HOUSE BILL No. 4771 May 8, 1997, Introduced by Reps. DeVuyst, Voorhees, Perricone, McBryde, Anthony, Gernaat and Goschka 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 101 (MCL 388.1701), as amended by 1996 PA 300. 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 Friday after the pupil member- 3 ship count day and not later than the fifth Friday after the sup- 4 plemental count day, each district superintendent, through the 5 secretary of the district's board, shall file with the intermedi- 6 ate superintendent a certified and sworn copy of the number of 7 pupils enrolled and in regular daily attendance in the district 8 as of the pupil membership count day and as of the supplemental 9 count day, as applicable, for the current school year. In 10 addition, a district maintaining school during the entire year, 03065'97 * TAV 2 1 as provided under section 1561 of the revised school code,being2section 380.1561 of the Michigan Compiled LawsMCL 380.1561, 3 shall file with the intermediate superintendent a certified and 4 sworn copy of the number of pupils enrolled and in regular daily 5 attendance in the district for the current school year pursuant 6 to rules promulgated by the state board. Not later than the sev- 7 enth Friday after the pupil membership count day and not later 8 than the seventh Friday after the supplemental count day, the 9 intermediate district shall transmit to the department the data 10 filed by each of its constituent districts. If a district fails 11 to file the sworn and certified copy with the intermediate super- 12 intendent in a timely manner, as required under this subsection, 13 the intermediate district shall notify the department and state 14 aid due to be distributed under this act shall be withheld from 15 the defaulting district immediately, beginning with the next pay- 16 ment after the failure and continuing with each payment until the 17 district complies with this subsection. If an intermediate dis- 18 trict fails to transmit the data in its possession in a timely 19 and accurate manner to the department, as required under this 20 subsection, state aid due to be distributed under this act shall 21 be withheld from the defaulting intermediate district immediate- 22 ly, beginning with the next payment after the failure and con- 23 tinuing with each payment until the intermediate district com- 24 plies with this subsection. If a district or intermediate dis- 25 trict does not comply with this subsection by the end of the 26 fiscal year, the district or intermediate district forfeits the 27 amount withheld. A person who willfully falsifies a figure or 03065'97 * 3 1 statement in the certified and sworn copy of enrollment shall be 2 punished in the manner prescribed by section 161. 3 (2) To be eligible to receive state aid under this act, not 4 later than the twenty-fourth Friday after the pupil membership 5 count day and not later than the twenty-fourth Friday after the 6 supplemental count day, an intermediate district shall submit to 7 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) Each district shall provide the required minimum number 20 of days and hours of pupil instruction under section 1284 of the 21 revised school code,being section 380.1284 of the Michigan22Compiled LawsMCL 380.1284. Except as otherwise provided in 23 this act, a district failing to hold the required minimum number 24 of days of pupil instruction shall forfeit from its total state 25 aid allocation for each day of failure an amount determined by 26 applying a ratio of the number of days the district was in 27 noncompliance in relation to the required minimum number of 03065'97 * 4 1 days. Except as otherwise provided in this act, a district 2 failing to comply with the required minimum hours of pupil 3 instruction shall forfeit from its total state aid allocation an 4 amount determined by applying a ratio of the time duration the 5 district was in noncompliance in relation to the required minimum 6 number of hours. A district failing to meet both the minimum 7 number of days of pupil instruction requirement and the minimum 8 number of hours of pupil instruction requirement shall be pena- 9 lized only the higher of the 2 amounts calculated under the for- 10 feiture provisions of this subsection. Not later than August 1, 11 the board of each district shall certify to the department the 12 number of days and hours of pupil instruction in the previous 13 school year. If the district did not hold at least 180 days and 14 the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction, the 15 deduction of state aid shall be made in the following fiscal year 16 from the first payment of state school aid. A district is not 17 subject to forfeiture of funds under this subsection for a fiscal 18 year in which a forfeiture was already imposed under subsection 19 (7). Days lost because of strikes or teachers' conferences shall 20 not be counted as days of pupil instruction. A district not 21 having 75% of the district's membership in attendance on any day 22 of pupil instruction shall receive state aid in that proportion 23 of 1 divided by the required minimum number of days of pupil 24 instruction that the actual percent of attendance bears to the 25 specified percentage. The state board shall promulgate rules for 26 the implementation of this subsection. 03065'97 * 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. HOWEVER, A DISTRICT MAY APPLY TO THE DEPARTMENT FOR 8 AN EXCEPTION TO HAVE 1 OR MORE ADDITIONAL DAYS FOR WHICH PUPIL 9 INSTRUCTION IS NOT PROVIDED DUE TO SEVERE WEATHER COUNTED AS DAYS 10 OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION, AND THE DEPARTMENT MAY GRANT THE EXCEPTION 11 AND COUNT ALL OR SOME OF THOSE DAYS AS DAYS OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION 12 IF THE DEPARTMENT FINDS THAT THE EXCEPTION IS WARRANTED DUE TO 13 UNUSUAL CIRCUMSTANCES. 14 (5) A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid 15 appropriation if it adopts or has in existence an alternative 16 scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten, which program is 17 approved by the state board. 18 (6) Upon application by the district for a particular fiscal 19 year, the state board may waive the minimum number of days of 20 pupil instruction requirement of subsection (3) for a district if 21 the district has adopted an experimental school year schedule in 22 1 or more buildings in the district if the experimental school 23 year schedule provides the required minimum number or more hours 24 of pupil instruction and is consistent with all state board poli- 25 cies on school improvement and restructuring. If a district 26 applies for and receives a waiver under this subsection and 27 complies with the terms of the waiver, for the fiscal year 03065'97 * 6 1 covered by the waiver the district is not subject to forfeiture 2 under this section of part of its state aid allocation for the 3 specific building or program covered by the 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 the required mini- 14 mum number of days and hours of pupil instruction, as specified 15 in the following: 16 (a) The district fails to operate its schools fora minimum17ofAT LEAST the required minimum number of days and hours of 18 pupil instruction in a school year, including days counted under 19 subsection (4). 20 (b) The board of the district takes formal action not to 21 operate its schools fora minimum ofAT LEAST the required min- 22 imum number of days and hours of pupil instruction in a school 23 year, including days counted under subsection (4). 24 (8) In providing 990 hours of instruction for 1996-97, a 25 district shall use the following guidelines, and a district shall 26 maintain records to substantiate its compliance with the 27 following guidelines: 03065'97 * 7 1 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 2 must be scheduled for 990 hours of instruction, excluding study 3 halls, or 1,080 hours of instruction, including up to 2 study 4 halls. 5 (b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in 6 a block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless 7 that time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period. 8 (c) A pupil in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is 9 determined to be in the pupil's best educational interest must be 10 scheduled for a minimum of 770 hours of pupil instruction to be 11 considered a full-time equivalent pupil. 12 (d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a coop- 13 erative education program or a special education pupil cannot 14 receive 990 hours of pupil instruction solely because of travel 15 time between instructional sites during the school day, that 16 travel time, up to a maximum of 2 1/2 hours per school week, 17 shall be considered to be pupil instruction time for the purpose 18 of determining whether the pupil is receiving 990 hours of pupil 19 instruction. However, if a district demonstrates to the satis- 20 faction of the department that the travel time limitation under 21 this subdivision would create undue costs or hardship to the dis- 22 trict, the department may consider more travel time to be pupil 23 instruction time for this purpose. 24 (9) The department shall apply the guidelines under subsec- 25 tion (8) in calculating the full-time equivalency of pupils. 26 (10) Upon application by the district for a particular 27 fiscal year, the state board may waive for a district the minimum 03065'97 * 8 1 number of days and hours of pupil instruction requirement of 2 subsection (3) for a department-approved alternative education 3 program. If a district applies for and receives a waiver under 4 this subsection and complies with the terms of the waiver, for 5 the fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is not subject 6 to forfeiture under this section for the specific program covered 7 by the waiver. 03065'97 * Final page. TAV