COURSES FOR NONPUBLIC STUDENTS S.B. 836 (S-1): FLOOR ANALYSIS
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Senate Bill 836 (Substitute S-1 as reported)
Sponsor: Senator Gerald Van Woerkom
Committee: Education
CONTENT
The bill would amend the State School Aid Act to revise the terms under which a district may receive State school aid for a nonpublic school student or home-schooled student enrolled in certain curricular offerings provided by the district.
Under the Act, a parent or legal guardian of a minor who is enrolled in a nonpublic school within a district, or who resides in a district and is being home-schooled, may enroll the minor in a curricular offering being provided by the district at the nonpublic school site.
State school aid may be provided for a minor under these provisions only if certain conditions are met. These include a requirement that the nonpublic school be located, or the nonpublic students be educated, within the geographic boundaries of either the district or a contiguous district operating under a cooperative program for which the district is a member and that is established for the purpose of providing nonessential elective courses to nonpublic school students.
The bill would remove that requirement. Instead, school aid could be provided for a nonpublic school student or a home-schooled minor only if either of the following applied:
-- The nonpublic school was located, or the nonpublic students educated, within the geographic boundaries of the district.
-- If the nonpublic school had requested the district in which it was located to provide certain instruction for a school year and the district did not agree to provide some or all of that instruction by a particular date, a district that was contiguous to the district in which the nonpublic school was located provided that instruction.
MCL 388.1766b Legislative Analyst: Curtis Walker
FISCAL IMPACT
If the bill resulted in more opportunities for children at nonpublic or home schools to be counted as part-time memberships in district-taught elective classes, then State school aid costs would increase. The increase would be equal to the number of additional part-time members newly taught (as a result of this bill) and counted in a district's membership, multiplied by the district's foundation allowance. This, then, would increase local school aid revenue by the same amount. It is estimated, though, that the fiscal impact of this legislation would be small.
Date Completed: 2-15-08 Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers-Coty
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. sb836/0708