S-2035.1

SECOND SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5095

BySenate Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senators Dhingra, Wellman, Riccelli, Cleveland, Pedersen, Cortes, Krishnadasan, Nobles, Salomon, Shewmake, Slatter, and Stanford)

AN ACT Relating to school districts' authority to contract indebtedness for school construction; and amending RCW 28A.530.080 and 28A.525.162.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 28A.530.080 and 2010 c 241 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1)(a) In addition to the authority granted under RCW 28A.530.010, a school district may contract indebtedness for any purpose specified in RCW 28A.530.010 (2)((, (4), and))through (5) or for the purpose of purchasing any real or personal property, or property rights, in connection with the exercise of any powers or duties which it is now or hereafter authorized to exercise, and issue bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness therefor without a vote of the qualified electors of the district, subject to the limitations on indebtedness set forth in RCW 39.36.020(3) and this subsection.

(iii) Forgo state funding assistance for the project that the school district may otherwise be eligible for under RCW 28A.525.162 through 28A.525.180.

(2) Before issuing nonvoted bonds in excess of ((two hundred fifty thousand dollars))$250,000, a school district shall publish notice of intent to issue such bonds and shall hold a public hearing on the proposal at any regular or special meeting of the school board. The notice shall designate: The date, time, and place of the hearing; the purpose and amount of the bonds; the type, terms, and conditions of bonds; and the means identified for repayment. The notice shall also state that any person may appear and be heard on the issue of issuing such bonds. The notice shall be published at least once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the district, or if there is none, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or counties in which such district is a part. The last notice shall be published no later than seven days immediately before the hearing. At the conclusion of public comment, the board of directors may proceed to determine, by resolution, whether to issue such bonds.

(3) The public notice and hearing requirements in subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to any refinancing or refunding of outstanding nonvoted or voted bonds.

(4) Such bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness shall be issued and sold in accordance with chapter 39.46 RCW, and the proceeds thereof shall be deposited in the capital projects fund, the transportation vehicle fund, or the general fund, as applicable.

Sec. 2. RCW 28A.525.162 and 2013 2nd sp.s. c 18 s 513 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) Funds appropriated to the superintendent of public instruction from the common school construction fund shall be allotted by the superintendent of public instruction in accordance with this chapter.

(2) No allotment shall be made to a school district until such district has provided local funds equal to or greater than the difference between the total approved project cost and the amount of state funding assistance to the district for financing the project computed pursuant to RCW 28A.525.166, with the following exceptions:

(a) The superintendent of public instruction may waive the local requirement for state funding assistance for districts which have provided funds for school building construction purposes through the authorization of bonds or through the authorization of excess tax levies or both in an amount equivalent to two and one-half percent of the value of its taxable property, as defined in RCW 39.36.015.

(b) No such local funds shall be required as a condition to the allotment of funds from the state for the purpose of making major or minor structural changes to existing school facilities in order to bring such facilities into compliance with the barrier free access requirements of section 504 of the federal rehabilitation act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 706) and rules implementing the act.

(3) For the purpose of computing the state funding assistance percentage under RCW 28A.525.166 when a school district is granted authority to enter into contracts, adjusted valuation per pupil shall be calculated using head count student enrollments from the most recent October enrollment reports submitted by districts to the superintendent of public instruction, adjusted as follows:

(a) In the case of projects for which local bonds were approved after May 11, 1989:

(i) For districts which have been designated as serving high school districts under RCW 28A.540.110, students residing in the nonhigh district so designating shall be excluded from the enrollment count if the student is enrolled in any grade level not offered by the nonhigh district;

(ii) The enrollment of nonhigh school districts shall be increased by the number of students residing within the district who are enrolled in a serving high school district so designated by the nonhigh school district under RCW 28A.540.110, including only students who are enrolled in grade levels not offered by the nonhigh school district; and

(iii) The number of preschool students with disabilities included in the enrollment count shall be multiplied by one-half;

(b) In the case of construction or modernization of high school facilities in districts serving students from nonhigh school districts, the adjusted valuation per pupil shall be computed using the combined adjusted valuations and enrollments of each district, each weighted by the percentage of the district's resident high school students served by the high school district;

(c) The number of kindergarten students included in the enrollment count shall be counted as one head count student; and

(d) The number of students residing outside the school district who are enrolled in alternative learning experience courses under RCW 28A.232.010 shall be excluded from the total.

(4) In lieu of the exclusion in subsection (3)(d) of this section, a district may submit an alternative calculation for excluding students enrolled in alternative learning experience courses. The alternative calculation must show the student head count use of district classroom facilities on a regular basis for a regular duration by out-of-district alternative learning experience students subtracted by the head count of in-district alternative learning experience students not using district classroom facilities on a regular basis for a reasonable duration. The alternative calculation must be submitted in a form approved by the office of the superintendent of public instruction. The office of the superintendent of public instruction must develop rules to define "regular basis" and "reasonable duration."

(5) No state funding assistance may be provided to a school district for any purpose specified in RCW 28A.530.010(3) if the project is funded from the proceeds of nonvoted bonds authorized under RCW 28A.530.080.

(6) The superintendent of public instruction, considering policy recommendations from the school facilities citizen advisory panel, shall prescribe such rules as are necessary to equate insofar as possible the efforts made by school districts to provide capital funds by the means aforesaid.

(((6)))(7) For the purposes of this section, "preschool students with disabilities" means children of preschool age who have developmental disabilities who are entitled to services under RCW 28A.155.010 through 28A.155.100 and are not included in the kindergarten enrollment count of the district.

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