March 2, 2005, Introduced by Reps. Waters and Virgil Smith and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled
"The state school aid act of 1979,"
by amending section 6 (MCL 388.1606), as amended by 2004 PA 351.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 6. (1) "Center program" means a program operated by a
district or intermediate district for special education pupils from
several districts in programs for the autistically impaired,
trainable mentally impaired, severely mentally impaired, severely
multiply impaired, hearing impaired, physically and otherwise
health impaired, and visually impaired. Programs for emotionally
impaired pupils housed in buildings that do not serve regular
education pupils also qualify. Unless otherwise approved by the
department, a center program either shall serve all constituent
districts within an intermediate district or shall serve several
districts with less than 50% of the pupils residing in the
operating district. In addition, special education center program
pupils placed part-time in noncenter programs to comply with the
least restrictive environment provisions of section 612 of part B
of the individuals with disabilities education act, 20 USC 1412,
may be considered center program pupils for pupil accounting
purposes for the time scheduled in either a center program or a
noncenter program.
(2) "District and high school graduation rate" means the
annual completion and pupil dropout rate that is calculated by the
center pursuant to nationally recognized standards.
(3) "District and high school graduation report" means a
report of the number of pupils, excluding migrant and adult, in the
district for the immediately preceding school year, adjusted for
those pupils who have transferred into or out of the district or
transferred to alternative programs, who leave high school with a
diploma or other credential of equal status.
(4) "Membership", except as otherwise provided in this act,
means for a district, public school academy, university school, or
intermediate district the sum of the product of .75 times the
number of full-time equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually
enrolled and in regular daily attendance on the pupil membership
count day for the current school year, plus the product of .25
times the final audited count from the supplemental count day for
the immediately preceding school year. All pupil counts used in
this subsection are as determined by the department and calculated
by adding the number of pupils registered for attendance plus
pupils received by transfer and minus pupils lost as defined by
rules promulgated by the superintendent, and as corrected by a
subsequent department audit. The amount of the foundation allowance
for a pupil in membership is determined under section 20. In making
the calculation of membership, all of the following, as applicable,
apply to determining the membership of a district, public school
academy, university school, or intermediate district:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, and
pursuant to subsection (6), a pupil shall be counted in membership
in the pupil's educating district or districts. An individual pupil
shall not be counted for more than a total of 1.0 full-time equated
membership.
(b) If a pupil is educated in a district other than the
pupil's district of residence, if the pupil is not being educated
as part of a cooperative education program, if the pupil's district
of residence does not give the educating district its approval to
count the pupil in membership in the educating district, and if the
pupil is not covered by an exception specified in subsection (6) to
the requirement that the educating district must have the approval
of the pupil's district of residence to count the pupil in
membership, the pupil shall not be counted in membership in any
district.
(c) A special education pupil educated by the intermediate
district shall be counted in membership in the intermediate
district.
(d) A pupil placed by a court or state agency in an on-grounds
program of a juvenile detention facility, a child caring
institution, or a mental health institution, or a pupil funded
under section 53a, shall be counted in membership in the district
or intermediate district approved by the department to operate the
program.
(e) A pupil enrolled in the Michigan schools for the deaf and
blind shall be counted in membership in the pupil's intermediate
district of residence.
(f) A pupil enrolled in a vocational education program
supported by a millage levied over an area larger than a single
district or in an area vocational-technical education program
established pursuant to section 690 of the revised school code, MCL
380.690, shall be counted only in the pupil's district of
residence.
(g) A pupil enrolled in a university school shall be counted
in membership in the university school.
(h) A pupil enrolled in a public school academy shall be
counted in membership in the public school academy.
(i) For a new district, university school, or public school
academy beginning its operation after December 31, 1994, membership
for the first 2 full or partial fiscal years of operation shall be
determined as follows:
(i) If operations begin before the pupil membership count day
for the fiscal year, membership is the average number of full-time
equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually enrolled and in regular
daily attendance on the pupil membership count day for the current
school year and on the supplemental count day for the current
school year, as determined by the department and calculated by
adding the number of pupils registered for attendance on the pupil
membership count day plus pupils received by transfer and minus
pupils lost as defined by rules promulgated by the superintendent,
and as corrected by a subsequent department audit, plus the final
audited count from the supplemental count day for the current
school year, and dividing that sum by 2.
(ii) If operations begin after the pupil membership count day
for the fiscal year and not later than the supplemental count day
for the fiscal year, membership is the final audited count of the
number of full-time equated pupils in grades K to 12 actually
enrolled and in regular daily attendance on the supplemental count
day for the current school year.
(j) If a district is the authorizing body for a public school
academy, then, in the first school year in which pupils are counted
in membership on the pupil membership count day in the public
school academy, the determination of the district's membership
shall exclude from the district's pupil count for the immediately
preceding supplemental count day any pupils who are counted in the
public school academy on that first pupil membership count day who
were also counted in the district on the immediately preceding
supplemental count day.
(k) In a district, public school academy, university school,
or intermediate district operating an extended school year program
approved by the superintendent, a pupil enrolled, but not scheduled
to be in regular daily attendance on a pupil membership count day,
shall be counted.
(l) Pupils to be counted in membership shall be not less than 5
years of age on December 1 and less than 20 years of age on
September 1 of the school year except a special education pupil who
is enrolled and receiving instruction in a special education
program or service approved by the department and not having a high
school diploma who is less than 26 years of age as of September 1
of the current school year shall be counted in membership.
(m) An individual who has obtained a high school diploma shall
not be counted in membership. An individual who has obtained a
general educational development (G.E.D.) certificate shall not be
counted in membership. An individual participating in a job
training program funded under former section 107a or a jobs program
funded under former section 107b, administered by the Michigan
strategic fund or the department of labor and economic growth, or
participating in any successor of either of those 2 programs, shall
not be counted in membership.
(n) If a pupil counted in membership in a public school
academy is also educated by a district or intermediate district as
part of a cooperative education program, the pupil shall be counted
in membership only in the public school academy unless a written
agreement signed by all parties designates the party or parties in
which the pupil shall be counted in membership, and the
instructional time scheduled for the pupil in the district or
intermediate district shall be included in the full-time equated
membership determination under subdivision (q). However, for pupils
receiving instruction in both a public school academy and in a
district or intermediate district but not as a part of a
cooperative education program, the following apply:
(i) If the public school academy provides instruction for at
least 1/2 of the class hours specified in subdivision (q), the
public school academy shall receive as its prorated share of the
full-time equated membership for each of those pupils an amount
equal to 1 times the product of the hours of instruction the public
school academy provides divided by the number of hours specified in
subdivision (q) for full-time equivalency, and the remainder of the
full-time membership for each of those pupils shall be allocated to
the district or intermediate district providing the remainder of
the hours of instruction.
(ii) If the public school academy provides instruction for less
than 1/2 of the class hours specified in subdivision (q), the
district or intermediate district providing the remainder of the
hours of instruction shall receive as its prorated share of the
full-time equated membership for each of those pupils an amount
equal to 1 times the product of the hours of instruction the
district or intermediate district provides divided by the number of
hours specified in subdivision (q) for full-time equivalency, and
the remainder of the full-time membership for each of those pupils
shall be allocated to the public school academy.
(o) An individual less than 16 years of age as of September 1
of the current school year who is being educated in an alternative
education program shall not be counted in membership if there are
also adult education participants being educated in the same
program or classroom.
(p) The department shall give a uniform interpretation of
full-time and part-time memberships.
(q) The number of class hours used to calculate full-time
equated memberships shall be consistent with section 101(3). In
determining full-time equated memberships for pupils who are
enrolled in a postsecondary institution, a pupil shall not be
considered to be less than a full-time equated pupil solely because
of the effect of his or her postsecondary enrollment, including
necessary travel time, on the number of class hours provided by the
district to the pupil.
(r) Full-time equated memberships for pupils in kindergarten
shall be determined by dividing the number of class hours scheduled
and provided per year per kindergarten pupil by a number equal to
1/2 the number used for determining full-time equated memberships
for pupils in grades 1 to 12.
(s) For a district, university school, or public school
academy that has pupils enrolled in a grade level that was not
offered by the district, university school, or public school
academy in the immediately preceding school year, the number of
pupils enrolled in that grade level to be counted in membership is
the average of the number of those pupils enrolled and in regular
daily attendance on the pupil membership count day and the
supplemental count day of the current school year, as determined by
the department. Membership shall be calculated by adding the number
of pupils registered for attendance in that grade level on the
pupil membership count day plus pupils received by transfer and
minus pupils lost as defined by rules promulgated by the
superintendent, and as corrected by subsequent department audit,
plus the final audited count from the supplemental count day for
the current school year, and dividing that sum by 2.
(t) A pupil enrolled in a cooperative education program may be
counted in membership in the pupil's district of residence with the
written approval of all parties to the cooperative agreement.
(u) If, as a result of a disciplinary action, a district
determines through the district's alternative or disciplinary
education program that the best instructional placement for a pupil
is in the pupil's home, if that placement is authorized in writing
by the district superintendent and district alternative or
disciplinary education supervisor, and if the district provides
appropriate instruction as described in this subdivision to the
pupil at the pupil's home, the district may count the pupil in
membership on a pro rata basis, with the proration based on the
number of hours of instruction the district actually provides to
the pupil divided by the number of hours specified in subdivision
(q) for full-time equivalency. For the purposes of this
subdivision, a district shall be considered to be providing
appropriate instruction if all of the following are met:
(i) The district provides at least 2 nonconsecutive hours of
instruction per week to the pupil at the pupil's home under the
supervision of a certificated teacher.
(ii) The district provides instructional materials, resources,
and supplies, except computers, that are comparable to those
otherwise provided in the district's alternative education program.
(iii) Course content is comparable to that in the district's
alternative education program.
(iv) Credit earned is awarded to the pupil and placed on the
pupil's transcript.
(v) A pupil enrolled in an alternative or disciplinary
education program described in section 25 shall be counted in
membership in the district or public school academy that expelled
the pupil.
(w) If a pupil was enrolled in a public school academy on the
pupil membership count day, if the public school academy's contract
with its authorizing body is revoked or the public school academy
otherwise ceases to operate, and if the pupil enrolls in a district
within 45 days after the pupil membership count day, the department
shall adjust the district's pupil count for the pupil membership
count day to include the pupil in the count.
(x) For a public school academy that has been in operation for
at least 2 years and that suspended operations for at least 1
semester and is resuming operations, membership is the sum of the
product of .75 times the number of full-time equated pupils in
grades K to 12 actually enrolled and in regular daily attendance on
the first pupil membership count day or supplemental count day,
whichever is first, occurring after operations resume, plus the
product of .25 times the final audited count from the most recent
pupil membership count day or supplemental count day that occurred
before suspending operations, as determined by the superintendent.
(y) If a district's membership for a particular fiscal year,
as otherwise calculated under this subsection, would be less than
1,550 pupils and the district has 4.5 or fewer pupils per square
mile, as determined by the department, and if the district does not
receive funding under section 22d, the district's membership shall
be considered to be the membership figure calculated under this
subdivision. If a district educates and counts in its membership
pupils in grades 9 to 12 who reside in a contiguous district that
does not operate grades 9 to 12 and if 1 or both of the affected
districts request the department to use the determination allowed
under this sentence, the department shall include the square
mileage of both districts in determining the number of pupils per
square mile for each of the districts for the purposes of this
subdivision. In addition, for 2005-2006 only, if a district's
membership for the 2005-2006 fiscal year, as otherwise calculated
under this subsection, would be more than 2% less than the
district's membership for 2004-2005, and if the district does not
receive funding under section 22d, the district's membership shall
be considered to be the membership figure calculated under this
subdivision. The membership figure calculated under this
subdivision is the greater of the following:
(i) The average of the district's membership for the 3-fiscal-
year period ending with that fiscal year, calculated by adding the
district's actual membership for each of those 3 fiscal years, as
otherwise calculated under this subsection, and dividing the sum of
those 3 membership figures by 3.
(ii) The district's actual membership for that fiscal year as
otherwise calculated under this subsection.
(z) If a public school academy that is not in its first or
second year of operation closes at the end of a school year and
does not reopen for the next school year, the department shall
adjust the membership count of the district in which a former pupil
of the public school academy enrolls and is in regular daily
attendance for the next school year to ensure that the district
receives the same amount of membership aid for the pupil as if the
pupil were counted in the district on the supplemental count day of
the preceding school year.
(5) "Public school academy" means a public school academy,
urban high school academy, or strict discipline academy operating
under the revised school code.
(6) "Pupil" means a person in membership in a public school. A
district must have the approval of the pupil's district of
residence to count the pupil in membership, except approval by the
pupil's district of residence is not required for any of the
following:
(a) A nonpublic part-time pupil enrolled in grades 1 to 12 in
accordance with section 166b.
(b) A pupil receiving 1/2 or less of his or her instruction in
a district other than the pupil's district of residence.
(c) A pupil enrolled in a public school academy or university
school.
(d) A pupil enrolled in a district other than the pupil's
district of residence under an intermediate district schools of
choice pilot program as described in section 91a or former section
91 if the intermediate district and its constituent districts have
been exempted from section 105.
(e) A pupil enrolled in a district other than the pupil's
district of residence if the pupil is enrolled in accordance with
section 105 or 105c.
(f) A pupil who has made an official written complaint or
whose parent or legal guardian has made an official written
complaint to law enforcement officials and to school officials of
the pupil's district of residence that the pupil has been the
victim of a criminal sexual assault or other serious assault, if
the official complaint either indicates that the assault occurred
at school or that the assault was committed by 1 or more other
pupils enrolled in the school the pupil would otherwise attend in
the district of residence or by an employee of the district of
residence. A person who intentionally makes a false report of a
crime to law enforcement officials for the purposes of this
subdivision is subject to section 411a of the Michigan penal code,
1931 PA 328, MCL 750.411a, which provides criminal penalties for
that conduct. As used in this subdivision:
(i) "At school" means in a classroom, elsewhere on school
premises, on a school bus or other school-related vehicle, or at a
school-sponsored activity or event whether or not it is held on
school premises.
(ii) "Serious assault" means an act that constitutes a felony
violation of chapter XI of the Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328,
MCL 750.81 to 750.90g, or that constitutes an assault and
infliction of serious or aggravated injury under section 81a of the
Michigan penal code, 1931 PA 328, MCL 750.81a.
(g) A pupil whose district of residence changed after the
pupil membership count day and before the supplemental count day
and who continues to be enrolled on the supplemental count day as a
nonresident in the district in which he or she was enrolled as a
resident on the pupil membership count day of the same school year.
(h) A pupil enrolled in an alternative education program
operated by a district other than his or her district of residence
who meets 1 or more of the following:
(i) The pupil has been suspended or expelled from his or her
district of residence for any reason, including, but not limited
to, a suspension or expulsion under section 1310, 1311, or 1311a of
the revised school code, MCL 380.1310, 380.1311, and 380.1311a.
(ii) The pupil had previously dropped out of school.
(iii) The pupil is pregnant or is a parent.
(iv) The pupil has been referred to the program by a court.
(i) A pupil enrolled in the Michigan virtual high school, for
the pupil's enrollment in the Michigan virtual high school.
(j) A pupil who is the child of a person who is employed by
the district. As used in this subdivision, "child" includes an
adopted child or legal ward.
However, if a district that is not a first class district
educates pupils who reside in a first class district and if the
primary instructional site for those pupils is located within the
boundaries of the first class district, the educating district must
have the approval of the first class district to count those pupils
in membership. As used in this subsection, "first class district"
means a district organized as a school district of the first class
under the revised school code.
(7) "Pupil membership count day" of a district or intermediate
district means:
(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), the fourth
Wednesday in September each school year.
(b) For a district or intermediate district maintaining school
during the entire school year, the following days:
(i) Fourth Wednesday in July.
(ii) Fourth Wednesday in September.
(iii) Second Wednesday in February.
(iv) Fourth Wednesday in April.
(8) "Pupils in grades K to 12 actually enrolled and in regular
daily attendance" means pupils in grades K to 12 in attendance and
receiving instruction in all classes for which they are enrolled on
the pupil membership count day or the supplemental count day, as
applicable. A pupil who is absent from any of the classes in which
the pupil is enrolled on the pupil membership count day or
supplemental count day and who does not attend each of those
classes during the 10 consecutive school days immediately following
the pupil membership count day or supplemental count day, except
for a pupil who has been excused by the district, shall not be
counted as 1.0 full-time equated membership. In addition, a pupil
who is excused from attendance on the pupil membership count day or
supplemental count day and who fails to attend each of the classes
in which the pupil is enrolled within 30 calendar days after the
pupil membership count day or supplemental count day shall not be
counted as 1.0 full-time equated membership. Pupils not counted as
1.0 full-time equated membership due to an absence from a class
shall be counted as a prorated membership for the classes the pupil
attended. For purposes of this subsection, "class" means a period
of time in 1 day when pupils and a certificated teacher or legally
qualified substitute teacher are together and instruction is taking
place.
(9) "Rule" means a rule promulgated pursuant to the
administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA 306, MCL 24.201 to
24.328.
(10) "The revised school code" means 1976 PA 451, MCL 380.1 to
380.1852.
(11) "School fiscal year" means a fiscal year that commences
July 1 and continues through June 30.
(12) "State board" means the state board of education.
(13) "Superintendent", unless the context clearly refers to a
district or intermediate district superintendent, means the
superintendent of public instruction described in section 3 of
article VIII of the state constitution of 1963.
(14) "Supplemental count day" means the day on which the
supplemental pupil count is conducted under section 6a.
(15) "Tuition pupil" means a pupil of school age attending
school in a district other than the pupil's district of residence
for whom tuition may be charged. Tuition pupil does not include a
pupil who is a special education pupil or a pupil described in
subsection (6)(d) to (j). A pupil's district of residence shall not
require a high school tuition pupil, as provided under section 111,
to attend another school district after the pupil has been assigned
to a school district.
(16) "State school aid fund" means the state school aid fund
established in section 11 of article IX of the state constitution
of 1963.
(17) "Taxable value" means the taxable value of property as
determined under section 27a of the general property tax act, 1893
PA 206, MCL 211.27a.
(18) "Textbook" means a book that is selected and approved by
the governing board of a district and that contains a presentation
of principles of a subject, or that is a literary work relevant to
the study of a subject required for the use of classroom pupils, or
another type of course material that forms the basis of classroom
instruction.
(19) "Total state aid" or "total state school aid" means the
total combined amount of all funds due to a district, intermediate
district, or other entity under all of the provisions of this act.
(20) "University school" means an instructional program
operated by a public university under section 23 that meets the
requirements of section 23.