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ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESFifty-fourth Legislature Second Regular Session |
Senate: ED DP 9-0-0-0 | 3rd Read 28-2-0-0 |
SB 1060: special education; group B weights
Sponsor: Senator Allen S, LD 6
Committee on Education
Overview
Allows a public school to submit a claim to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) for monies from the Extraordinary Special Education Needs Fund (Fund) and appropriates monies to the Fund. Increases the Group B support level weights for specific funding categories.
History
As part of the school finance formula, Group B weights are support level weights that are provided for special needs and other identified public school students. These weights vary depending on the funding category. Currently, Group B weights include, but are not limited to, the following funding categories:
1) MD-SC, A-SC and SID-SC mean self-contained programs for pupils with multiple disabilities, autism and severe intellectual disability;
a) Currently, the support level weight for this category is 5.833.
2) DD, ED, MIID, SLD, SLI and OHI mean developmental delays, emotional disabilities, mild intellectual disabilities, a specific learning disability, a speech/language impairment and other health impairments;
a) Currently, the support level weight for this category is 0.003. (A.R.S. §§ 15-901, 15-943).
The State Board of Education (SBE) administers the Fund, which is subject to legislative appropriations. Statute allows a public school to apply to SBE for a grant through an application prescribed by SBE. The application must demonstrate: 1) extraordinary needs and evidence that the public school is not able to absorb the costs of pupil services; 2) evidence that Fund monies will not supplant federal, local or other state efforts; and 3) evidence that the public school has made sufficient efforts to seek funding but has not received funding from all other sources (A.R.S. § 15-744).
Provisions
Fund
1. Directs ADE, rather than SBE, to administer the Fund and states that:
a) Fund monies are continuously appropriated rather than subject to legislative appropriations; and
b) ADE may retain up to two percent of Fund monies for Fund administration. (Sec. 1)
2. Requires ADE to award Fund monies to public schools with eligible claims and deletes language pertaining to Fund grants. (Sec. 1)
3. Specifies that a public school is eligible to receive Fund monies if the public school demonstrates that a pupil receiving special education services has incurred current year costs of at least three times the statewide per pupil funding average. (Sec. 1)
4. Requires a public school, when applying for a claim from the Fund, to:
a) Demonstrate the total current year costs incurred by the pupil; and
b) Itemize the total costs attributable to the pupil. (Sec. 1)
5. Allows a public school to submit a claim for:
a) Up to the full fiscal year if the expense incurred at the time of filing will continue to be incurred in subsequent quarters until the end of the same fiscal year; and
b) Expenses incurred as a result of an independent educational evaluation. (Sec. 1)
6. Eliminates the requirement that a public school provide evidence that monies from the Fund will not supplant federal, local or other state efforts. (Sec. 1)
7. Stipulates ADE must evaluate claim requests on a quarterly basis. (Sec. 1)
8. States that if there are insufficient Fund monies to fund all eligible claims, ADE must prioritize funding based on the difference in the submitted claim amount by a public school and the total funding the public school has received for the student. (Sec. 1)
9. Allows ADE to notify a public school to revise its claim within two weeks if the public school submits a claim with insufficient information. (Sec. 1)
10. Allows a public school to revise its claim and receive funding at the end of the quarter, subject to available Fund monies, if the public school incurs an additional expense for a student who received funding for a claim in the same fiscal year. (Sec. 1)
11. Requires ADE to annually adopt, and post on its website, policies and procedures for the Fund. (Sec. 1)
12. Directs ADE to submit a report that outlines the following information to the Governor, President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee:
a) The number of Fund claims that were funded in the previous year;
b) How public schools used claim monies; and
c) The total number of claims received in the previous year. (Sec. 1)
Group B Support Level Weights
13. Increases the support level weights for the following Group B funding categories:
a) MD-SC, A-SC and SID-SC, from 5.833 to 6.024; and
b) DD, ED, MIID, SLD, SLI and OHI, from 0.003 to 0.114. (Sec. 2)
Miscellaneous
14. Appropriates $5,000,000 from the state General Fund in FY 2021 to the Fund. (Sec. 3)
15. Makes technical and conforming changes. (Sec. 1)
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19. SB 1060
20. Initials CH Page 0 Education
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