FY 2016-17 SCHOOL AID BUDGET S.B. 796 (S-1, Draft 2): SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE REC.
Senate Bill 796 (S-1, Draft 2 as reported) Throughout this document, Senate means Subcommittee.
Committee: Appropriations
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$13,900,654,300 |
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1. Foundation Allowance. Governor and Senate recommended a $150.0 million GF/GP increase in foundation allowance funding to provide increases ranging from $60 to $120. In addition, Senate provided a $300 per-pupil foundation allowance incentive for districts that consolidated using the grant process under Section 22g of the budget ($900,000 cost). |
150,900,000 |
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2. MPSERS Rate Cap. Governor and Senate recommended 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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3. Detroit Schools' Foundation Allowance. Governor included $72.0 million to pay the additional foundation allowance costs that would arise if the 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 Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Trust Fund, which would be used to pay for this School Aid cost. Senate did not include. |
0 |
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4. State Special Education Funding. Governor and Senate included an increase of $54.5 million for estimated costs in special education. |
54,500,000 |
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5. Federal Grants. Governor and Senate included an increase of $42.9 million in Federal funds. |
42,863,500 |
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6. Flint Declaration of Emergency. Governor and Senate 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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7. Career and Technical Education (CTE) Equipment Upgrades. Governor and Senate included a new $10.0 million GF/GP program to provide equipment upgrades at CTE centers. |
10,000,000 |
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8. Educator Evaluations. Governor included $10.0 million to provide reimbursement to districts for costs associated with educator evaluations. Senate did not include this funding. |
0 |
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9. 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. Senate did not include. |
0 |
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10. State School Reform Office (SRO). Governor 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. Senate did not include. |
0 |
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11. CTE Early/Middle College. Governor 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. |
0 |
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12. Consolidation Innovation Grants. Governor maintained funding at $5.0 million. Senate increased funding by $1.5 million and established a new process for consolidation grants. |
1,500,000 |
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13. Integrated Behavior and Learning Support (MiBLSi). Governor and Senate funded a new program designed to decrease disruptive classroom behaviors and increase reading skills. |
1,370,000 |
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14. ISD Operations. Governor and Senate increased ISD funding by 1.6% to match the proposed increase in the foundation allowance, costing $1.1 million. |
1,074,000 |
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15. 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. |
2,300,000 |
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16. Other New Programs. Senate included $500,000 GF/GP for the support of local produce in schools; $175,000 for a partnership between a district and an early learning collaborative exploring early childhood education benefits for three-year-olds; $500,000 for an innovative educational pipeline program; $100,000 GF/GP for a provider of restaurant management and culinary skills; and a $100 placeholder for an online algebra instruction tool. |
1,275,100 |
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17. Other Increases. Governor and Senate recommended a $1.0 million increase in cash flow borrowing costs, a $1.25 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, and $128,300 for increased Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) reimbursement. Senate added $210,000 for the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Youth ChalleNGe Academy, and added $1.0 million for the 33 existing math and science centers. |
4,478,300 |
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18. Technical Foundation Allowance Cost Adjustments. Governor and Senate included savings of $126.7 million related to adjustments in pupils and taxable values. |
(126,700,000) |
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19. Technology Grants. Governor and Senate 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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20. Reductions in other Programs' Costs. Governor reduced funding to align with projected costs in the following areas: Renaissance Zone reimbursements ($6.3 million), school breakfasts ($3.1 million), strict discipline and dropout recovery ($1.5 million), and educational costs associated with the closure of Maxey ($0.9 million). Senate concurred, but restored the cuts to strict discipline academies and dropout recovery programs ($1.5 million). |
(10,313,800) |
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21. State Assessments. Governor reduced funding for State assessments which was used to provide paper and pencil options while districts converted to online learning, and to eliminate funding for the kindergarten entry assessment. Senate concurred, but then added $1.1 million for a digital literacy initiative and $250,000 for support of the kindergarten entry assessment. |
(8,757,600) |
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22. Shared Time Full-Time Equated (FTE) Cap. Governor proposed capping the amount of a shared-time FTE that could be counted for reimbursement at one-third; Senate capped the amount at 0.5 FTE. Senate recognized savings associated with this change of $5.0 million. |
(5,000,000) |
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23. Elimination of Programs. Governor eliminated funding for the following programs: updates of teacher certification tests ($1.8 million GF/GP) because they have been completed; gang prevention and intervention funding ($1.0 million); elimination of Michigan Education Corps funding ($1.0 million); Parents University pilot project ($1.0 million) because it was one-time; early literacy teacher test ($500,000) because it was one-time; cooperative education grant ($300,000); and Civics Education ($60,000). Senate restored funding to the Michigan Education Corps ($1.0 million), cooperative education ($300,000), and Civics and Education ($60,000). |
(4,300,000) |
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24. Computer Adaptive Test. Governor eliminated funding to reimburse districts for the purchase of computer adaptive tests. Senate funded at $10.0 million, an increase of $6.0 million over current-year funding levels. |
6,000,000 |
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25. College and Career Readiness Outreach. Governor and Senate reduced outreach funding for career and college readiness from $600,000 to $50,000. |
(550,000) |
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26. Michigan Virtual University. Senate reduced General Fund funding from $7.4 million to $7.0 million. |
(387,500) |
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27. 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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28. Comparison to Governor's Recommendation. The Senate is $86,000,000 Gross and $9,000,000 GF/GP under the Governor. |
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$196,457,800 |
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FY 2016-17 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Gross Appropriation................................. |
$14,097,112,100 |
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Boilerplate Changes from FY 2015-16 Year-to-Date: |
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1. Definitions - Community District. Senate 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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2. Definitions - General Educational Development (GED). Governor and Senate 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), and 107) |
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3. 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. (Sec. 6(4)) |
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4. Shared Time/Nonpublic Pupils. Governor proposed language such 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, but set the cap at one-half of an FTE. (Sec. 6(4)(gg)) |
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5. Reporting of Financial Data. Governor and Senate 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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6. Statewide Standard Reporting. Governor 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 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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7. Dissolved District Debt. Senate included language stating the 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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8. Section 20j. Governor proposed language that would allow for districts with foundation allowances at or above the basic foundation allowance to receive the full dollar increase in the basic, although the portion of the increase in excess of inflation would not be built into the district's base foundation allowance funding. Senate concurred, but moved the language, calculation, and funding to Section 20f. (Sec. 20j; 20f) |
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9. 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. Senate concurred in the majority of the changes. (Sec. 21f) |
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10. Expansion of Consolidation Incentive Grants. Governor included language allowing consolidation incentive grants (appropriated at $5.0 million) also to be used for dissolutions that occur on or after June 1, 2016. Senate increased to $6.5 million and restructured the grant program into a three-step process: 1) feasibility study; 2) grants for transition costs during the process (after a study indicating feasibility); and, 3) any remaining transition costs. (Sec. 22g) |
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11. 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. Senate retained the section. (Sec. 25e) |
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12. At Risk. Senate added language requiring districts to review chronic absenteeism in order to qualify for At Risk funding, and for the Department to withhold funding for chronically absent pupils until their return to school. (Sec. 31a) |
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13. Great Start Readiness Program. Governor and Senate 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). (Sec. 32d) |
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14. Removal of Penalty Intent Language in Special Education. Governor removed 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. Senate retained the penalty, removed "intent". (Sec. 51a(15)) |
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15. Career and Technical Education. Governor and Senate 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. In addition, Senate added language allowing for grants to be made under the section for planning, development, and expansion of these programs. (Sec. 61b) |
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16. Voluntary Water Testing. Governor included a section providing payment to districts for voluntary water testing. Senate did not include. |
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17. 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. Senate 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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18. District Scorecard. Senate added language requiring the Department to work with CEPI to identify the number of kids enrolled at the time of the State assessment, and use that to determine participation on the scorecard. (Sec. 104) |
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19. 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. Senate 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 and 104c) |
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20. Adult Education. Governor 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, as was language allowing a participant to be enrolled in a job- or employment-related adult education program operated on a year-round basis. The Governor also proposed a change to 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. Senate did not concur, and instead implemented a freeze on the planned phase-in of a new funding formula. (Sec. 107) |
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21. Nonpublic Pupils. Governor added clarification that school aid can be provided only for courses that are offered and being provided to pupils in the district during regularly scheduled school hours. Senate did not include, and also added a requirement for the Department to clarify which courses are electives and which are "core" courses. (Sec. 166) |
Date Completed: 3-23-16 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.