S
ection
3
.

2011 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 185, ATTACHMENT "A" (b
)(
xxviii), as amended by 2017 Wyoming Session Laws, Chapter 205,
ATTACHMENT "A" (b)(xxviii),
is
repealed.

Section
4
.

(a)

The department of education shall review
state statutes relating to special education and school district transportation and
its rules relating to special education and transportation for
any
possible fiscal
efficiencies
. By June 1, 2018, the department of education shall report to the joint education interim committee
on its review and shall include
suggested changes to statute or rule and
any rulemaking conducted as a result of its review.

(b)

On or before
January 1, 2019, the state superintendent of public instruction shall establish statewide guidelines for adequate special education staffing levels as required by W.S. 21
‑
2
‑
202(
a)(xxiii).

Section
5
.

(a)

Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, t
his act is effective July 1, 201
8
.

(b)

Section
4
of this act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the
Wyoming Constitution
.

(END)

1
HB0030