HOUSE BILL No. 4398 March 6, 2001, Introduced by Reps. Jelinek, Richardville, Ehardt, Spade, Van Woerkom, Pumford, Bogardus, Stewart, Cassis, Cameron Brown, Lipsey, Raczkowski, Hansen, Bovin, Hart and Tabor and referred to the Committee on Education. A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled "The state school aid act of 1979," by amending section 101 (MCL 388.1701), as amended by 2000 PA 297. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 101. (1) To be eligible to receive state aid under 2 this act, not later than the fifth Wednesday after the pupil mem- 3 bership count day and not later than the fifth Wednesday after 4 the supplemental count day, each district superintendent through 5 the secretary of the district's board shall file with the inter- 6 mediate superintendent a certified and sworn copy of the number 7 of pupils enrolled and in regular daily attendance in the dis- 8 trict as of the pupil membership count day and as of the 9 supplemental count day, as applicable, for the current school 10 year. In addition, a district maintaining school during the 03211'01 TAV 2 1 entire year, asprovided underDESCRIBED IN section 1561 of the 2 revised school code, MCL 380.1561, shall file with the intermedi- 3 ate superintendent a certified and sworn copy of the number of 4 pupils enrolled and in regular daily attendance in the district 5 for the current school year pursuant to rules promulgated by the 6 superintendent. Not later than the seventh Wednesday after the 7 pupil membership count day and not later than the seventh 8 Wednesday after the supplemental count day, the intermediate dis- 9 trict shall transmit to the department the data filed by each of 10 its constituent districts. If a district fails to file the sworn 11 and certified copy with the intermediate superintendent in a 12 timely manner, as required under this subsection, the intermedi- 13 ate district shall notify the department and state aid due to be 14 distributed under this act shall be withheld from the defaulting 15 district immediately, beginning with the next payment after the 16 failure and continuing with each payment until the district com- 17 plies with this subsection. If an intermediate district fails to 18 transmit the data in its possession in a timely and accurate 19 manner to the department, as required under this subsection, 20 state aid due to be distributed under this act shall be withheld 21 from the defaulting intermediate district immediately, beginning 22 with the next payment after the failure and continuing with each 23 payment until the intermediate district complies with this 24 subsection. If a district or intermediate district does not 25 comply with this subsection by the end of the fiscal year, the 26 district or intermediate district forfeits the amount withheld. 27 A person who willfully falsifies a figure or statement in the 03211'01 3 1 certified and sworn copy of enrollment shall be punished in the 2 manner prescribed by section 161. 3 (2) To be eligible to receive state aid under this act, not 4 later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the pupil membership 5 count day and not later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after 6 the supplemental count day, an intermediate district shall submit 7 to the department, in a form and manner prescribed by the depart- 8 ment, the audited enrollment and attendance data for the pupils 9 of its constituent districts and of the intermediate district. 10 If an intermediate district fails to transmit the audited data as 11 required under this subsection, state aid due to be distributed 12 under this act shall be withheld from the defaulting intermediate 13 district immediately, beginning with the next payment after the 14 failure and continuing with each payment until the intermediate 15 district complies with this subsection. If an intermediate dis- 16 trict does not comply with this subsection by the end of the 17 fiscal year, the intermediate district forfeits the amount 18 withheld. 19 (3) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each dis- 20 trict shall provide at least 180 days of pupil instruction and a 21 number of hours of pupil instruction at least equal to the 22 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction required 23 for 2000-2001 under section 1284 of the revised school code, 24 MCL 380.1284. Except as otherwise provided in this act, a dis- 25 trict failing to hold 180 days of pupil instruction shall forfeit 26 from its total state aid allocation for each day of failure an 27 amount equal to 1/180 of its total state aid allocation. Except 03211'01 4 1 as otherwise provided in this act, a district failing to comply 2 with the required minimum hours of pupil instruction under this 3 subsection shall forfeit from its total state aid allocation an 4 amount determined by applying a ratio of the number of hours the 5 district was in noncompliance in relation to the required minimum 6 number of hours under this subsection. A district failing to 7 meet both the 180 days of pupil instruction requirement and the 8 minimum number of hours of pupil instruction requirement under 9 this subsection shall be penalized only the higher of the 2 10 amounts calculated under the forfeiture provisions of this 11 subsection. Not later than August 1, the board of each district 12 shall certify to the department the number of days and hours of 13 pupil instruction in the previous school year. If the district 14 did not hold at least 180 days and the required minimum number of 15 hours of pupil instruction under this subsection, the deduction 16 of state aid shall be made in the following fiscal year from the 17 first payment of state school aid. A district is not subject to 18 forfeiture of funds under this subsection for a fiscal year in 19 which a forfeiture was already imposed under subsection(7)20 (8). Days or hours lost because of strikes or teachers' confer- 21 ences shall not be counted as days or hours of pupil 22 instruction. A district not having at least 75% of the 23 district's membership in attendance on any day of pupil instruc- 24 tion shall receive state aid in that proportion of 1/180 that the 25 actual percent of attendance bears to the specified percentage. 26 The superintendent shall promulgate rules for the implementation 27 of this subsection. 03211'01 5 1 (4) The first 2 days for which pupil instruction is not 2 provided because of conditions not within the control of school 3 authorities, such as severe storms, fires, epidemics, or health 4 conditions as defined by the city, county, or state health 5 authorities, shall be counted as days of pupil instruction. 6 Subsequent such days shall not be counted as days of pupil 7 instruction. 8 (5) IF, OVER THE 3 SCHOOL YEARS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE 9 CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, A DISTRICT COUNTS AS DAYS OF PUPIL INSTRUC- 10 TION LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS ALLOWED TO BE COUNTED 11 FOR THAT ENTIRE 3-YEAR PERIOD AS DAYS OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION UNDER 12 SUBSECTION (4), THE DISTRICT MAY COUNT 1 OR MORE OF THOSE UNUSED 13 DAYS, UP TO THAT MAXIMUM, AS A DAY OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION FOR THE 14 CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, BUT ONLY FOR A DAY FOR WHICH PUPIL INSTRUC- 15 TION IS NOT PROVIDED DUE TO A REASON ALLOWED UNDER SUBSECTION 16 (4). 17 (6)(5)A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid 18 appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alterna- 19 tive scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program 20 provides at least the number of hours required under subsection 21 (3) for a full-time equated membership for a pupil in kindergar- 22 ten as provided under section 6(4). 23 (7)(6)Upon application by the district for a particular 24 fiscal year, the superintendent may waive the minimum number of 25 days of pupil instruction requirement of subsection (3) for a 26 district if the district has adopted an experimental school year 27 schedule in 1 or more buildings in the district if the 03211'01 6 1 experimental school year schedule provides the required minimum 2 number of hours of pupil instruction under subsection (3) or more 3 and is consistent with all state board policies on school 4 improvement and restructuring. If a district applies for and 5 receives a waiver under this subsection and complies with the 6 terms of the waiver, for the fiscal year covered by the waiver 7 the district is not subject to forfeiture under this section of 8 part of its state aid allocation for the specific building or 9 program covered by the waiver. 10 (8)(7)Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the 11 board of each district shall certify to the department the 12 planned number of days and hours of pupil instruction in the dis- 13 trict for the school year ending in the fiscal year. In addition 14 to any other penalty or forfeiture under this section, if at any 15 time the department determines that 1 or more of the following 16 has occurred in a district, the district shall forfeit in the 17 current fiscal year beginning in the next payment to be calcu- 18 lated by the department a proportion of the funds due to the dis- 19 trict under this act that is equal to the proportion below 180 20 days and the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruc- 21 tion under subsection (3), as specified in the following: 22 (a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least 23 180 days and the required minimum number of hours of pupil 24 instruction under subsection (3) in a school year, including days 25 counted under subsection (4) OR (5). 26 (b) The board of the district takes formal action not to 27 operate its schools for at least 180 days and the required 03211'01 7 1 minimum number of hours of pupil instruction under subsection (3) 2 in a school year, including days counted under subsection (4) OR 3 (5). 4 (9)(8)In providing the minimum number of hours of pupil 5 instruction required under subsection (3), a district shall use 6 the following guidelines, and a district shall maintain records 7 to substantiate its compliance with the following guidelines: 8 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 9 must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of 10 hours of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum 11 of 90 hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruc- 12 tion, including up to 2 study halls. 13 (b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in 14 a block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless 15 that time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period. 16 (c) A pupil in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is 17 determined to be in the individual pupil's best educational 18 interest must be scheduled for a number of hours equal to at 19 least 80% of the required minimum number of hours of pupil 20 instruction to be considered a full-time equivalent pupil. 21 (d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a coop- 22 erative education program or a special education pupil cannot 23 receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction 24 solely because of travel time between instructional sites during 25 the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 2-1/2 hours 26 per school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time 27 for the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the 03211'01 8 1 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, 2 if a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department 3 that the travel time limitation under this subdivision would 4 create undue costs or hardship to the district, the department 5 may consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for 6 this purpose. 7 (10)(9)The department shall apply the guidelines under 8 subsection(8)(9) in calculating the full-time equivalency of 9 pupils. 10 (11)(10)Upon application by the district for a particu- 11 lar fiscal year, the superintendent may waive for a district the 12 180 days or minimum number of hours of pupil instruction require- 13 ment of subsection (3) for a department-approved alternative edu- 14 cation program. If a district applies for and receives a waiver 15 under this subsection and complies with the terms of the waiver, 16 for the fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is not 17 subject to forfeiture under this section for the specific program 18 covered by the waiver. 19 (12)(11)Beginning in 2000-2001, a district may count up 20 to 51 hours of professional development for teachers as hours of 21 pupil instruction. A district that elects to use this exception 22 shall notify the department of its election. 03211'01 Final page. TAV