HOUSE BILL No. 4435 March 23, 1999, Introduced by Reps. Jelinek, DeRossett, Woronchak, Rick Johnson, DeHart, Birkholz, LaSata, Bovin and Ehardt 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 1998 PA 339. 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 Wednesday after the pupil mem- 3 bership count day and not later than the fifth Wednesday after 4 the supplemental count day, each district superintendent through 5 the secretary of the district's board shall file with the inter- 6 mediate superintendent a certified and sworn copy of the number 7 of pupils enrolled and in regular daily attendance in the dis- 8 trict as of the pupil membership count day and as of the 9 supplemental count day, as applicable, for the current school 10 year. In addition, a district maintaining school during the 02659'99 * TAV 2 1 entire year, as provided under section 1561 of the revised school 2 code, MCL 380.1561, shall file with the intermediate superinten- 3 dent a certified and sworn copy of the number of pupils enrolled 4 and in regular daily attendance in the district for the current 5 school year pursuant to rules promulgated by the state board. 6 Not later than the seventh Wednesday after the pupil membership 7 count day and not later than the seventh Wednesday after the sup- 8 plemental count day, the intermediate district shall transmit to 9 the department the data filed by each of its constituent 10 districts. If a district fails to file the sworn and certified 11 copy with the intermediate superintendent in a timely manner, as 12 required under this subsection, the intermediate district shall 13 notify the department and state aid due to be distributed under 14 this act shall be withheld from the defaulting district immedi- 15 ately, beginning with the next payment after the failure and con- 16 tinuing with each payment until the district complies with this 17 subsection. If an intermediate district fails to transmit the 18 data in its possession in a timely and accurate manner to the 19 department, as required under this subsection, state aid due to 20 be distributed under this act shall be withheld from the default- 21 ing intermediate district immediately, beginning with the next 22 payment after the failure and continuing with each payment until 23 the intermediate district complies with this subsection. If a 24 district or intermediate district does not comply with this sub- 25 section by the end of the fiscal year, the district or intermedi- 26 ate district forfeits the amount withheld. A person who 27 willfully falsifies a figure or statement in the certified and 02659'99 * 3 1 sworn copy of enrollment shall be punished in the manner 2 prescribed by section 161. 3 (2) To be eligible to receive state aid under this act, not 4 later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the pupil membership 5 count day and not later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after 6 the supplemental count day, an intermediate district shall submit 7 to 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, MCL 380.1284. Except as otherwise provided 22 in this act, a district failing to hold the required minimum 23 number of days of pupil instruction shall forfeit from its total 24 state aid allocation for each day of failure an amount determined 25 by applying a ratio of the number of days the district was in 26 noncompliance in relation to the required minimum number of 27 days. Except as otherwise provided in this act, a district 02659'99 * 4 1 failing to comply with the required minimum hours of pupil 2 instruction shall forfeit from its total state aid allocation an 3 amount determined by applying a ratio of thetime duration4 NUMBER OF HOURS the district was in noncompliance in relation to 5 the required minimum number of hours. A district failing to meet 6 both the minimum number of days of pupil instruction requirement 7 and the minimum number of hours of pupil instruction requirement 8 shall be penalized only the higher of the 2 amounts calculated 9 under the forfeiture provisions of this subsection. Not later 10 than August 1 EACH YEAR, the board of each district shall certify 11 to the department the number of days and hours of pupil instruc- 12 tion in the previous school year. If the district did not hold 13 at least 180 days and the required minimum number of hours of 14 pupil instruction, the deduction of state aid shall be made in 15 the following fiscal year from the first payment of state school 16 aid. A district is not subject to forfeiture of funds under this 17 subsection for a fiscal year in which a forfeiture was already 18 imposed under subsection(7)(8). Days lost because of strikes 19 or teachers' conferences shall not be counted as days of pupil 20 instruction. A district not having at least 75% of the 21 district's membership in attendance on any day of pupil instruc- 22 tion shall receive state aid in that proportion of 1 divided by 23 the required minimum number of days of pupil instruction that the 24 actual percent of attendance bears to the specified percentage. 25 The state board shall promulgate rules for the implementation of 26 this subsection. 02659'99 * 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.In6addition, for 1997-98 only, the department may count as days of7pupil instruction up to 6 additional days for which pupil8instruction is not provided in a district after May 28, 19989because damage or electrical outages resulting from severe storms10prevented the district from providing instruction and up to 211additional days for which pupil instruction is not provided in a12district after June 3, 1998 because a bomb threat prevented the13district from providing instruction.Subsequent such days shall 14 not be counted as days of pupil instruction. 15 (5) IF, OVER THE 3 SCHOOL YEARS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE 16 CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, A DISTRICT COUNTS AS DAYS OF PUPIL INSTRUC- 17 TION LESS THAN THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF DAYS ALLOWED TO BE COUNTED 18 FOR THAT ENTIRE 3-YEAR PERIOD AS DAYS OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION UNDER 19 SUBSECTION (4), THE DISTRICT MAY COUNT 1 OR MORE OF THOSE UNUSED 20 DAYS, UP TO THAT MAXIMUM, AS A DAY OF PUPIL INSTRUCTION FOR THE 21 CURRENT SCHOOL YEAR, BUT ONLY FOR A DAY FOR WHICH PUPIL INSTRUC- 22 TION IS NOT PROVIDED DUE TO A REASON DESCRIBED IN SUBSECTION (4). 23 (6)(5)A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid 24 appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alterna- 25 tive scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program 26 provides at least the number of hours required for a full-time 02659'99 * 6 1 equated membership for a pupil in kindergarten as provided under 2 section 6(4). 3 (7)(6)Upon application by the district for a particular 4 fiscal year, the state board may waive the minimum number of days 5 of pupil instruction requirement of subsection (3) for a district 6 if the district has adopted an experimental school year schedule 7 in 1 or more buildings in the district if the experimental school 8 year schedule provides the required minimum number or more hours 9 of pupil instruction and is consistent with all state board poli- 10 cies on school improvement and restructuring. If a district 11 applies for and receives a waiver under this subsection and com- 12 plies with the terms of the waiver, for the fiscal year covered 13 by the waiver the district is not subject to forfeiture under 14 this section of part of its state aid allocation for the specific 15 building or program covered by the waiver. 16 (8)(7)Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the 17 board of each district shall certify to the department the 18 planned number of days and hours of pupil instruction in the dis- 19 trict for the school year ending in the fiscal year. In addition 20 to any other penalty or forfeiture under this section, if at any 21 time the department determines that 1 or more of the following 22 has occurred in a district, the district shall forfeit in the 23 current fiscal year beginning in the next payment to be calcu- 24 lated by the department a proportion of the funds due to the dis- 25 trict under this act that is equal to the proportion below the 26 required minimum number of days and hours of pupil instruction, 27 as specified in the following: 02659'99 * 7 1 (a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least 2 the required minimum number of days and hours of pupil instruc- 3 tion in a school year, including days counted under subsection 4 (4) OR (5). 5 (b) The board of the district takes formal action not to 6 operate its schools for at least the required minimum number of 7 days and hours of pupil instruction in a school year, including 8 days counted under subsection (4) OR (5). 9 (9)(8)In providing the minimum number of hours of pupil 10 instruction required under section 1284 of the revised school 11 code, MCL 380.1284, a district shall use the following guide- 12 lines, and a district shall maintain records to substantiate its 13 compliance with the following guidelines: 14 (a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil 15 must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of 16 hours of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum 17 of 90 hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruc- 18 tion, including up to 2 study halls. 19 (b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in 20 a block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless 21 that time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period. 22 (c) A pupil in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is 23 determined to be in the individual pupil's best educational 24 interest must be scheduled for a number of hours equal to at 25 least 80% of the required minimum number of hours of pupil 26 instruction to be considered a full-time equivalent pupil. 02659'99 * 8 1 (d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a 2 cooperative education program or a special education pupil cannot 3 receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction 4 solely because of travel time between instructional sites during 5 the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 2-1/2 hours 6 per school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time 7 for the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the 8 required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, 9 if a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department 10 that the travel time limitation under this subdivision would 11 create undue costs or hardship to the district, the department 12 may consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for 13 this purpose. 14(e) For the 1997-98 school year only, if a district oper-15ates an elementary school that is located on an island and pro-16vides some pupil instruction for pupils enrolled in that elemen-17tary school at 1 or more school buildings operated by the dis-18trict that are not located on the island, the travel time for19travel for those pupils between the elementary school located on20the island and the other school building or buildings, up to a21maximum of 1-1/2 hours per school week, shall be considered to be22pupil instruction time for those pupils for the purpose of deter-23mining whether those pupils are receiving the required minimum24number of hours of pupil instruction.25 (10)(9)The department shall apply the guidelines under 26 subsection(8)(9) in calculating the full-time equivalency of 27 pupils. 02659'99 * 9 1 (11)(10)Upon application by the district for a 2 particular fiscal year, the state board may waive for a district 3 the minimum number of days and hours of pupil instruction 4 requirement of subsection (3) for a department-approved alterna- 5 tive education program. If a district applies for and receives a 6 waiver under this subsection and complies with the terms of the 7 waiver, for the fiscal year covered by the waiver the district is 8 not subject to forfeiture under this section for the specific 9 program covered by the waiver. 02659'99 * Final page. TAV