FY 2016-17 SCHOOL AID BUDGET S.B. 796 (CR-1): CONFERENCE REPORT
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$13,900,654,300 |
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Items Included by the Senate and House |
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1. MPSERS Rate Cap. Conference included an $89.3 million increase in the statutory rate cap for the Michigan Public School Employees' Retirement System (MPSERS). |
89,300,000 |
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2. State Special Education Funding. Conference included an increase of $54.5 million for estimated costs in special education. |
54,500,000 |
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3. Federal Grants. Conference included an increase of $42.9 million in Federal funds. |
42,863,500 |
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4. Flint Declaration of Emergency. Conference included $10.1 million GF/GP to provide Early On, Great Start Readiness Program, school nurses, school social workers, and other staff and materials for Flint Schools and Genesee Intermediate School District (ISD). This is an estimate for one-half of the year's costs, with the other one-half proposed to be set aside in FY 2015-16 for future use. |
10,142,600 |
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5. Career and Technical Education (CTE) Equipment Upgrades. Governor, Senate, and House included a new $10.0 million GF/GP program to provide equipment upgrades at CTE centers. Conference reduced amount to $3,200,000. |
3,200,000 |
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6. Water Testing in Schools. Governor included $9.0 million in a new categorical to provide reimbursement to districts that voluntarily choose to test water for lead levels. Total estimated cost statewide is $27.0 million, with $9.0 million recommended in a supplemental for FY 2015-16, and $9.0 million anticipated for FY 2017-18, if necessary. Conference did not include; instead, this is funded at $4.5 million GF/GP in the Department of Education bill. |
0 |
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7. Integrated Behavior and Learning Support (MiBLSi). Governor, Senate, and House funded a new program designed to decrease disruptive classroom behaviors and increase reading skills, at $1,370,000. Conference reduced funding to $1,125,000. |
1,125,000 |
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8. ISD Operations. Senate and House increased ISD funding by 1.6% to match the proposed increase in the foundation allowance, costing $1.1 million. Conference did not include. |
0 |
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9. Technical Foundation Allowance Cost Adjustments. Conference included savings of $126.7 million related to adjustments in pupils and taxable values. |
(126,700,000) |
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10. Technology Grants. Conference eliminated funding for technology grants since FY 2015-16 was the last scheduled year for these payments, designed to ensure districts were able to switch to online assessments. |
(23,500,000) |
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11. College and Career Readiness Outreach. Conference reduced outreach funding for career and college readiness from $600,000 to $50,000. |
(550,000) |
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12. Economic Adjustments. Includes $58,680 Gross and $46,500 GF/GP for OPEB and $204,520 Gross and $159,700 GF/GP for other economic adjustments. |
263,200 |
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Conference Agreement on Items of Difference |
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13. Foundation Allowance. Conference recommended a $150.0 million GF/GP increase in foundation allowance funding to provide increases ranging from $60 to $120. Conference did not include Senate's $300 per-pupil foundation allowance incentive for districts that consolidated using the grant process under Section 22g of the budget. |
150,000,000 |
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14. Detroit Schools' Foundation Allowance. Governor and House included $72.0 million to pay the additional foundation allowance costs if Detroit Public Schools' existing 18-mill property tax levy (currently paying a portion of the district's foundation allowance) is diverted to pay off debt. Governor also proposed to earmark Tobacco Settlement dollars into a Community District Education Trust Fund, which pay for this School Aid cost. Senate did not include. Conference included. |
72,000,000 |
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15. Educator Evaluations. Governor included $10.0 million for costs associated with educator evaluations. Senate included a $100 placeholder. House and Conference did not include. |
0 |
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16. State School Reform Office (SRO). Governor and Senate included $5.0 million to provide additional financial resources to districts with schools placed under the oversight of the SRO due to chronically low-performing status, and to provide funding for chief executive officers who have been appointed to take control of one or more schools in the district. House included a $100 placeholder. Conference concurred with Governor and Senate to fund. |
5,000,000 |
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17. Nonpublic School Mandates. Senate added $5.0 million (House added $1.0 million) GF/GP to reimburse nonpublic schools for costs associated with State mandates. Conference funded at $2.5 million. |
2,500,000 |
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18. CTE Early/Middle College. Governor and House increased funding to reimburse for costs associated with establishing or operating CTE early/middle colleges, from $10.0 million to $15.0 million. Senate did not concur, and instead maintained funding at $10.0 million. Conference funded at $9.0 million, a reduction of $1.0 million from current law. |
(1,000,000) |
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19. Consolidation Innovation Grants. Governor and House maintained funding at $5.0 million. Senate increased funding by $1.5 million and established a new process for consolidation grants. Conference reduced by $2.0 million from current law, to a total of $3.0 million. |
(2,000,000) |
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20. Pupil Membership Blend Change. Governor recommended placing a higher weight on the prior February and a lower weight on the current September count (from 90/10 to 50/50). Senate moved the pupil weighting to a 75/25 blend and added another $1.3 million. House used a blend of current fall and prior fall. Conference maintained the current 90/10 blend. |
0 |
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21. Partnership between ISD and Health Department. Senate added $500,000 to support the costs of a partnership between the Van Buren ISD and the local health department for CTE programs. Conference funded this item at $250,000. |
250,000 |
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22. Other New Programs. Conference included $250,000 GF/GP for the support of local produce in schools; $175,000 for a partnership between an ISD and an early learning collaborative exploring early childhood education benefits for three-year-olds; $79,000 GF/GP for a provider of restaurant management and culinary skills; $1.5 million GF/GP for an online algebra instruction tool; $500,000 GF/GP for a competency-based transcript pilot; and $1.5 million for year-round schools grants. |
4,004,000 |
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23. Other Increases. Conference included a $2.0 million increase for gang prevention grants; a $1.0 million increase in cash flow borrowing costs, a $1.0 million increase for science, technology, engineering, and math- (STEM) related activities, a $500,000 increase for FIRST Robotics, $390,000 for increased Promise Zone reimbursements, $128,300 for increased Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) reimbursement, and a $110,000 increase for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Youth ChalleNGe Academy. |
5,101,200 |
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24. Reductions in other Programs' Costs. Conference aligned funding with projected costs in the following areas: Renaissance Zone reimbursements ($6.3 million), school breakfasts ($3,125,000), dropout recovery and strict discipline academies ($0.5 million), transition grants ($340,000), and educational costs associated with the closure of Maxey ($861,700). |
(11,126,700) |
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25. State Assessments. Conference reduced funding for State assessments used to provide paper and pencil options while districts converted to online learning funding for the kindergarten entry assessment, but required kindergarten entry and readiness assessments. |
(10,100,000) |
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26. Elimination of Programs. Conference eliminated funding for the following programs: updates of teacher certification tests ($1.8 million GF/GP); Parents University pilot project ($1.0 million); early literacy teacher test ($500,000); Michigan STEM partnership ($475,000); STEM professional development ($250,000); and Civics Education ($60,000). |
(4,085,000) |
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$261,187,800 |
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FY 2016-17 Conference Report Ongoing/One-Time Gross Appropriation............................. |
$14,161,842,100 |
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Amount Over/(Under) GF/GP Target: $0 |
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Boilerplate Changes from FY 2015-16 Year-to-Date: |
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Items Included by the Senate and House |
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1. Definitions - General Educational Development (GED). Conference recommended replacing references to GED testing with GED, the test assessing secondary completion (TASC), the HISET test, or another comparable test, and also replaced GED certificate with high school equivalency certificate. (Sections 4, 6(4)(m), 98, and 107) |
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2. Reporting of Financial Data. Conference proposed language requiring that financial data be consistent with audited statements, and allowed the withholding of State aid if the data are not consistent with the audit. (Sec. 18) |
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3. Penalty Intent Language in Special Education. Conference changed legislative intent language that stated the intent to penalize districts, charters, or ISDs 10.0% of their State aid payment for failure to comply with a requirement that the resident district/ISD is responsible for special education services provided to a resident pupil who is enrolled in a charter school located in a different ISD to an actual financial penalty. (Sec. 51a(15)) |
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Conference Agreement on Items of Difference |
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4. Definitions - Community District. Senate and Conference added a definition for a "community district", and included a community district in the definition for purposes of State aid. (Sec. 3) |
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5. Pupil Membership Blend. Governor changed the pupil membership blend from a 90% weight on the current September count plus 10% on the prior February count to 50/50. Senate changed the blend to a 72/25. House used 85% current fall/15% prior fall. Conference included no change to the blend calculation. (Sec. 6(4)) |
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6. Shared Time/Nonpublic Pupils. Governor proposed that a nonpublic part-time pupil enrolled in grades 1 to 12 be counted for not more than one-third of an FTE. Senate concurred; cap of one-half. House/Conference did not include. |
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7. Statewide Standard Reporting. Governor and House deleted legislative intent to implement statewide standard reporting requirements for education data approved by the Department along with the Center for Educational Performance and Information (CEPI). Senate and Conference retained the language and removed the "intent" designation, requiring districts to implement the standardized reporting beginning with FY 2017-18. (Sec. 19) |
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8. Consolidation Foundation Allowance Incentive. Senate added a foundation allowance adjustment for consolidations. Any district consolidating using the process under Sec. 22g would get a $300 per-pupil bonus for two years. House/Conference did not include. (Sec. 20) |
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9. Dissolved District Debt. Senate and Conference included intent of the Legislature that the outstanding debt of Buena Vista be paid out of the work project set up for Saginaw ISD at the time of dissolution. (Sec. 20g) |
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10. Enrollment in Virtual Courses. Governor included numerous changes to the section prescribing policies and procedures for districts enrolling students in virtual courses, including allowing districts to deny enrollment in an online course if a pupil is in kindergarten through fifth grade. Conference concurred in the majority of the changes. (Sec. 21f) |
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11. Expansion of Consolidation Incentive Grants. Governor included language allowing consolidation incentive grants also to be used for dissolutions that occur on or after June 1, 2016. Senate increased funding and restructured the grant program into a three-step process. Conference concurred with Governor. (Sec. 22g) |
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12. Pupil Transfer Process. Governor deleted a section allowing districts to get funding from the original enrolling district for students who enroll after the fall count day and before the spring count day. Conference retained the section applicable only for pupils enrolled in strict discipline academies. (Sec. 25e) |
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13. Great Start Readiness Program. Conference included a change from "children" to "slots" to ensure that each ISD receives at least as many slots as in the prior year unless fewer children are actually in need. Senate further changed the cap and structure for administrative spending (to be 4.0% for ISDs, with sub-recipient spending for administration counted in program costs); House admin cap was 5.0%. Conference included 4.0% admin cap. Senate and Conference removed children served only in Head Start programs from counting toward meeting 30.0% threshold. (Sec. 32d) |
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14. Career and Technical Education. Conference added language allowing for CTE early/middle college funding to also be provided to programs that receive funding under Section 61a for allowable costs not reimbursed under that section, which provides for "traditional" CTE funding to districts, as well as CTE dual enrollment programs. In addition, Conference added language allowing for grants to be made under the section for planning. (Sec. 61b) |
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15. MiSTEM Programs. Governor included language allocating funds for the purpose of funding Michigan science, technology, engineering, and math (MiSTEM) based on recommendations of the MiSTEM advisory council, and if the council is unable to make specific funding recommendations by March 1, 2016, the Department is directed to distribute the funds on a competitive grant basis. Conference restructured by earmarking some of the funds for specific purposes, and extending the deadline to June 1, 2016 for the Council to make specific grant recommendations. (Sec. 99s) |
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16. District Scorecard. Senate and Conference added language requiring the Department to work with CEPI use the number of kids enrolled at the time of the State assessment to determine participation on the scorecard. (Sec. 104) |
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17. Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA). Governor removed the required field testing of the KEA, and replaced the entry assessment with assessments in the fall and spring for English language arts and math. Conference amended the language to require the State to provide the KEA to districts who are interested in using it, and required the Department to field test a Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. (Sections 104) |
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18. Adult Education. Conference changed eligibility definitions in this section, such that the individual can be enrolled in an adult basic education program, an adult secondary education program, an adult English as a second language program, a high school equivalency test preparation program, or a high school completion program, and the individual must either be at least age 20 or be defined as an "out-of-school youth". The payment cap of $2,850 per full-time equivalent participant also was removed. Conference changed the funding formula, striking the 80% enrollment/20% completion formula and replacing with a formula that uses statewide allocation criteria, three-year averaging of actual enrollments, census data, local needs, participant completion of adult basic education objectives, participant completion of core indicators, and allowable expenditures. Conference implemented a one-year freeze on the planned phase-in of a new funding formula. (Sec. 107) |
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19. Nonpublic Pupils. Conference added a requirement for the Department to set up a workgroup to examine a uniform definition for a part-time nonpublic or home school pupil and for non-core elective courses. (Sec. 166b) |
Date Completed: 5-31-16 Fiscal Analyst: Kathryn Summers
This 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.