SENATE BILL NO. 1134 May 19, 1998, Introduced by Senators BULLARD, STILLE, ROGERS, DUNASKISS and JAYE 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 6 (MCL 388.1606), as amended by 1997 PA 142; and to repeal acts and parts of acts. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT: 1 Sec. 6. (1) "Center program" means a program operated by a 2 district or intermediate district for special education pupils 3 from several districts in programs for the autistically impaired, 4 trainable mentally impaired, severely mentally impaired, severely 5 multiply impaired, hearing impaired, physically and otherwise 6 health impaired, and visually impaired. Programs for emotionally 7 impaired pupils housed in buildings that do not serve regular 8 education pupils also qualify. Unless otherwise approved by the 9 department, a center program either shall serve all constituent 10 districts within an intermediate district or shall serve several 05813'98 *** TAV 2 1 districts with less than 50% of the pupils residing in the 2 operating district. In addition, special education center pro- 3 gram pupils placed part-time in noncenter programs to comply with 4 the least restrictive environment provisions of section 612 of 5 part B of the individuals with disabilities education act, title 6 VI of Public Law 91-230, 20 U.S.C. 1412, may be considered center 7 program pupils for pupil accounting purposes for the time sched- 8 uled in either a center program or a noncenter program. 9 (2) "District pupil retention rate" means the proportion of 10 pupils who have not dropped out of school in the immediately pre- 11 ceding school year and is equal to 1 minus the quotient of the 12 number of pupils unaccounted for in the immediately preceding 13 school year, as determined pursuant to subsection (3), divided by 14 the pupils of the immediately preceding school year. 15 (3) "District pupil retention report" means a report of the 16 number of pupils, excluding migrant and adult, in the district 17 for the immediately preceding school year, adjusted for those 18 pupils who have transferred into the district, transferred out of 19 the district, transferred to alternative programs, and have grad- 20 uated, to determine the number of pupils who are unaccounted 21 for. The number of pupils unaccounted for shall be calculated as 22 determined by the department. 23 (4) "Membership", except as otherwise provided in this act, 24 means for a district, public school academy, university school, 25 or intermediate district FOR 1997-98 ONLY the sum of the product 26 of .6 times the number of full-time equated pupils in grades K to 27 12 actually enrolled and in regular daily attendance on the pupil 05813'98 *** 3 1 membership count day for the current school year, plus the 2 product of .4 times the final audited count from the supplemental 3 count day for the immediately preceding school year, as deter- 4 mined by the department and calculated by adding the number of 5 pupils registered for attendance plus pupils received by transfer 6 and minus pupils lost as defined by rules promulgated by the 7 state board, and as corrected by a subsequent department audit. 8 EXCEPT AS OTHERWISE PROVIDED IN THIS ACT, FOR 1998-99 AND SUC- 9 CEEDING FISCAL YEARS, MEMBERSHIP FOR A DISTRICT, PUBLIC SCHOOL 10 ACADEMY, UNIVERSITY SCHOOL, OR INTERMEDIATE DISTRICT SHALL BE 11 CALCULATED AS AN AVERAGE OF 3 PUPIL COUNTS DURING THE CURRENT 12 SCHOOL YEAR, AND MEANS THE QUOTIENT OF THE SUM OF THE NUMBER OF 13 FULL-TIME EQUATED PUPILS IN GRADES K TO 12 ACTUALLY ENROLLED AND 14 IN REGULAR DAILY ATTENDANCE ON EACH PUPIL MEMBERSHIP COUNT DAY IN 15 THE CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, AS DETERMINED BY THE DEPARTMENT AND CAL- 16 CULATED EACH OF THOSE DAYS BY ADDING THE NUMBER OF PUPILS REGIS- 17 TERED FOR ATTENDANCE PLUS PUPILS RECEIVED BY TRANSFER AND MINUS 18 PUPILS LOST AS DEFINED BY RULES PROMULGATED BY THE STATE BOARD, 19 AND AS CORRECTED BY A SUBSEQUENT DEPARTMENT AUDIT, DIVIDED BY 3. 20 The amount of the foundation allowance for a pupil in membership 21 is determined under section 20. In making the calculation of 22 membership, all of the following, as applicable, apply to deter- 23 mining the membership of a district, public school academy, uni- 24 versity school, or intermediate district: 25 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 26 shall be counted in membership in the pupil's educating district 05813'98 *** 4 1 or districts. An individual pupil shall not be counted for more 2 than a total of 1.0 full-time equated membership. 3 (b) If a pupil is educated in a district other than the 4 pupil's district of residence and the educating district is not 5 in the same intermediate district as the pupil's district of res- 6 idence, if the pupil is not being educated as part of a coopera- 7 tive education program, if the pupil's district of residence does 8 not give the educating district its approval to count the pupil 9 in membership in the educating district, and if the pupil is not 10 covered by an exception specified in subsection (6) to the 11 requirement that the educating district must have the approval of 12 the pupil's district of residence to count the pupil in member- 13 ship, the pupil shall not be counted in membership in any 14 district. 15 (c) A special education pupil educated by the intermediate 16 district shall be counted in membership in the intermediate 17 district. 18 (d) A pupil placed by a court or state agency in an 19 on-grounds program of a juvenile detention facility, a child 20 caring institution, or a mental health institution, or a pupil 21 funded under section 53a, shall be counted in membership in the 22 district or intermediate district approved by the department to 23 operate the program. 24 (e) A pupil enrolled in the Michigan schools for the deaf 25 and blind shall be counted in membership in the pupil's interme- 26 diate district of residence. 05813'98 *** 5 1 (f) A pupil enrolled in a vocational education program 2 supported by a millage levied over an area larger than a single 3 district or in an area vocational-technical education program 4 established pursuant to section 690 of the revised school code, 5 MCL 380.690, shall be counted only in the pupil's district of 6 residence. 7 (g) A pupil enrolled in a university school shall be counted 8 in membership in the university school. 9 (h) A pupil enrolled in a public school academy shall be 10 counted in membership in the public school academy. 11 (i) For a new district, university school, or public school 12 academy beginning its operation after December 31, 1994, member- 13 ship for the first 2 full or partial fiscal years of operation 14 shall be determined as follows: 15 (i) If operations begin before the pupil membership count 16 day for the fiscal year, membership is the average number of 17 full-time equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually enrolled and 18 in regular daily attendance on the pupil membership count day for 19 the current school year and on the supplemental count day for the 20 current school year, as determined by the department and calcu- 21 lated by adding the number of pupils registered for attendance on 22 the pupil membership count day plus pupils received by transfer 23 and minus pupils lost as defined by rules promulgated by the 24 state board, and as corrected by a subsequent department audit, 25 plus the final audited count from the supplemental count day for 26 the current school year, and dividing that sum by 2. 05813'98 *** 6 1 (ii) If operations begin after the pupil membership count 2 day for the fiscal year and not later than the supplemental count 3 day for the fiscal year, membership is the final audited count of 4 the number of full-time equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually 5 enrolled and in regular daily attendance on the supplemental 6 count day for the current school year. 7 (j) If a district is the authorizing body for a public 8 school academy, then, in the first school year in which pupils 9 are counted in membership on the pupil membership count day in 10 the public school academy, the determination of the district's 11 membership shall exclude from the district's pupil count for the 12 immediately preceding supplemental count day any pupils who are 13 counted in the public school academy on that first pupil member- 14 ship count day who were also counted in the district on the imme- 15 diately preceding supplemental count day. 16 (k) In a district, public school academy, university school, 17 or intermediate district operating an extended school year pro- 18 gram approved by the state board, a pupil enrolled, but not 19 scheduled to be in regular daily attendance on a pupil membership 20 count day, shall be counted. 21 (l) Pupils to be counted in membership shall be not less 22 than 5 years of age on December 1 and less than 20 years of age 23 on September 1 of the school year except a special education 24 pupil who is enrolled and receiving instruction in a special edu- 25 cation program approved by the department and not having a high 26 school diploma who is less than 26 years of age as of September 1 27 of the current school year shall be counted in membership. 05813'98 *** 7 1 (m) An individual who has obtained a high school diploma 2 shall not be counted in membership. An individual who has 3 obtained a general education development (G.E.D.) certificate 4 shall not be counted in membership. An individual participating 5 in a job training program funded under former section 107a or a 6 jobs program funded under former section 107b, both administered 7 by the Michigan jobs commission, or participating in any succes- 8 sor of either of those 2 programs, shall not be counted in 9 membership. 10 (n) If a pupil counted in membership in a public school 11 academy is also educated by a district or intermediate district 12 as part of a cooperative education program, the pupil shall be 13 counted in membership only in the public school academy, and the 14 instructional time scheduled for the pupil in the district or 15 intermediate district shall be included in the full-time equated 16 membership determination under subdivision (q). However, for 17 pupils receiving instruction in both a public school academy and 18 in a district or intermediate district but not as a part of a 19 cooperative education program, the following apply: 20 (i) If the public school academy provides instruction for at 21 least 1/2 of the class hours specified in subdivision (q), the 22 public school academy shall receive as its prorated share of the 23 full-time equated membership for each of those pupils an amount 24 equal to 1 times the product of the hours of instruction the 25 public school academy provides divided by the number of hours 26 specified in subdivision (q) for full-time equivalency, and the 27 remainder of the full-time membership for each of those pupils 05813'98 *** 8 1 shall be allocated to the district or intermediate district 2 providing the remainder of the hours of instruction. 3 (ii) If the public school academy provides instruction for 4 less than 1/2 of the class hours specified in subdivision (q), 5 the district or intermediate district providing the remainder of 6 the hours of instruction shall receive as its prorated share of 7 the full-time equated membership for each of those pupils an 8 amount equal to 1 times the product of the hours of instruction 9 the district or intermediate district provides divided by the 10 number of hours specified in subdivision (q) for full-time equiv- 11 alency, and the remainder of the full-time membership for each of 12 those pupils shall be allocated to the public school academy. 13 (o) An individual less than 16 years of age as of September 14 1 of the current school year who is being educated in an alterna- 15 tive education program shall not be counted in membership if 16 there are also adult education participants being educated in the 17 same program or classroom. 18 (p) The department shall give a uniform interpretation of 19 full-time and part-time memberships. 20 (q) The number of class hours used to calculate full-time 21 equated memberships shall be consistent with section 1284 of the 22 revised school code, MCL 380.1284. In determining full-time 23 equated memberships for pupils who are enrolled in a postsecond- 24 ary institution under the postsecondary enrollment options act, 25 1996 PA 160, MCL 388.511 to 388.524, a pupil shall not be consid- 26 ered to be less than a full-time equated pupil solely because of 27 the effect of his or her postsecondary enrollment, including 05813'98 *** 9 1 necessary travel time, on the number of class hours provided by 2 the district to the pupil. 3 (r) Full-time equated memberships for pupils in kindergarten 4 shall be determined by dividing the number of class hours sched- 5 uled and provided per year per kindergarten pupil by a number 6 equal to 1/2 the number used for determining full-time equated 7 memberships for pupils in grades 1 to 12. 8 (s) For a district that has qualified currently migrant 9 pupils enrolled in the district as of the pupil membership count 10 day who were not counted in membership in the district on the 11 supplemental count day for the immediately preceding school year, 12 as determined by the department using the criteria used for eli- 13 gibility for the migrant education program under the improving 14 America's schools act of 1994, Public Law 103-382, 108 15 Stat. 3518, the number of those pupils counted in the district's 16 membership is 3/4 of the number of those pupils counted on the 17 pupil membership count day only. 18 (t) For a district, university school, or public school 19 academy that has pupils enrolled in a grade level that was not 20 offered by the district, university school, or public school 21 academy in the immediately preceding school year, the number of 22 pupils enrolled in that grade level to be counted in membership 23 is the average of the number of those pupils enrolled and in reg- 24 ular daily attendance on the pupil membership count day and the 25 supplemental count day of the current school year, as determined 26 by the department. Membership shall be calculated by adding the 27 number of pupils registered for attendance in that grade level on 05813'98 *** 10 1 the pupil membership count day plus pupils received by transfer 2 and minus pupils lost as defined by rules promulgated by the 3 state board, and as corrected by subsequent department audit, 4 plus the final audited count from the supplemental count day for 5 the current school year, and dividing that sum by 2. 6 (u) A pupil enrolled in a cooperative education program may 7 be counted in membership in the pupil's district of residence 8 with the written approval of all parties to the cooperative 9 agreement. 10 (v) If, as a result of a disciplinary action, a district 11 determines through the district's alternative education program 12 that the best instructional placement for a pupil is in the 13 pupil's home, if that placement is authorized in writing by the 14 district superintendent and district alternative education super- 15 visor, and if the district provides appropriate instruction as 16 described in this subdivision to the pupil at the pupil's home, 17 the district may count the pupil in membership on a pro rata 18 basis, with the proration based on the number of hours of 19 instruction the district actually provides to the pupil divided 20 by the number of hours specified in subdivision (q) for full-time 21 equivalency. For the purposes of this subdivision, a district 22 shall be considered to be providing appropriate instruction if 23 all of the following are met: 24 (i) The district provides at least 2 nonconsecutive hours of 25 instruction per week to the pupil at the pupil's home under the 26 supervision of a certificated teacher. 05813'98 *** 11 1 (ii) The district provides instructional materials, 2 resources, and supplies, except computers, that are comparable to 3 those otherwise provided in the district's alternative education 4 program. 5 (iii) Course content is comparable to that in the district's 6 alternative education program. 7 (iv) Credit earned is awarded to the pupil and placed on the 8 pupil's transcript. 9 (w) A pupil enrolled in an alternative education program 10 described in section 25 shall be counted in membership in the 11 district or public school academy that expelled the pupil. 12 (x) For 1997-98 only, if a pupil was enrolled in a public 13 school academy on the pupil membership count day, if the public 14 school academy's contract with its authorizing body is revoked, 15 and if the pupil enrolls in a district within 45 days after the 16 pupil membership count day, the department shall adjust the 17 district's pupil count for the pupil membership count day to 18 include the pupil in the count. 19 (5) "Public school academy" means a public school academy 20 operating under the revised school code. 21 (6) "Pupil" means a person in membership in a public 22 school. A district must have the approval of the pupil's dis- 23 trict of residence to count the pupil in membership, except 24 approval by the pupil's district of residence shall not be 25 required for nonpublic part-time pupils, for pupils receiving 1/2 26 or less of their instruction in a district other than their 27 district of residence, for pupils enrolled in a public school 05813'98 *** 12 1 academy or university school, for pupils enrolled in a district 2 other than their district of residence under an intermediate dis- 3 trict schools of choice pilot program as described in section 91a 4 or former section 91 if the intermediate district and its con- 5 stituent districts have been exempted from section 105, for 6 pupils enrolled in a district other than their district of resi- 7 dence but within the same intermediate district if the educating 8 district enrolls nonresident pupils in accordance with 9 section 105, or for pupils enrolled in a district other than 10 their district of residence if the pupils have been continuously 11 enrolled in the educating district since a school year in which 12 the pupils enrolled in the educating district under section 105 13 and in which the educating district enrolled nonresident pupils 14 in accordance with section 105. However, if a district that is 15 not a first class district educates pupils who reside in a first 16 class district and if the primary instructional site for those 17 pupils is located within the boundaries of the first class dis- 18 trict, the educating district must have the approval of the first 19 class district to count those pupils in membership. As used in 20 this subsection, "first class district" means a district orga- 21 nized as a school district of the first class under the revised 22 school code. 23 (7) "Pupil membership count day" of a district or intermedi- 24 ate district means: 25 (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b) OR (C), the fourth 26 Wednesday in September each school year. 05813'98 *** 13 1 (b) For a district or intermediate district maintaining 2 school during the entire school year, the following days: 3 (i) Fourth Wednesday in July. 4 (ii) Fourth Wednesday in September. 5 (iii) Second Wednesday in February. 6 (iv) Fourth Wednesday in April. 7 (C) BEGINNING IN SEPTEMBER 1998 FOR THE 1998-99 AND EACH 8 SUCCEEDING FISCAL YEAR, EACH OF THE FOLLOWING DAYS: 9 (A) THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY IN SEPTEMBER. 10 (B) THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY IN JANUARY. 11 (C) THE FOURTH WEDNESDAY IN APRIL. 12 (8) "Rule" means a rule promulgated pursuant to the adminis- 13 trative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to 14 24.328. 15 (9) "The revised school code" means 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 16 to 380.1852. 17 (10) "School fiscal year" means a fiscal year that commences 18 July 1 and continues through June 30. 19 (11) "State board" means the state board of education. 20 (12) "Supplemental count day" means the day on which the 21 supplemental pupil count is conducted under section 6a. 22 (13) "Tuition pupil" means a pupil of school age attending 23 school in a district other than the pupil's district of residence 24 for whom tuition may be charged. Tuition pupil does not include 25 a pupil who is a special education pupil; a pupil enrolled in a 26 district other than the pupil's district of residence but within 27 the same intermediate district if the educating district enrolls 05813'98 *** 14 1 nonresident pupils in accordance with section 105; a pupil 2 enrolled in a district other than the pupil's district of resi- 3 dence if the pupil has been continuously enrolled in the educat- 4 ing district since a school year in which the pupil enrolled in 5 the educating district under section 105 and in which the educat- 6 ing district enrolled nonresident pupils in accordance with sec- 7 tion 105; or a pupil served by an intermediate district schools 8 of choice pilot program as described in section 91a or former 9 section 91 if the intermediate district and its constituent dis- 10 tricts have been exempted from section 105. A pupil's district 11 of residence shall not require a high school tuition pupil, as 12 provided under section 111, to attend another school district 13 after the pupil has been assigned to a school district. 14 (14) "State school aid fund" means the state school aid fund 15 established in section 11 of article IX of the state constitution 16 of 1963. 17 (15) "Taxable value" means the taxable value of property as 18 determined under section 27a of the general property tax act, 19 1893 PA 206, MCL 211.27a. 20 (16) "Total state aid" or "total state school aid" means the 21 total combined amount of all funds due to a district, intermedi- 22 ate district, or other entity under all of the provisions of this 23 act. 24 (17) "University school" means an instructional program 25 operated by a public university under section 23 that meets the 26 requirements of section 23. 05813'98 *** 15 1 Enacting section 1. Section 6a of the state school aid act 2 of 1979, 1979 PA 94, MCL 388.1606a, is repealed effective 3 October 1, 1998. 05813'98 *** Final page. TAV