HOUSE BILL No. 4297 February 20, 2001, Introduced by Reps. Lockwood, Schauer, Kolb, Zelenko, Bovin, Dennis, Waters, Jacobs, Hardman, O'Neil, Rich Brown and Anderson 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 02467'01 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 02467'01 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) 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 02467'01 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 Days or hours lost because of strikes or teachers' conferences 21 shall not be counted as days or hours of pupil instruction. A 22 district not having at least 75% of the district's membership in 23 attendance on any day of pupil instruction shall receive state 24 aid in that proportion of 1/180 that the actual percent of 25 attendance bears to the specified percentage. The superintendent 26 shall promulgate rules for the implementation of this 27 subsection. 02467'01 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. ANY DAY FOR WHICH PUPIL INSTRUCTION IS NOT PROVIDED 8 BECAUSE OF CANCELLATION OF SCHOOL BY ORDER OF A LAWFUL AUTHORITY 9 OTHER THAN SCHOOL AUTHORITIES SHALL BE COUNTED AS A DAY OF PUPIL 10 INSTRUCTION. 11 (5) A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid 12 appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alterna- 13 tive scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program 14 provides at least the number of hours required under subsection 15 (3) for a full-time equated membership for a pupil in kindergar- 16 ten as provided under section 6(4). 17 (6) Upon application by the district for a particular fiscal 18 year, the superintendent may waive the minimum number of days of 19 pupil instruction requirement of subsection (3) for a district if 20 the district has adopted an experimental school year schedule in 21 1 or more buildings in the district if the experimental school 22 year schedule provides the required minimum number of hours of 23 pupil instruction under subsection (3) or more and is consistent 24 with all state board policies on school improvement and 25 restructuring. If a district applies for and receives a waiver 26 under this subsection and complies with the terms of the waiver, 27 for the fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is not 02467'01 6 1 subject to forfeiture under this section of part of its state aid 2 allocation for the specific building or program covered by the 3 waiver. 4 (7) Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the board 5 of each district shall certify to the department the planned 6 number of days and hours of pupil instruction in the district for 7 the school year ending in the fiscal year. In addition to any 8 other penalty or forfeiture under this section, if at any time 9 the department determines that 1 or more of the following has 10 occurred in a district, the district shall forfeit in the current 11 fiscal year beginning in the next payment to be calculated by the 12 department a proportion of the funds due to the district under 13 this act that is equal to the proportion below 180 days and the 14 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction under sub- 15 section (3), as specified in the following: 16 (a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least 17 180 days and the required minimum number of hours of pupil 18 instruction under subsection (3) in a school year, including days 19 counted under subsection (4). 20 (b) The board of the district takes formal action not to 21 operate its schools for at least 180 days and the required mini- 22 mum number of hours of pupil instruction under subsection (3) in 23 a school year, including days counted under subsection (4). 24 (8) In providing the minimum number of hours of pupil 25 instruction required under subsection (3), a district shall use 26 the following guidelines, and a district shall maintain records 27 to substantiate its compliance with the following guidelines: 02467'01 7 1 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 2 must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of 3 hours of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum 4 of 90 hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruc- 5 tion, including up to 2 study halls. 6 (b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in 7 a block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless 8 that time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period. 9 (c) A pupil in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is 10 determined to be in the individual pupil's best educational 11 interest must be scheduled for a number of hours equal to at 12 least 80% of the required minimum number of hours of pupil 13 instruction to be considered a full-time equivalent pupil. 14 (d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a coop- 15 erative education program or a special education pupil cannot 16 receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction 17 solely because of travel time between instructional sites during 18 the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 2-1/2 hours 19 per school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time 20 for the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the 21 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, 22 if a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department 23 that the travel time limitation under this subdivision would 24 create undue costs or hardship to the district, the department 25 may consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for 26 this purpose. 02467'01 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. 13 (11) Beginning in 2000-2001, a district may count up to 51 14 hours of professional development for teachers as hours of pupil 15 instruction. A district that elects to use this exception shall 16 notify the department of its election. 02467'01 Final page. TAV