SCHOOL AID REQ.; "ELIGIBLE DISTRICT" EXEMPTION                               S.B. 940 & 941:

                                                                                                    SUMMARY OF BILL

                                                                                     REPORTED FROM COMMITTEE

Senate Bills 940 and 941 (as reported without amendment)

Sponsor:  Senator Rosemary Bayer

Committee:  Education and Career Readiness

CONTENT

Senate Bill 940 would amend the State School Aid Act to do the following:

-- Specify that, for 2021-2022, certain pupil instruction hours requirements would not apply to an eligible district if it met those requirements in 2020-2021.

-- Specify that certain attendance percentage requirements would not apply to an eligible district for the 2021-2022 school year.

-- Specify that the board of an eligible school district would not have to administer the Michigan Merit Examination (MME) or certain State assessments for the 2021-2022 school year if the Department of Education (MDE) received a waiver from assessment requirements from the United States Department of Education.

-- Prescribe the definition of an "eligible district".

Senate Bill 941 would amend the Revised School Code to do the following:

-- Specify that an eligible school district would not have to evaluate the performance for any teacher for the 2021-2022 school year.

-- Specify that, for an eligible school district, performance evaluation would not be required for building-level school administrators and of central-office-level school administrators who were regularly involved in instructional matters for the 2021-2022 school year.

-- Delete provisions requiring certain training to be paid from the funds available in the Educator Evaluation Reserve Fund.

-- Specify that the board of an eligible school district would not be required to administer the MME for the 2021-2022 school year if the MDE received a waiver from assessment requirements from the US Department of Education.

-- Prescribe the definition of an "eligible school district".

The bills are tie-barred.

MCL 388.1606 et al. (S.B. 940)                                       Legislative Analyst:  Eleni Lionas

       380.1249 et al. (S.B. 941)

FISCAL IMPACT

Senate Bill 940 could increase costs to the School Aid Fund by an unknown amount and would increase foundation allowance payments to the eligible district by the same amount. If the pupil membership blend remains the same for fiscal year (FY) 2022-23 as it is for FY 2021- 22, then the membership blend for FY 2022-23 would be 90% of the Fall 2022 count plus 10% of the Spring 2022 count. If that blended count is lower than the Fall 2021 count for the eligible district, the change in the bill would result in a larger foundation allowance payment to the eligible district in FY 2022-23. The target foundation allowance for FY 2021-22 is $8,700 per pupil, and the School Aid Fund pays school districts that amount per pupil, minus the revenue generated from applicable local property taxes. An increase in funding for the eligible district would not affect the foundation allowance payments for other districts, but it would leave less available in the School Aid Fund for other priorities. The actual impact would depend on appropriations decisions made for FY 2022-23.

Senate Bills 940 and 941 would eliminate certain requirements for an eligible district for the 2021-22 school year, which would lead to some cost savings for the eligible district and would not increase costs for the State.

Date Completed:  3-10-22                                                   Fiscal Analyst:  Ryan Bergan

                                                                                                             Cory Savino

This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.