Report Title:
New Century Charter Schools; Funding Formula
Description:
Requires charter schools' per pupil allocations to include unrestricted state and federal funds. Provides that the per pupil allocation to any charter school shall not be less than the DOE's average per pupil expenditure of unrestricted state and federal funds in the previous fiscal year.
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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
2632 |
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TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO NEW CENTURY CHARTER SCHOOLS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1.
Section 302A-1185, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (a) and (b) to read as follows: "(a) New century charter schools shall receive an allocation of unrestricted state [general] and federal funds based upon the total operational and educational funding requirements of the [schools;] department; provided that:
(1) Beginning in fiscal year [1999-2000,] 2002-2003, and every year thereafter, the auditor shall determine, on a program-by-program basis, the appropriate allocation of unrestricted state and federal funds based on the total department [general fund] appropriation and per pupil [expenditure] allotment for the [previous] current fiscal year; provided that [the]:
(A) The per pupil allocation to any new century charter school shall not [exceed] be less than the department’s average per pupil [expenditure based upon the inclusion of similar cost items,] allotment of unrestricted state and federal funds in the [previous] current fiscal year; and [provided further that in]
(B) In setting the allocation, the auditor shall explicitly consider the advice of the superintendent and representatives of local school boards and indicate in the final determination the manner in which that advice was accommodated; and
(C) New century charter schools shall receive at least fifty per cent of their fixed and variable cost allotments from the department on July 15, and the remainder of their fixed and variable cost allotments on October 15, of the current fiscal year; and
(2) Small schools with fewer than one hundred twenty students [may] and high schools shall be given a [state subsidy or small school] fixed cost allotment, as determined by the [department,] auditor, to augment the [per pupil allocation] variable cost allotment given; provided that [if];
(A) If additional federal or state grant moneys are received, the auditor, in order to prevent supplanting, shall determine the appropriate portion of the federal or state grant moneys to be used to offset the [small school] variable cost allotment; [provided further that the]; and
(B) The federal grant moneys shall not include federal impact aid;
(3) The department may provide a limited start-up and planning grant formulated by the auditor to a charter school upon the issuance of its charter;
(4) The auditor shall take into consideration any changes to the department's budget made by the legislature or the governor and any applicable collective bargaining negotiated amounts;
(5) The allocation for self-contained special education students and for other special education students shall be adjusted appropriately to reflect the additional expenses incurred for students in these programs; provided that any increment to the per pupil allocation made in this paragraph shall not [exceed] be less than the increment available to all other public schools; [and]
(6) The auditor shall develop a methodology for allocating funds that can be applied to alternative forms of public schools, including [but not limited to] new century charter schools[.]; and
(7) If any part of this section is found to be in conflict with federal or state requirements that are a prescribed condition for the allocation of federal or state funds to the department, then the conflicting part of this section is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the department, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this section in its application to the department.
(b) [All] Unrestricted federal and state financial support for new century charter schools shall be no less than unrestricted federal and state financial support for all other public schools; provided that if administrative, professional, or technical services are provided to the charter school by the department, the charter school shall reimburse the department for the actual costs of the administrative, professional, or technical services in an amount that does not exceed six and one-half per cent of the charter school's [allocation.] variable cost allotment.
Any new century charter school shall be eligible to receive any supplementary financial grant or award for which any other public school may submit a proposal, or any supplemental federal or state grants limited to new century charter schools; provided that if department administrative, professional, or technical services, including funds management, budgetary, fiscal accounting, or other related services, are provided with respect to these supplementary grants, the charter school shall reimburse the department for the actual costs of the administrative, professional, or technical services in an amount that does not exceed six and one-half per cent of the supplementary grant for which the services are used.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require a new century charter school to accept administrative, professional, or technical services offered by the department.
All additional funds that are generated by the local school boards, not from a supplementary grant, shall be separate and apart from allotted funds and may be expended at the discretion of the local school boards.
For the purposes of this section, "unrestricted" means the absence of state and federal requirements that are a prescribed condition for the allocation of the funds to the department, the violation of which would jeopardize the receipt of the funds or impair the obligation of the State or any agency thereof to the holders of any bond issued by the State or by any such agency."
SECTION 2. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2002, and shall apply to all new century charter schools beginning with the 2002-2003 school year.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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