FINAL BILL REPORT

SB 5736

                              C 321 L 89

BYSenators Bailey, Rinehart, Gaspard, Smitherman, Bender, Lee, Fleming, Metcalf, Murray, Anderson, Conner and Smith; by request of Superintendent of Public Instruction

Modifying local funding requirements for school construction.

Senate Committee on Education

House Committe on Education

Rereferred House Committee on Capital Facilities & Financing

SYNOPSIS AS ENACTED

BACKGROUND:

Under law and State Board of Education rules, school districts are eligible for state matching funds for school construction projects approved by the board and for which local funds have been or are expected to be secured.  Students living in a school district that does not have a high school (nonhigh districts) and attending high school in a high school district are not counted in determining the adjusted valuation per full-time equivalent pupil for an elementary building project in the nonhigh district.  At the same time, a nonhigh school district is required to contribute capital assistance for building programs in the designated high school district.

SUMMARY:

The allotment procedures for school construction and the local match requirements are clarified.  A district is required to provide matching funds equal to or greater than the difference between the total approved project cost and the amount of state assistance calculated under the formula.  The matching requirement may be waived if the district provides funds through bonds or levies equal to 2.5 percent of the assessed valuation of their taxable property.

The state matching percentage is calculated using the district's adjusted valuation per full-time equivalent resident pupil.  Full-time equivalent pupils are determined using the October enrollment reports for the purposes of basic education and handicapped education allocations.  Preschool handicapped students and kindergarten students are counted as half-time students.

For calculating allocations for school construction, the enrollment of a school district is decreased by the number of nonresident students enrolled in that school district unless:  (1) the nonhigh school district has not identified the high school district as a designated "serving" district; or (2) the high school district has passed a bond issue before the effective date of the bill and counted students living in a nonhigh school district but attending high school in the high school district.

A nonhigh school district may count students living there and attending high school in the designated serving district for purposes of computing the state matching percentage for allocations for elementary and middle school facilities.

If a high school district is identified as a serving district, the nonhigh school district must place a measure on the ballot regarding proposals for the issuance of bonds or levies for capital building programs for the serving high school district.

A district without a high school must designate a serving high school district if more than 33.3 percent of the high school students residing in the nonhigh district are enrolled in the high school district.  A district without a high school is not required to designate more than one serving high school district.  The district without a high school may designate more than one serving high school district.

VOTES ON FINAL PASSAGE:

     Senate   46    0

     House 97  0 (House amended)

     Senate   44    0 (Senate concurred)

EFFECTIVE:May 11, 1989