HOUSE BILL No. 4641 April 16, 1997, Introduced by Reps. Profit and Agee and referred to the Committee on Appropriations. A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled "The state school aid act of 1979," by amending section 31a (MCL 388.1631a), as amended by 1996 PA 300. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 31a. (1) From the appropriation in section 11, there 2 is allocated for 1996-97 an amount not to exceed $230,000,000.00 3 for payments to eligible districts and eligible public school 4 academies under this section. Subject to subsection (11), the 5 amount of the additional allowance under this section shall be 6 based on the number of actual pupils in membership in the dis- 7 trict or public school academy who met the income eligibility 8 criteria for free breakfast, lunch, or milk in the immediately 9 preceding state fiscal year, as determined under the national 10 school lunch act, chapter 281, 60 Stat. 230, 42 U.S.C. 1751 to 03189'97 TAV 2 1 1753, 1755 to 1761, 1762a, 1765 to 1766b,and1769, 1769b TO 2 1769c, AND 1769f to 1769h, and reported to the department by 3 December 31 of the immediately preceding fiscal year. However, 4 for a public school academy that began operations as a public 5 school academy after the pupil membership count day of the imme- 6 diately preceding school year, the basis for the additional 7 allowance under this section shall be the number of actual pupils 8 in membership in the public school academy who met the income 9 eligibility criteria for free breakfast, lunch, or milk in the 10 current state fiscal year, as determined under the national 11 school lunch act. 12 (2) To be eligible to receive funding under this section, a 13 district or public school academy that has not been previously 14 determined to be eligible shall apply to the department, in a 15 form and manner prescribed by the department, and a district or 16 public school academy must meet all of the following: 17 (a) The district's or public school academy's combined state 18 and local revenue per membership pupil in the current state 19 fiscal year, as calculated under section 20, is less than or 20 equal to $6,500.00 adjusted by the dollar amount of the differ- 21 ence between the basic foundation allowance under section 20 for 22 the current state fiscal year and $5,000.00. 23 (b) The district or public school academy agrees to use the 24 funding only for purposes allowed under this section and to 25 comply with the program and accountability requirements under 26 this section. 03189'97 3 1 (3) An eligible district or eligible public school academy 2 shall receive under this section for each membership pupil in the 3 district or public school academy who met the income eligibility 4 criteria for free breakfast, lunch, or milk, as determined under 5 the national school lunch act and as reported to the department 6 by October 31 of the immediately preceding fiscal year and 7 adjusted not later than December 31 of the immediately preceding 8 fiscal year, an amount per pupil equal to 11.5% of the district's 9 foundation allowance, not to exceed $6,500.00 adjusted by the 10 dollar amount of the difference between the basic foundation 11 allowance under section 20 for the current state fiscal year and 12 $5,000.00, or of the public school academy's per membership pupil 13 allocation under section 20 for the current state fiscal year. 14 However, a public school academy that began operations as a 15 public school academy after the pupil membership count day of the 16 immediately preceding school year shall receive under this sec- 17 tion for each membership pupil in the public school academy who 18 met the income eligibility criteria for free breakfast, lunch, or 19 milk, as determined under the national school lunch act and as 20 reported to the department by October 31 of the current fiscal 21 year and adjusted not later than December 31 of the current 22 fiscal year, an amount per pupil equal to 11.5% of the public 23 school academy's per membership pupil allocation under section 20 24 for the current state fiscal year. 25 (4) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a district 26 or public school academy receiving funding under this section 27 shall use that money only to provide instructional programs and 03189'97 4 1 direct noninstructional services, including, but not limited to, 2 medical or counseling services, for at-risk pupils and for the 3 purposes of subsection (5) and shall not use any of that money 4 for administrative costs or to supplant funds, except for funds 5 allocated to the district or public school academy under this 6 section in the immediately preceding year and already being used 7 by the district or public school academy for at-risk pupils. IN 8 ADDITION, A DISTRICT OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY RECEIVING FUNDING 9 UNDER THIS SECTION MAY USE THE MONEY FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 10 FOR TEACHERS AND OTHER INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF TO TRAIN THEM IN 11 RESPONDING TO THE SPECIAL NEEDS OF AT-RISK PUPILS. The instruc- 12 tion or direct noninstructional services provided under this sec- 13 tion may be conducted before or after regular school hours or by 14 adding extra school days to the school year and may be conducted 15 using a tutorial method, with paraprofessionals working under the 16 supervision of a certificated teacher. The ratio of pupils to 17 paraprofessionals shall be between 10:1 and 15:1. Only 1 certif- 18 icated teacher is required to supervise instruction using a tuto- 19 rial method. 20 (5) A district or public school academy that receives funds 21 under this section and that operates a school breakfast program 22 under section 1272a of the revised school code,being23section 380.1272a of the Michigan Compiled LawsMCL 380.1272A, 24 shall use from those funds an amount, not to exceed $10.00 per 25 pupil for whom the district or public school academy receives 26 funds under this section, necessary to operate the school 27 breakfast program. 03189'97 5 1 (6) In order to provide accountability for the program 2 funded under this section, the superintendent of a district or 3 chief executive of a public school academy shall submit to the 4 department, in a succinct form and manner prescribed by the 5 department, a written assurance of the district's or public 6 school academy's compliance with all provisions of this section 7 by May 20 of the current fiscal year. In addition, each district 8 or public school academy receiving funds under this section shall 9 submit to the department by that date a report, not to exceed 10 10 pages, on the usage by the district or public school academy of 11 funds under this section, which report shall include at least a 12 brief description of each program conducted by the district or 13 public school academy using funds under this section, the amount 14 of funds under this section allocated to each of those programs, 15 and the number of at-risk pupils served by each of those 16 programs. If a district or public school academy does not comply 17 with this subsection, the department shall withhold an amount 18 equal to the June payment due under this section until the dis- 19 trict or public school academy complies with this subsection. If 20 the district or public school academy does not comply with this 21 subsection by the end of the state fiscal year, the withheld 22 funds shall be forfeited to the school aid fund. 23 (7) In order to receive funds under this section, a district 24 or public school academy shall allow access for the department or 25 the department's designee to audit all records related to the 26 program for which it receives those funds. The district or 03189'97 6 1 public school academy shall reimburse the state for all 2 disallowances found in the audit. 3 (8) Subject to subsection (5), any district may use up to 4 100% of the funds it receives under this section to reduce the 5 ratio of pupils to teachers in grades K-6, or any combination of 6 those grades, in school buildings in which the percentage of 7 pupils described in subsection (1) exceeds the district's aggre- 8 gate percentage of those pupils. Subject to subsection (5), if a 9 district obtains a waiver from the department, the district may 10 use up to 100% of the funds it receives under this section to 11 reduce the ratio of pupils to teachers in grades K-6, or any com- 12 bination of those grades, in school buildings in which the per- 13 centage of pupils described in subsection (1) is at least 60% of 14 the district's aggregate percentage of those pupils and at least 15 35% of the total number of pupils enrolled in the school 16 building. To obtain a waiver, a district must apply to the 17 department and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the department 18 that the class size reductions would be in the best interests of 19 the district's at-risk pupils. 20 (9) As a pilot project for a period of 3 fiscal years, a 21 district that is located in a county with a population of more 22 than 350,000 and less than 480,000 and that has more than 10,000 23 pupils in membership shall expend funds received under this sec- 24 tion, other than the amount described in subsection (5), attrib- 25 utable to pupils enrolled in grades K-3 for the purpose of reduc- 26 ing class size in grades K-3 in the district to an average of not 27 more than 17 pupils per class, with not more than 19 pupils in 03189'97 7 1 any particular class, in each school building in the district in 2 which pupils described in subsection (1) constitute a specified 3 percentage of the total number of pupils in the building. That 4 specified percentage is as follows: 5 (a) For the 1994-95 school year, 59%. 6 (b) For the 1995-96 school year, 50%. 7 (c) For the 1996-97 school year, 25%. 8 (10) A district or public school academy may use funds 9 received under this section for adult high school completion, 10 general education development (G.E.D.) test preparation, or 11 adult basic education programs described in section 107. 12 (11) If necessary, and before any proration required under 13 section 11, the department shall prorate payments under this sec- 14 tion by reducing the amount of the per pupil payment under this 15 section by a dollar amount calculated by determining the amount 16 by which the amount necessary to fully fund the requirements of 17 this section exceeds the maximum amount allocated under this sec- 18 tion and then dividing that amount by the total statewide number 19 of pupils who met the income eligibility criteria for free break- 20 fast, lunch, or milk in the immediately preceding fiscal year, as 21 described in subsection (1). 22 (12) If a district is formed by consolidation after June 1, 23 1995, and if 1 or more of the original districts was not eligible 24 before the consolidation for an additional allowance under this 25 section, the amount of the additional allowance under this sec- 26 tion for the consolidated district shall be based on the number 27 of pupils described in subsection (1) enrolled in the 03189'97 8 1 consolidated district who reside in the territory of an original 2 district that was eligible before the consolidation for an addi- 3 tional allowance under this section. 4 (13) As used in this section, "at-risk pupil" means a pupil 5 for whom the district has documentation that the pupil meets at 6 least 2 of the following criteria: is a victim of child abuse or 7 neglect; is below grade level in English language and communica- 8 tion skills or mathematics; is a pregnant teenager or teenage 9 parent; is eligible for a federal free or reduced-price lunch 10 subsidy; has atypical behavior or attendance patterns; or has a 11 family history of school failure, incarceration, or substance 12 abuse. For pupils for whom the results of at least the applica- 13 ble MEAP test have been received, at-risk pupil also includes a 14 pupil who does not meet the other criteria under this subsection 15 but who did not achieve at least a score of moderate on the most 16 recent MEAP reading test for which results for the pupil have 17 been received, did not achieve at least a score of moderate on 18 the most recent MEAP mathematics test for which results for the 19 pupil have been received, or achieved less than 50% of the objec- 20 tives on the most recent MEAP science test for which results for 21 the pupil have been received. For pupils in grades K-3, at-risk 22 pupil also includes a pupil who is at risk of not meeting the 23 district's core academic curricular objectives in English lan- 24 guage, communication skills, or mathematics. 03189'97 Final page. TAV