Bill Text: MI HB4356 | 2011-2012 | 96th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Education; reports; average class size; require to include in pupil enrollment reports. Amends sec. 101 of 1979 PA 94 (MCL 388.1701).
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-2)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-02 - Printed Bill Filed 03/02/2011 [HB4356 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2011-HB4356-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL No. 4356
March 1, 2011, Introduced by Reps. Townsend, Irwin, Ananich, Liss, Geiss, Rutledge, Hobbs, Bauer, Tlaib, Hovey-Wright, Darany, Kandrevas, Olumba, Dillon, Brunner, Yonker, Cavanagh, Huuki, Switalski and Brown and referred to the Committee on Education.
A bill to amend 1979 PA 94, entitled
"The state school aid act of 1979,"
by amending section 101 (MCL 388.1701), as amended by 2010 PA 110.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:
Sec. 101. (1) To be eligible to receive state aid under this
act, not later than the fifth Wednesday after the pupil membership
count day and not later than the fifth Wednesday after the
supplemental count day, each district superintendent shall submit
to the center and the intermediate superintendent, in the form and
manner prescribed by the center, the number of pupils enrolled and
in regular daily attendance in the district as of the pupil
membership count day and as of the supplemental count day, as
applicable, for the current school year. In addition, a district
maintaining school during the entire year, as provided under
section 1561 of the revised school code, MCL 380.1561, shall submit
to the center and the intermediate superintendent, in the form and
manner prescribed by the center, the number of pupils enrolled and
in regular daily attendance in the district for the current school
year pursuant to rules promulgated by the superintendent. A
district shall include with its pupil enrollment and attendance
data, in a form and manner prescribed by the center, a statement of
the district's average class size for each grade level operated by
the district. Not later than the seventh Wednesday after the pupil
membership count day and not later than the seventh Wednesday after
the supplemental count day, the district shall certify the data in
a form and manner prescribed by the center and file the certified
data with the intermediate superintendent. If a district fails to
submit and certify the attendance data, as required under this
subsection, the center shall notify the department and state aid
due to be distributed under this act shall be withheld from the
defaulting district immediately, beginning with the next payment
after the failure and continuing with each payment until the
district complies with this subsection. If a district does not
comply with this subsection by the end of the fiscal year, the
district forfeits the amount withheld. A person who willfully
falsifies a figure or statement in the certified and sworn copy of
enrollment shall be punished in the manner prescribed by section
161.
(2) To be eligible to receive state aid under this act, not
later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the pupil membership
count day and not later than the twenty-fourth Wednesday after the
supplemental count day, an intermediate district shall submit to
the center, in a form and manner prescribed by the center, the
audited enrollment and attendance data for the pupils of its
constituent districts and of the intermediate district, and the
average class size data submitted under subsection (1). If an
intermediate district fails to submit the audited data as required
under this subsection, state aid due to be distributed under this
act shall be withheld from the defaulting intermediate district
immediately, beginning with the next payment after the failure and
continuing with each payment until the intermediate district
complies with this subsection. If an intermediate district does not
comply with this subsection by the end of the fiscal year, the
intermediate district forfeits the amount withheld.
(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (11), all of
the following apply to the provision of pupil instruction:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, each
district shall provide at least 1,098 hours and, beginning in 2010-
2011, the required minimum number of days of pupil instruction. For
2010-2011 and for 2011-2012, the required minimum number of days of
pupil instruction is 165. Beginning in 2012-2013, the required
minimum number of days of pupil instruction is 170. However,
beginning in 2010-2011, a district shall not provide fewer days of
pupil instruction than the district provided for 2009-2010. A
district may apply for a waiver under subsection (9) from the
requirements of this subdivision.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this act, a district
failing to comply with the required minimum hours and days of pupil
instruction under this subsection shall forfeit from its total
state aid allocation an amount determined by applying a ratio of
the number of hours or days the district was in noncompliance in
relation to the required minimum number of hours and days under
this subsection. Not later than August 1, the board of each
district shall certify to the department the number of hours and,
beginning in 2010-2011, days of pupil instruction in the previous
school year. If the district did not provide at least the required
minimum number of hours and days of pupil instruction under this
subsection, the deduction of state aid shall be made in the
following fiscal year from the first payment of state school aid. A
district is not subject to forfeiture of funds under this
subsection for a fiscal year in which a forfeiture was already
imposed under subsection (6).
(c) Hours or days lost because of strikes or teachers'
conferences shall not be counted as hours or days of pupil
instruction.
(d) If a collective bargaining agreement that provides a
complete school calendar is in effect for employees of a district
as of October 19, 2009, and if that school calendar is not in
compliance with this subsection, then this subsection does not
apply to that district until after the expiration of that
collective bargaining agreement.
(e) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (f), a
district not having at least 75% of the district's membership in
attendance on any day of pupil instruction shall receive state aid
in that proportion of 1/180 that the actual percent of attendance
bears to the specified percentage.
(f) At the request of a district that operates a department-
approved alternative education program and that does not provide
instruction for pupils in all of grades K to 12, the superintendent
may grant a waiver from the requirements of subdivision (e) in
order to conduct a pilot study. The waiver shall indicate that an
eligible district is subject to the proration provisions of
subdivision (e) only if the district does not have at least 50% of
the district's membership in attendance on any day of pupil
instruction. In order to be eligible for this waiver, a district
must maintain records to substantiate its compliance with the
following requirements during the pilot study:
(i) The district offers the minimum hours of pupil instruction
as required under this section.
(ii) For each enrolled pupil, the district uses appropriate
academic assessments to develop an individual education plan that
leads to a high school diploma.
(iii) The district tests each pupil to determine academic
progress at regular intervals and records the results of those
tests in that pupil's individual education plan.
(g) The superintendent shall promulgate rules for the
implementation of this subsection.
(4) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the first
6 days or the equivalent number of hours for which pupil
instruction is not provided because of conditions not within the
control of school authorities, such as severe storms, fires,
epidemics, utility power unavailability, water or sewer failure, or
health conditions as defined by the city, county, or state health
authorities, shall be counted as hours and days of pupil
instruction. With the approval of the superintendent of public
instruction, the department shall count as hours and days of pupil
instruction for a fiscal year not more than 6 additional days or
the equivalent number of additional hours for which pupil
instruction is not provided in a district after April 1 of the
applicable school year due to unusual and extenuating occurrences
resulting from conditions not within the control of school
authorities such as those conditions described in this subsection.
Subsequent such hours or days shall not be counted as hours or days
of pupil instruction.
(5) A district shall not forfeit part of its state aid
appropriation because it adopts or has in existence an alternative
scheduling program for pupils in kindergarten if the program
provides at least the number of hours required under subsection (3)
for a full-time equated membership for a pupil in kindergarten as
provided under section 6(4).
(6) Not later than April 15 of each fiscal year, the board of
each district shall certify to the department the planned number of
hours and days of pupil instruction in the district for the school
year ending in the fiscal year. In addition to any other penalty or
forfeiture under this section, if at any time the department
determines that 1 or more of the following has occurred in a
district, the district shall forfeit in the current fiscal year
beginning in the next payment to be calculated by the department a
proportion of the funds due to the district under this act that is
equal to the proportion below the required minimum number of hours
and days of pupil instruction under subsection (3), as specified in
the following:
(a) The district fails to operate its schools for at least the
required minimum number of hours and days of pupil instruction
under subsection (3) in a school year, including hours and days
counted under subsection (4).
(b) The board of the district takes formal action not to
operate its schools for at least the required minimum number of
hours and days of pupil instruction under subsection (3) in a
school year, including hours and days counted under subsection (4).
(7) In providing the minimum number of hours and days of pupil
instruction required under subsection (3), a district shall use the
following guidelines, and a district shall maintain records to
substantiate its compliance with the following guidelines:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a pupil
must be scheduled for at least the required minimum number of hours
of instruction, excluding study halls, or at least the sum of 90
hours plus the required minimum number of hours of instruction,
including up to 2 study halls.
(b) The time a pupil is assigned to any tutorial activity in a
block schedule may be considered instructional time, unless that
time is determined in an audit to be a study hall period.
(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a pupil
in grades 9 to 12 for whom a reduced schedule is determined to be
in the individual pupil's best educational interest must be
scheduled for a number of hours equal to at least 80% of the
required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction to be
considered a full-time equivalent pupil. A pupil in grades 9 to 12
who is scheduled in a 4-block schedule may receive a reduced
schedule under this subsection if the pupil is scheduled for a
number of hours equal to at least 75% of the required minimum
number of hours of pupil instruction to be considered a full-time
equivalent pupil.
(d) If a pupil in grades 9 to 12 who is enrolled in a
cooperative education program or a special education pupil cannot
receive the required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction
solely because of travel time between instructional sites during
the school day, that travel time, up to a maximum of 3 hours per
school week, shall be considered to be pupil instruction time for
the purpose of determining whether the pupil is receiving the
required minimum number of hours of pupil instruction. However, if
a district demonstrates to the satisfaction of the department that
the travel time limitation under this subdivision would create
undue costs or hardship to the district, the department may
consider more travel time to be pupil instruction time for this
purpose.
(e) In grades 7 through 12, instructional time that is part of
a junior reserve officer training corps (JROTC) program shall be
considered to be pupil instruction time regardless of whether the
instructor is a certificated teacher if all of the following are
met:
(i) The instructor has met all of the requirements established
by the United States department of defense and the applicable
branch of the armed services for serving as an instructor in the
junior reserve officer training corps program.
(ii) The board of the district or intermediate district
employing or assigning the instructor complies with the
requirements of sections 1230 and 1230a of the revised school code,
MCL 380.1230 and 380.1230a, with respect to the instructor to the
same extent as if employing the instructor as a regular classroom
teacher.
(8) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (11), the
department shall apply the guidelines under subsection (7) in
calculating the full-time equivalency of pupils.
(9) Upon application by the district for a particular fiscal
year, the superintendent may waive for a district the minimum
number of hours and days of pupil instruction requirement of
subsection (3) for a department-approved alternative education
program or another innovative program approved by the department,
including a 4-day school week. If a district applies for and
receives a waiver under this subsection and complies with the terms
of the waiver, for the fiscal year covered by the waiver the
district is not subject to forfeiture under this section for the
specific program covered by the waiver. If the district does not
comply with the terms of the waiver, the amount of the forfeiture
shall be calculated based upon a comparison of the number of hours
and days of pupil instruction actually provided to the minimum
number of hours and days of pupil instruction required under
subsection (3). Pupils enrolled in a department-approved
alternative education program under this subsection shall be
reported to the center in a form and manner determined by the
center.
(10) A district may count up to 38 hours of qualifying
professional development for teachers as hours of pupil
instruction. Professional development provided online is allowable
and encouraged, as long as the instruction has been approved by the
district. The department shall issue a list of approved online
professional development providers, which shall include the
Michigan virtual university. However, if a collective bargaining
agreement that provides more than 38 but not more than 51 hours of
professional development for teachers is in effect for employees of
a district as of October 1, 2006, then until the fiscal year that
begins after the expiration of that collective bargaining agreement
a district may count up to 51 hours of qualifying professional
development for teachers as hours of pupil instruction. A district
that elects to use this exception shall notify the department of
its election. As used in this subsection, "qualifying professional
development" means professional development that is focused on 1 or
more of the following:
(a) Achieving or improving adequate yearly progress as defined
under the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(b) Achieving accreditation or improving a school's
accreditation status under section 1280 of the revised school code,
MCL 380.1280.
(c) Achieving highly qualified teacher status as defined under
the no child left behind act of 2001, Public Law 107-110.
(d) Integrating technology into classroom instruction.
(e) Maintaining teacher certification.
(11) Subsections (3) and (8) do not apply to a school of
excellence that is a cyber school, as defined in section 551 of the
revised school code, MCL 380.551, and is in compliance with section
553a of the revised school code, MCL 380.553a.
(12) The department shall study the actual costs of providing
distance learning or other alternative instructional delivery that
is being used in this state and shall report on its findings to the
house and senate fiscal agencies and the office of the state budget
not later than September 10, 2012. Upon request by the department,
a school of excellence described in subsection (11), the Michigan
virtual university, or a school that receives a seat time waiver
from the department under this section shall submit to the
department any data requested by the department for the purposes of
this study.
