SENATE BILL No. 802 October 13, 1999, Introduced by Senator STILLE 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 32 (MCL 388.1632), as added by 1999 PA 119. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 32. (1) From the state school aid fund appropriation 2 in section 11, there is allocated each fiscal year for 1999-2000 3 and for 2000-2001 an amount not to exceed $5,000,000.00 for com- 4 petitive grants under this section to eligible districts AND TO 5 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIES LOCATED WITHIN ELIGIBLE DISTRICTS for 6 pilot reading improvement programs for pupils in grades K to 3. 7 (2) To be eligible for a grant under this section, a dis- 8 trict must have HAD at least 1,500 pupils in membership IN 9 1998-99, and at least 8% of the pupilsenrolledIN MEMBERSHIP 10 in the district IN 1998-99 must have been determined to have a 11 specific learning disability according to R 340.1713 of the 04397'99 TAV 2 1 Michigan administrative code, AS DETERMINED IN THE DECEMBER 1, 2 1998 HEAD COUNT REQUIRED UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES 3 EDUCATION ACT, TITLE VI OF PUBLIC LAW 91-230. FOR A PUBLIC 4 SCHOOL ACADEMY TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR A GRANT UNDER THIS SECTION, THE 5 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY MUST BE LOCATED IN A DISTRICT THAT IS ELI- 6 GIBLE UNDER THIS SUBSECTION. 7 (3) To qualify for funding under this section, the proposed 8 reading improvement program must meet all of the following: 9 (a) The program shall include assessment of reading skills 10 of pupils in grades K to 3 to identify those pupils who are read- 11 ing below grade level and must provide special reading assistance 12 for these pupils. 13 (b) The program shall be a research-based structured reading 14 program. 15 (c) The program shall include continuous assessment of 16 pupils and individualized education plans for pupils. 17 (d) The program shall align learning resources to state 18 standards. 19 (4) A reading improvement program receiving funding under 20 this section may be conducted outside of regular school hours or 21 outside the regular school calendar. 22 (5) To compete for a grant under this section, a district OR 23 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY shall apply to the superintendent of public 24 instruction not later than December 1, 1999 in the form and 25 manner prescribed by the superintendent of public instruction. 26 The department shall make applications available for this purpose 27 not later than October 15, 1999. A district OR PUBLIC SCHOOL 04397'99 3 1 ACADEMY shall include in its application a projected budget for 2 the reading assistance programs. The superintendent of public 3 instruction shall approve or disapprove applications and notify 4 the applying district OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY of that decision 5 not later than February 1, 2000. Priority in awarding grants 6 shall be given to programs that focus on accelerating student 7 achievement on a cost-effective basis and reducing the percentage 8 of pupils identified as learning disabled. 9 (6) Not more than 25% of the total allocation under this 10 section may be paid to any 1 particular district OR PUBLIC SCHOOL 11 ACADEMY. The department shall ensure that the districts AND 12 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIES receiving grants are geographically 13 diverse. 14 (7) A district OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY receiving funds 15 under this section shall use the funds for reading improvement 16 programs described in subsection (3). A district OR PUBLIC 17 SCHOOL ACADEMY receiving funds under this section shall provide 18 at least a 25% local match from local resources. This matching 19 requirement may be satisfied through in-kind services. 20 (8) From the funding allocated under this section, at least 21 $250,000.00 shall be used for grants to districts OR PUBLIC 22 SCHOOL ACADEMIES for reading recovery programs. A district OR 23 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY receiving a grant under this subsection 24 shall use the funds to implement the reading recovery curriculum 25 for the first time in 1 or more of grades K to 3 in 1 or more 26 school buildings. 04397'99 4 1 (9) A DISTRICT OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY RECEIVING FUNDS 2 UNDER THIS SECTION MAY CARRY SOME OR ALL OF THOSE FUNDS OVER TO 3 THE NEXT SCHOOL FISCAL YEAR AND MAY EXPEND SOME OR ALL OF THOSE 4 FUNDS IN THE NEXT SCHOOL FISCAL YEAR. 5 (10)(9)Funding to districts AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMIES 6 under this section for 1999-2000 is intended to be for the first 7 of 4 years of funding and funding to districts AND PUBLIC SCHOOL 8 ACADEMIES under this section for 2000-2001 is intended to be for 9 the second of 4 years of funding. 10 (11)(10)A district OR PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY receiving 11fundingFUNDS under this section shall report to the depart- 12 ment, in the form and manner prescribed by the department, on the 13 results achieved by the reading improvement program. This report 14 shall include a description of how pupils' reading skills are 15 assessed and evaluated. Not later than September 1, 2000, and 16 annually thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the 17 legislature and the senate and house fiscal agencies detailing 18 the results of the pilot reading improvement programs. It is the 19 intent of the legislature that further funding for special read- 20 ing programs will reflect the results achieved in these pilot 21 programs. 22 (12) AS USED IN THIS SECTION, "DISTRICT" DOES NOT INCLUDE A 23 PUBLIC SCHOOL ACADEMY. 04397'99 Final page. TAV