ARIZONA STATE
SENATE
Fifty-Fourth
Legislature, Second Regular Session
special
education; group B weights
Purpose
Increases group B support
level weights for special education funding categories. Appropriates $5,000,000
from the state General Fund to the Extraordinary Special Education Needs Fund
(Extraordinary Needs Fund).
Background
Under the school finance
formula, a school's student count is weighted based on students' classification
into funding categories (A.R.S. § 15-943). Currently, schools receive
a support level weight of 5.833 for students who are classified with multiple disabilities (MD-SC), autism
(A‑SC), and severe intellectual disability (self-contained) (SID-SC).
Students with developmental delays
(DD), emotional disabilities (ED), mild intellectual disabilities (MIID),
specific learning disability (SLD), speech/language impairments (SLI) and other
health impairments (OHI) receive a support level weight of 0.003 (A.R.S. § 15-943).
According to the Joint
Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC), with the proposed formula changes, S.B.
1060 will have a fiscal impact to the state General Fund as outlined:
|
Fiscal Impact of Formula Changes |
Proposed 6.024 Weight for MD-SC, A-SC, and SID-SC |
Proposed 0.114
Weight for DD, ED, MIID, SLD, SLI and OHI |
|
||
|
Estimated ADM |
7,571 |
106,607 |
|||
|
Formula Cost Increase |
$6,378,800 |
$52,022,300 |
|||
|
Less local property taxes |
$302,900 |
$2,188,100 |
|||
|
General Fund Impact |
$6,075,900 |
$49,834,200 |
|||
|
Group B Formula Funding Per Pupil |
Proposed 6.024 |
Proposed 0.114
Weight |
|
|
Current Funding Per Pupil |
$25,626 |
$13 |
|
|
Proposed Increase |
$842 |
$488 |
|
|
Formula Spending Per Pupil |
$26,468 |
$501 |
|
In 2001, the Legislature
established the Extraordinary Needs Fund to be administered by the State Board
of Education (SBE). Statute allows a school district or charter school to apply
to SBE for a grant and requires that applications include outlined information
(A.R.S. § 15-774).
S.B. 1060 appropriates
$5,000,000 from the state General Fund to the Extraordinary Needs Fund in FY
2021.
Provisions
Group
B Support Level Weights
1. Increases,
from 5.833 to 6.024, the MD-SC, A-SC and SID-SC support level weights.
2. Increases,
from 0.003 to 0.114, the DD, ED, MIID, SLD, SLI and OHI support level weights.
Extraordinary
Needs Fund
3. Transfers,
from SBE to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE), the administration and
application oversight of the Extraordinary Needs Fund and allows ADE to retain
up to two percent for administration.
4. Establishes
that monies in the Extraordinary Needs Fund are continuously appropriated,
rather than subject to legislative appropriation.
5. Requires
ADE to award monies from the Extraordinary Needs Fund to school districts and
charter schools with eligible claims, rather than with grants.
6. Deems
a school district or charter school is eligible for Extraordinary Needs Fund
monies if it demonstrates a pupil receiving special education services has
incurred current year costs of at least three times the statewide per-pupil
funding average.
7. Requires
a school district or charter school, submitting a claim from the Extraordinary
Needs Fund on behalf of a pupil, to:
a)
demonstrate the current year total
costs incurred by the pupil; and
b) itemize
the total costs that are attributable to the pupil.
8. Allows
a school district or charter school to submit a claim for:
a)
the full fiscal year, if an expense
incurred at the time of filing will continue in subsequent quarters until the
end of the same fiscal year; or
b) expenses
resulting from an independent educational evaluation.
9. Allows
a school district or charter school to revise a claim, to receive funding at
the end of the quarter, for an additional expense for a pupil who received
funding in the same fiscal year, subject to available monies.
10. Requires
ADE to:
a)
evaluate claim requests each quarter;
b)
prioritize funding based on the
difference between the claim amount submitted by a school district or charter
school and the total funding received for that pupil, if there are insufficient
monies in the Extraordinary Needs Fund; and
c)
annually adopt policies and procedures,
including the average statewide per-pupil funding amount for a fiscal year, for
posting on the ADE website.
11. Allows
ADE to notify a school district or charter school, that submits a claim with
insufficient information, to revise its claim within two weeks.
12. Requires,
by December 15, ADE to annually report to the Governor, the President of the
Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, JLBC and the Secretary of
State:
a)
the number of claims for extraordinary
special education needs that were funded in the previous year;
b)
how school districts and charter
schools used claim monies; and
c)
the total number of claims received
during the previous year.
13. Appropriates
$5,000,000 from the state General Fund to the Extraordinary Needs Fund in FY 2021.
Miscellaneous
14. Makes
technical and conforming changes.
15. Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
Prepared by Senate
Research
January 17, 2020
JO/gs