November 18, 2009, Introduced by Reps. Wayne Schmidt, Walsh, Rick Jones, Denby, Bolger, Daley, Crawford, Stamas, Tyler and Kowall 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 2009 PA 121.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 101. (1) To be eligible to receive state aid under this
act, not later than the fifth Wednesday after the pupil membership
count day and not later than the fifth Wednesday after the
supplemental count day, each district superintendent shall submit
to the center, in the form and manner prescribed by the center, the
number of pupils enrolled and in regular daily attendance in the
district as of the pupil membership count day and as of the
supplemental count day, as applicable, for the current school year.
In addition, a district maintaining school during the entire year,
as provided under section 1561 of the revised school code, MCL
380.1561, shall submit to the center, in the form and manner
prescribed by the center, the number of pupils enrolled and in
regular daily attendance in the district for the current school
year pursuant to rules promulgated by the superintendent. Not later
than the seventh Wednesday after the pupil membership count day and
not later than the seventh Wednesday after the supplemental count
day, the district shall certify the data in a form and manner
prescribed by the center. If a district fails to submit and certify
the attendance data, as required under this subsection, the center
shall notify the department and state aid due to be distributed
under this act shall be withheld from the defaulting district
immediately, beginning with the next payment after the failure and
continuing with each payment until the district complies with this
subsection. If a district does not comply with this subsection by
the end of the fiscal year, the district forfeits the amount
withheld. A person who willfully falsifies a figure or statement in
the certified and sworn copy of enrollment shall be punished in the
manner prescribed by section 161.
(2) To be eligible to receive state aid under this act, not
later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the pupil membership
count day and not later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the
supplemental count day, an intermediate district shall submit to
the center, in a form and manner prescribed by the center, the
audited enrollment and attendance data for the pupils of its
constituent districts and of the intermediate district. If an
intermediate district fails to submit the audited data as required
under this subsection, state aid due to be distributed under this
act shall be withheld from the defaulting intermediate district
immediately, beginning with the next payment after the failure and
continuing with each payment until the intermediate district
complies with this subsection. If an intermediate district does not
comply with this subsection by the end of the fiscal year, the
intermediate district forfeits the amount withheld.
(3) All of the following apply to the provision of pupil
instruction:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each
district shall provide at least 1,098 hours and, beginning in 2010-
2011, the required minimum number of days of pupil instruction. For
2010-2011 and for 2011-2012, the required minimum number of days of
pupil instruction is 165. Beginning in 2012-2013, the required
minimum number of days of pupil instruction is 170. However,
beginning in 2010-2011, a district shall not provide fewer days of
pupil instruction than the district provided for 2009-2010. Except
as otherwise provided in this act, a district failing to comply
with the required minimum hours and days of pupil instruction under
this subsection shall forfeit from its total state aid allocation
an amount determined by applying a ratio of the number of hours or
days the district was in noncompliance in relation to the required
minimum number of hours and days under this subsection. Not later
than August 1, the board of each district shall certify to the
department the number of hours and, beginning in 2010-2011, days of
pupil instruction in the previous school year. If the district did
not provide at least the required minimum number of hours and days
of pupil instruction under this subsection, the deduction of state
aid shall be made in the following fiscal year from the first
payment of state school aid. A district is not subject to
forfeiture of funds under this subsection for a fiscal year in
which a forfeiture was already imposed under subsection (6). Hours
or days lost because of strikes or teachers' conferences shall not
be counted as hours or days of pupil instruction. If a collective
bargaining agreement that provides a complete school calendar is in
effect for employees of a district as of the effective date of the
2009 amendatory act that amended this subsection, and if that
school calendar is not in compliance with this subsection, then
this subsection does not apply to that district until after the
expiration of that collective bargaining agreement.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (c), a
district not having at least 75% of the district's membership in
attendance on any day of pupil instruction shall receive state aid
in that proportion of 1/180 that the actual percent of attendance
bears to the specified percentage.
(c) Beginning in 2005-2006, at the request of a district that
operates a department-approved alternative education program and
that does not provide instruction for pupils in all of grades K to
12, the superintendent shall grant a waiver for a period of 3
school years from the requirements of subdivision (b) in order to
conduct a pilot study. The waiver shall indicate that an eligible
district is subject to the proration provisions of subdivision (b)
only if the district does not have at least 50% of the district’s
membership in attendance on any day of pupil instruction. In order
to be eligible for this waiver, a district must maintain records to
substantiate its compliance with the following requirements during
the pilot study:
(i) The district offers the minimum hours of pupil instruction
as required under this section.
(ii) For each enrolled pupil, the district uses appropriate
academic assessments to develop an individual education plan that
leads to a high school diploma.
(iii) The district tests each pupil to determine academic
progress at regular intervals and records the results of those
tests in that pupil’s individual education plan.
(d) The superintendent shall promulgate rules for the
implementation of this subsection.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the first
30 hours or 6 days for which pupil instruction is not provided
because of conditions not within the control of school authorities,
such as severe storms, fires, epidemics, utility power
unavailability, water or sewer failure, or health conditions as
defined by the city, county, or state health authorities, shall be
counted as hours and days of pupil instruction. With the approval
of the superintendent of public instruction, the department shall
count as hours and days of pupil instruction for a fiscal year not
more than 30 additional hours or 6 additional days for which pupil
instruction is not provided in a district after April 1 of the
applicable school year due to unusual and extenuating occurrences
resulting from conditions not within the control of school
authorities such as those conditions described in this subsection.
Subsequent such hours or days shall not be counted as hours or days
of pupil instruction. For 2009-2010 only, in addition to any other
hours or days counted as hours and days of pupil instruction under
this subsection, a district may count an unlimited number of days
or hours for which pupil instruction is not provided due to
influenza epidemic as hours and days of pupil instruction.
(5) A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid
appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alternative
scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program
provides at least the number of hours required under subsection (3)
for a full-time equated membership for a pupil in kindergarten as
provided under section 6(4).
(6) Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the board of
each district shall certify to the department the planned number of
hours and days of pupil instruction in the district for the school
year ending in the fiscal year. In addition to any other penalty or
forfeiture under this section, if at any time the department
determines that 1 or more of the following has occurred in a
district, the district shall forfeit in the current fiscal year
beginning in the next payment to be calculated by the department a
proportion of the funds due to the district under this act that is
equal to the proportion below the required minimum number of hours
and days of pupil instruction under subsection (3), as specified in
the following:
(a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least the
required minimum number of hours and days of pupil instruction
under subsection (3) in a school year, including hours and days
counted under subsection (4).
(b) The board of the district takes formal action not to
operate its schools for at least the required minimum number of
hours and days of pupil instruction under subsection (3) in a
school year, including hours and days counted under subsection (4).
(7) In providing the minimum number of hours and days of pupil
instruction required under subsection (3), a district shall use the
following guidelines, and a district shall maintain records to
substantiate its compliance with the following guidelines:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil
must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of hours
of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum of 90
hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruction,
including up to 2 study halls.
(b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in a
block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless that
time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a pupil
in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is determined to be
in the individual pupil's best educational interest must be
scheduled for a number of hours equal to at least 80% of the
required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction to be
considered a full-time equivalent pupil. A pupil in grades 9 to 12
who is scheduled in a 4-block schedule may receive a reduced
schedule under this subsection if the pupil is scheduled for a
number of hours equal to at least 75% of the required minimum
number of hours of pupil instruction to be considered a full-time
equivalent pupil.
(d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a
cooperative education program or a special education pupil cannot
receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction
solely because of travel time between instructional sites during
the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 3 hours per
school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time for
the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the
required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, if
a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that
the travel time limitation under this subdivision would create
undue costs or hardship to the district, the department may
consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for this
purpose.
(e) In grades 7 through 12, instructional time that is part of
a junior reserve officer training corps (JROTC) program shall be
considered to be pupil instruction time regardless of whether the
instructor is a certificated teacher if all of the following are
met:
(i) The instructor has met all of the requirements established
by the United States department of defense and the applicable
branch of the armed services for serving as an instructor in the
junior reserve officer training corps program.
(ii) The board of the district or intermediate district
employing or assigning the instructor complies with the
requirements of sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code,
MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, with respect to the instructor to the
same extent as if employing the instructor as a regular classroom
teacher.
(8) The department shall apply the guidelines under subsection
(7) in calculating the full-time equivalency of pupils.
(9) Upon application by the district for a particular fiscal
year, the superintendent may waive for a district the minimum
number of hours and days of pupil instruction requirement of
subsection (3) for a department-approved alternative education
program or another innovative program approved by the department.
If a district applies for and receives a waiver under this
subsection and complies with the terms of the waiver, for the
fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is not subject to
forfeiture under this section for the specific program covered by
the waiver. If the district does not comply with the terms of the
waiver, the amount of the forfeiture shall be calculated based upon
a comparison of the number of hours and days of pupil instruction
actually provided to the minimum number of hours and days of pupil
instruction required under subsection (3).
(10) If at least 5 of the hours of professional development
are provided online by the Michigan virtual university under
section 98 or by another department-approved intermediate district
provider of online professional development, a district may count
up to 38 hours of qualifying professional development for teachers
as hours of pupil instruction. However, if a collective bargaining
agreement that provides more than 38 but not more than 51 hours of
professional development for teachers is in effect for employees of
a district as of October 1, 2006, then until the fiscal year that
begins after the expiration of that collective bargaining agreement
a district may count up to 51 hours of qualifying professional
development for teachers, including the 5 hours of online
professional development, as hours of pupil instruction. A district
that elects to use this exception shall notify the department of
its election. As used in this subsection, "qualifying professional
development" means professional development that is focused on 1 or
more of the following:
(a) Achieving or improving adequate yearly progress as defined
under the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(b) Achieving accreditation or improving a school's
accreditation status under section 1280 of the revised school code,
MCL 380.1280.
(c) Achieving highly qualified teacher status as defined under
the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(d) Maintaining teacher certification.