HOUSE BILL No. 5643 April 18, 2000, Introduced by Reps. Julian, Gilbert, Voorhees, Pappageorge, Kukuk, Tabor, Vear and Allen 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 1999 PA 119. 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 06026'00 TAV 2 1 entire year, as provided under section 1561 of the revised school 2 code, MCL 380.1561, shall file with the intermediate superinten- 3 dent a certified and sworn copy of the number of pupils enrolled 4 and in regular daily attendance in the district for the current 5 school year pursuant to rules promulgated by the superintendent. 6 Not later than the seventh Wednesday after the pupil membership 7 count day and not later than the seventh Wednesday after the sup- 8 plemental count day, the intermediate district shall transmit to 9 the department the data filed by each of its constituent 10 districts. If a district fails to file the sworn and certified 11 copy with the intermediate superintendent in a timely manner, as 12 required under this subsection, the intermediate district shall 13 notify the department and state aid due to be distributed under 14 this act shall be withheld from the defaulting district immedi- 15 ately, beginning with the next payment after the failure and con- 16 tinuing with each payment until the district complies with this 17 subsection. If an intermediate district fails to transmit the 18 data in its possession in a timely and accurate manner to the 19 department, as required under this subsection, state aid due to 20 be distributed under this act shall be withheld from the default- 21 ing intermediate district immediately, beginning with the next 22 payment after the failure and continuing with each payment until 23 the intermediate district complies with this subsection. If a 24 district or intermediate district does not comply with this sub- 25 section by the end of the fiscal year, the district or intermedi- 26 ate district forfeits the amount withheld. A person who 27 willfully falsifies a figure or statement in the certified and 06026'00 3 1 sworn copy of enrollment shall be punished in the manner 2 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) Each district shall provide at least 180 days of pupil 20 instruction and the required minimum number of hours of pupil 21 instruction under section 1284 of the revised school code, MCL 22 380.1284. Except as otherwise provided in this act, a district 23 failing to hold 180 days of pupil instruction shall forfeit from 24 its total state aid allocation for each day of failure an amount 25 equal to 1/180 of its total state aid allocation. Except as oth- 26 erwise provided in this act, a district failing to comply with 27 the required minimum hours of pupil instruction shall forfeit 06026'00 4 1 from its total state aid allocation an amount determined by 2 applying a ratio of the number of hours the district was in non- 3 compliance in relation to the required minimum number of hours. 4 A district failing to meet both the 180 days of pupil instruction 5 requirement and the minimum number of hours of pupil instruction 6 requirement shall be penalized only the higher of the 2 amounts 7 calculated under the forfeiture provisions of this subsection. 8 Not later than August 1, the board of each district shall certify 9 to the department the number of days and hours of pupil instruc- 10 tion in the previous school year. If the district did not hold 11 at least 180 days and the required minimum number of hours of 12 pupil instruction, the deduction of state aid shall be made in 13 the following fiscal year from the first payment of state school 14 aid. A district is not subject to forfeiture of funds under this 15 subsection for a fiscal year in which a forfeiture was already 16 imposed under subsection (7). Days or hours lost because of 17 strikes or teachers' conferences shall not be counted as days or 18 hours of pupil instruction. A district not having at least 75% 19 of the district's membership in attendance on any day of pupil 20 instruction shall receive state aid in that proportion of 1/180 21 that the actual percent of attendance bears to the specified 22 percentage. The superintendent shall promulgate rules for the 23 implementation of this subsection. 24 (4) The first 2 days for which pupil instruction is not pro- 25 vided because of conditions not within the control of school 26 authorities, such as severe storms, fires, epidemics, or health 27 conditions as defined by the city, county, or state health 06026'00 5 1 authorities, shall be counted as days of pupil instruction.In2addition, for 1998-99 only, the department shall count as days of3pupil instruction not more than 2 additional days, and shall4count as hours of pupil instruction not more than 16.5 hours, for5which pupil instruction was not provided in a district after June67, 1999 due to water damage resulting from a water main break.7 Subsequent such days shall not be counted as days of pupil 8 instruction. 9 (5) A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid 10 appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alterna- 11 tive scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program 12 provides at least the number of hours required for a full-time 13 equated membership for a pupil in kindergarten as provided under 14 section 6(4). 15 (6) Upon application by the district for a particular fiscal 16 year, the superintendent may waive the minimum number of days of 17 pupil instruction requirement of subsection (3) for a district if 18 the district has adopted an experimental school year schedule in 19 1 or more buildings in the district if the experimental school 20 year schedule provides the required minimum number of hours of 21 pupil instruction or more and is consistent with all state board 22 policies on school improvement and restructuring. If a district 23 applies for and receives a waiver under this subsection and com- 24 plies with the terms of the waiver, for the fiscal year covered 25 by the waiver the district is not subject to forfeiture under 26 this section of part of its state aid allocation for the specific 27 building or program covered by the waiver. 06026'00 6 1 (7) Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the board 2 of each district shall certify to the department the planned 3 number of days and hours of pupil instruction in the district for 4 the school year ending in the fiscal year. In addition to any 5 other penalty or forfeiture under this section, if at any time 6 the department determines that 1 or more of the following has 7 occurred in a district, the district shall forfeit in the current 8 fiscal year beginning in the next payment to be calculated by the 9 department a proportion of the funds due to the district under 10 this act that is equal to the proportion below 180 days and the 11 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction, as speci- 12 fied in the following: 13 (a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least 14 180 days and the required minimum number of hours of pupil 15 instruction in a school year, including days counted under sub- 16 section (4). 17 (b) The board of the district takes formal action not to 18 operate its schools for at least 180 days and the required mini- 19 mum number of hours of pupil instruction in a school year, 20 including days counted under subsection (4). 21 (8) In providing the minimum number of hours of pupil 22 instruction required under section 1284 of the revised school 23 code, MCL 380.1284, a district shall use the following guide- 24 lines, and a district shall maintain records to substantiate its 25 compliance with the following guidelines: 26 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 27 must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of 06026'00 7 1 hours of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum 2 of 90 hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruc- 3 tion, including up to 2 study halls. 4 (b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in 5 a block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless 6 that time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period. 7 (c) A pupil in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is 8 determined to be in the individual pupil's best educational 9 interest must be scheduled for a number of hours equal to at 10 least 80% of the required minimum number of hours of pupil 11 instruction to be considered a full-time equivalent pupil. 12 (d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a coop- 13 erative education program or a special education pupil cannot 14 receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction 15 solely because of travel time between instructional sites during 16 the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 2-1/2 hours 17 per school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time 18 for the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the 19 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, 20 if a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department 21 that the travel time limitation under this subdivision would 22 create undue costs or hardship to the district, the department 23 may consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for 24 this purpose. 25 (E) A DISTRICT MAY COUNT THE TIME SPENT BY TEACHERS IN 26 PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCES, UP TO A MAXIMUM OF 3 HOURS PER SCHOOL 27 YEAR, AS PUPIL INSTRUCTION TIME. 06026'00 8 1 (9) The department shall apply the guidelines under 2 subsection (8) in calculating the full-time equivalency of 3 pupils. 4 (10) Upon application by the district for a particular 5 fiscal year, the superintendent may waive for a district the 180 6 days or minimum number of hours of pupil instruction requirement 7 of subsection (3) for a department-approved alternative education 8 program. If a district applies for and receives a waiver under 9 this subsection and complies with the terms of the waiver, for 10 the fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is not subject 11 to forfeiture under this section for the specific program covered 12 by the waiver. 06026'00 Final page. TAV