Association of Metropolitan School Districts Update
July 20, 2011
Special Session Wraps Up – Governor to Sign Bills This Morning
To paraphrase former President Gerald Ford, our long state nightmare is finally over! The House and Senate finished the last of the major budget bills at about 3:30 AM and Governor Dayton is expected to sign them this morning. As usual, the E-12 Education Bill was one of the last bills passed.
Here is a summary of the special session provided by AMSD Lobbyist Kris Amundson:
By order of the Governor earlier in the day, the House and Senate convened at 3:00 p.m. The Senate paused for a moment of silence in memory of Sen. Scheid. Both bodies immediately went into recess to await the processing of 5 remaining bills notably HHS, Taxes, Education, Bonding and State Government. The Governor’s Chief of Staff indicated that the Governor would sign all the bills at one time. Management and Budget Commissioner Schowalter stated it revenue would be available the day after bills have been signed. The MMB website will let employees know the status of when they will return to work. The following action took place:
House:
HF2 Transportation passed 71-56 party line
HF4 Higher Education passed 71-57 party line
SF 1 Judiciary/Public Safety passed 77-51
SF3 Environment passed 71-57
SF 2 Jobs and Economic Growth passed 76-50
HF 20 Taxes passed 71-57
SF6 Legacy passed 98-30
HF 23 Bonding passed 110-18
HF 14 Pensions passed 115-12
HF 25 HHS passed 71-57
HF 26 Education passed 71-56
SF 12 State Government passed 81-47
Senate:
SF1 Judiciary/Public Policy passed 57-7
SF3 Environment passed 42-22
SF 2 Jobs and Economic Growth passed 42-23
HF 2 Transportation passed 38-27
HF4 Higher Education passed 35-30 (Fischbach (Husband MCCL), Vandeveer voted no)
SF 6 Legacy passed 63-0
HF 20 Taxes passed 37-27
HF14 Pensions passed 61-3
HF 25 HHS passed 37-27
SF12 State Government passed 40-24
HF 26 Education passed 36-28
HF23 Bonding passed 53-11
E-12 Education Bill
If it weren’t for the increase in the school aid payment shift, this would really be a solid bill. Several AMSD priorities were included in the final bill including repealing the January 15 deadline and penalty, repealing the safe schools maintenance of effort requirement, a waiver of the 2% staff development set aside for two years and continued flexibility with fund transfers as long as the transfer does not increase state obligations or increase local property taxes. Another important provision is the repeal of the law that has allowed the state to delay school aid payments in lieu of state short-term borrowing. In addition, AMSD’s initiative to simplify the required ballot language when renewing a capital projects levy was included in the final bill. Another important issue that arose late in the session was the ability of school districts to use prone restraint in limited situations. The bill includes language that will allow limited use of prone restraints until August 1, 2012.
On the funding side, the bill adds $50 per year to the formula and maintains the current law growth factors in the special education funding formulas. The Integration Revenue program continues in its current form for the 2012-13 biennium. A 12 member advisory task force is established to develop recommendations for repurposing integration revenue funds beginning in the 2014-15 biennium. Six members will be appointed by Commissioner Cassellius and three each by Speaker Kurt Zellers and Sen. Amy Koch.
You can access the bill language, the legislative summary and the appropriations and levy tracking sheets here. A district run spreadsheet has not been posted yet but I will send out a link when it is. Significantly, vouchers were NOT included in the education bill and the expanded K-12 tax credit for private school tuition was NOT included in the tax bill.
Here is another bill summary provided by Minneapolis Schools Lobbyist Jim Grathwol:
Article 1
· Home school reporting provisions modified
· Minimum school days converted into hours of instruction
o 425 hrs in K
o 935 hrs in grades 1-6
o 1020 hrs in grades 7-12
· Establishes and early graduation incentive scholarship program
o $2500 for graduation one semester early
o $5000 for graduation two semesters early
o $7500 for graduation three semesters early
o Early graduates are eligible for a new military enlistment bonus
· Small schools revenue –a new formula targeted to small school districts – not charter schools
· Basic revenue for FY12 – 5174; FY13 - $5224
· Uses of operating capital expanded to include leasing vehicles and to cover cost of closing school facilities including moving and storage costs.
· General education revenue attributable to early graduates who do not participate in the early graduation scholarship program may be reallocated to all-day kindergarten.
· Districts may levy for post employment benefits actually paid in the previous year.
· Safe schools levy set-aside and maintenance of effort requirement REPEALED.
· The alternative compensation forecast is adjusted by $10.2 million.
· The 2% staff development set—aside is suspended for two years (FY12; FY13)
· Compensatory revenue pilot projects are appropriated as follows:
o Anoka Henn $3M
o Brooklyn Ctr $150K
o Osseo $420K
o Robbinsdale $320K
o Rochester $330K
o South Wash. $130K
o Albert Lea $300K
· A new compensatory pilot grant formula awards $1,400 per compensatory pupils minus actual compensatory received under current law in the 20 districts with the largest enrollment - $9.8 million in FY 13 only.
· Training and Experience revenue repealed.
· Eliminates the charter school lease aid grandfather.
· Eliminates charter school start up aid.
Article 2
· School boards may meet via interactive media as long as open meeting requirements are met.
· Students scheduled to graduate in the 2014-2015 school year or later must satisfactorily complete a chemistry or, physics, or career and technical education credit that meets the standards underlying either the chemistry or physics credit.
· Adopts the Senate “reading Proficiently by Grade Three Goal” prescribing that districts identify students at risk of not making a third grade proficiency using local assessments, defining interventions, requiring adoption of a local literacy plan, providing revenue.
· GRAD test scores will be included on High School transcripts.
· Adopts a teacher evaluation system that includes:
o Three annual evaluations for probationary teachers
o A three year professional review cycle for continuing teachers that includes an individual growth and development plan; peer review process and opportunity to participate in a professional learning community and one summative evaluation by a trained administrator
o The Department must create and publish a teacher evaluation process meeting the above criteria for use by districts who cannot negotiate such a process for use in the 2014-15 school year.
· Grounds for termination are amended to include “inefficiency in teach and management of a school”.
· “Definition of Demotion” to address the recent principal demotion court case out of St. Paul.
· Provides for a process to annually evaluate principals.
· St. Paul’s “Full-Service” school Zones.
· Allows a district authorizer to open a charter where it has closed a school providing it files an affidavit with e commissioner defining how the charter differs from the district school.
· Amends the single purpose authorizer section of statute to eliminate:
o $2 million fund balance requirement
o Limit of only three
· Amends the process for charters to transfer to a new authorizer
· Strengthens the commissioner’s hand to take action against an authorizer for “good cause”.
· Prohibits contractors providing facilities, goods or services from serving on charter boards.
· Provides that charters fully indemnify authorizers, officers and agents and employees.
· SERVE MN early reading literacy program is funded at $900K each year.
· The Career Tech Ed levy is amended to comprise the greater of $80 times a districts 9=12 enrollment or the 35% of approved expenditures in the previous fiscal year, including extended contracts.
· School segregation is prohibited.
· A new literacy incentive aid is established with a formula that rewards districts with greater numbers of students scoring “proficient” on the 3rd grade reading MCA effective FY 13 and beyond. Capped at $48.585M. Appropriated at $29M for 2013 only.
· Directs the Commissioner of Education to adopt the WIDA English proficiency standards.
· Directs the Commissioner of Education and Board of Teaching to jointly convene a “tiered licensure taskforce “ to review and recommend improvements to MN’s teacher licensure laws and rules.
· Establishes and “Integration Revenue Replacement Advisory taskforce” to recommend how to re-purpose integration revenue to close the achievement gap
· Base revenues for the new program are $41 M for 2014; $68.5 for 2015.
· Districts may certify the same deseg levy as 2012 for 2013.
· Interdistrict desegregation transportation grants funded at 14.97M in FY 12 and 16.6M in FY13.
· AP/IB funded at $4.5 million/yr.
· Early childhood literacy funded at $4.125M/yr
· EPAS funded at $829K/yr.
· Integration revenue repealed in FY 2014.
Article 3
· Allows districts to use prone restraints under certain conditions until August 2012
· MA consent reforms and Third Party Liability reforms that streamline consent process, reduce paperwork burden and increase access to MA reimbursement for IEP services.
· Limits requirement to pay interstate tuition to those states where a tuition reciprocity agreement exists.
· Restores/retains current law growth factors for special education regular and excess cost formulas.
Article 4
· Debt Service equalization aid appropriations are as follows: $11,022,000 in fiscal year 2012 and $19,175,000, $19,484,000 in 100.14 fiscal year 2013, $23,588,000 in fiscal year 2014, and $23,967,000 in fiscal year 2015.
· Health and safety revenue purposes are amended to provide:
· for the correction of fire and life safety hazards, or for the; design, purchase, installation, maintenance, and inspection of fire protection and alarm equipment; purchase or construction of appropriate facilities for the storage of combustible and flammable materials; inventories and facility modifications not related to a remodeling project to comply with lab safety requirement; inspection, testing, repair, removal or encapsulation, and disposal of asbestos from school buildings or property owned or being acquired by the district, asbestos-related repairs, asbestos-containing building materials and clean-up and disposal of hazardous or infectious waste.
· New restrictions on health and safety revenue prevent it from being used for:
o to finance a lease purchase agreement, installment purchase agreement, or other deferred payments agreement;
o for the construction of new facilities, remodeling of existing facilities, or the purchase of portable classrooms;
o for interest or other financing expenses for energy-efficiency projects under section 123B.65, for a building or property or part of a building or property used for postsecondary instruction or administration or for
o a purpose unrelated to elementary and secondary education;
o or public announcement systems and emergency communication devices.
o Renewals of capital bond referenda at the same rate may provide notice on the ballot s follows:
§ "BY VOTING YES ON THIS BALLOT QUESTION, YOU ARE VOTING TO RENEW AN EXISTING CAPITAL PROJECTS REFERENDUM THAT IS SCHEDULED TO EXPIRE."
o Debt service equalization aid appropriations are provided as follows:
§ $11m in FY 2012; $19.5M in FY 2013.
o Health and Safety appropriations are provide as follows:
§ $111,000 in FY 2012
§ $114,000 in FY 2013
o Alternative facilities bonding aid is appropriated as follows:
§ $17,359,000 in 2012
§ $ 19,287,000 in 2013
o Equity in telecommunications aid - $3.75M each year
o Deferred maintenance aid - $2.234M in FY12; $2.932 in FY13
Article 5
· Sets the aid payment shift at 60/40.
· Provides appropriations for school lunch, breakfast and milk programs.
Article 6
· Library appropriations
Article 7
· Early Childhood Education Appropriations as follows:
o School Readiness - $9.1M in FY 12; $10.1M in FY13
o ECFE - $20.2M in FY12; $23M in FY13
o Screening aid = $3.2M in FY12; $3.5M in FY13
o Headstart - $20.1M in FY12: $20.1M in FY13
o Early Childhood Scholarships - $4M in FY13
Article 8
· Community education aid appropriation as follows:
o $429,000 in FY 12
o $665,000 in FY 13
Article 9
· ABE growth factor reduced by 1% to 2%.
· ABE base appropriation for FY11 set at $44.4M.
o $40,545,000 FY 2012
o $ 45,842,000 FY 2013
Article 10
· Provides that districts may offer ALC students transportation between buildings.
· Amends transportation definition for students with disabilities to include field trips on buses with power assist lifts.
· Exempts districts contracting for transportation services from standard cost-allocation methodology under certain circumstances.
Article 11
· Appropriations for MDE, Perpich Center, State Academies
Article 12
· Forecast adjustments
Article 13
· Effective dates; supersedes funding approved by the Ramsey 2nd Judicial Court.