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Councilmember Kevin Chavous A BILL IN THE
COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To amend, on an emergency basis, the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public
Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998 to define special education school, to
apply the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula to the University of the District of
Columbia for adult education purposes, to adjust the weighting for summer school, to apply
a 0.17 weighting to public school and public charter school students enrolled for at least
6 weeks during the summer following the regular school year, to change the date of which
annual appropriations pursuant to the Per Student Funding Formula is based from October 1,
to October 5, of the preceding fiscal year for which the appropriation is made, to require
that the State Education Office commission an audit of student counts instead of the
Mayor, to require annual appropriations for the University of the District of Columbia to
include a line item restricted to adult education, to require the University of the
District of Columbia to submit projections of its adult education enrollment as part of
its annual budget submission to the Mayor, to require the adult education enrollment to be
verified by procedures established by the State Education Office, to change the date of
the second installment of the annual payment to public charter schools from October 15, to
October 25, to provide special rules for the annual payment for public charter schools for
FY 2001, during the existence of a continuing resolution, and for alternative and special
education schools, and to provide the process for establishing the annual facilities
allowance for public charter schools.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this act may be cited as
the "Uniform Per Student Funding Formula For Public Schools and Public Charter
Schools Emergency Amendment Act of 2001".
Sec. 2. The Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter
Schools Act of 1998, effective March 26, 1999 (D.C. Law 12-207; D.C. Code §31-2901 et
seq.), is amended as follows:
(a) Section 102 (D.C. Code §31-2901) is amended by adding a new paragraph (1lA) to
read as follows:
"(11A) "Special education school" means a specialized instructional
program for 3 students with disabilities as described in paragraph (11) of this section
whose individual education plan calls for fulltime placement in special education
services.".
(b) Section 103 (D.C. Code §31-2902) is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a) is amended by adding the following sentence to the end:
"For purposes of adult education only, as defined in section 102(1), the Formula
shall apply to the University of the District of Columbia ("UDC").".
(2) Subsection (b) is amended by striking the phrase "and for" and inserting
the phrase ", for public charter schools, and for the adult education program of
UDC" in its place.
(3) Subsection (c) is repealed.
(c) Section 106 (D.C. Code §31-2905) is amended as follows:
(1) The chart in subsection (c) is amended by striking the phrases "+ 0.10"
and "$550" and inserting the phrases "up to +0.17 pro rata" and
"up to $935 pro rata" in their respective places.
(2) A new subsection (e) is added to read as follows:
"(e) The summer school weighting of 0.17 shall apply to DCPS and public charter
school students enrolled for at least 6 weeks during the summer following the regular
school year. Summer school students enrolled for a lesser period shall be funded for
the number of days in that period on a pro rata basis.".
(d) Section 107 (D.C .Code §31-2906) is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a) is amended to read as follows:
"(a) Annual appropriations for the DCPS pursuant to the Formula shall be based on
the number of resident students enrolled in the DCPS as of October 5 in the year preceding
the fiscal year for which the appropriation is made.".
(2) Subsection (e) is amended to read as follows:
"(e) The student counts reported for October 5 each year shall be verified by an
independent contractor commissioned by the State Education Office. The independent
contractor shall perform a census on the student enrollment of each DCPS and of each
public charter school. The verification process shall begin no later than one week
following the day on which the count is taken. The verification shall cover the
information required by section 2402 of the District of Columbia School Reform Act of
1995, approved April 26, 1996 (110 Stat. 257; D.C. Code §312853.42(a) ("School
Reform Act"), and shall be transmitted by the State Education Office to the Mayor,
the Council, the Authority, the Comptroller General of the United States, and the
appropriate congressional committees no later than the following December 31. Until the
verification is transmitted, the unaudited October counts shall serve as the basis for the
annual appropriations for the following fiscal year and for quarterly payments to the
public charter schools.".
(3) New subsections (g), (h), and (i) are added to read as follows:
"(g) Annual appropriations for UDC shall include a line item restricted to adult
education based on the number of resident FTE adult education students projected to be
enrolled during the fiscal year.
"(h) UDC shall submit projections of its adult education enrollment as part of its
annual budget submission for the following fiscal year to the Mayor. The Mayor and Council
may change the projection in order to adjust the amount of the adult education
appropriation to UDC.
"(i) The FTE adult education enrollment of UDC shall be verified by procedures to
be established by the State Education Office. If in any given fiscal year, the enrollment
is found to be less than the projected number that served as the basis for that year's
appropriation, funds attributable to the excess shall revert to the District of Columbia's
General Fund pursuant to procedures to be established by the Chief Financial Officer of
the District of Columbia.".
(e) Section 107a (D.C. Code §2906.1) is amended as follows:
(1) Subsection (a) is amended by striking the phrase "October 15" and
inserting the phrase "October 25" in its place.
(2) Subsection (b) is amended to read as follows:
"(b)(1) Except as provided in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection, each
payment shall be 1 i4 of each public charter school's entitlement determined as follows:
The basis of the July 15 payment to a public charter school shall be the estimate used in
the June 30 quarterly report submitted by the eligible chartering authorities pursuant to
section 2402(a) of the School Reform Act of the number of students that will be enrolled
at that public charter school on October 5, and the basis of the October 25 payment shall
be the unaudited numbers for that school contained in the reports submitted by the
eligible chartering authorities on October 5. The basis of the January 15 and April 15
payments shall be the audited October enrollment numbers; provided, that these amounts
shall be adjusted in accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
"(2) Special rule for Fiscal Year 2001. The payment of October 15, 2000, shall be
50% of each public charter school's entitlement based on its unaudited October 5
enrollment count.
"(3) Special rule for periods when funding is provided through a Continuing
Resolution. If payments to public charter schools become due on a date when District of
Columbia appropriations have not yet been enacted for the fiscal year in which the
payments are due, the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia shall provide
payments for new public charter schools and increased enrollments in other public charter
schools from any unexpended and unobligated funds held in escrow pursuant to paragraph (4)
of this subsection.
"(4) Special rule for alternative and special education schools. Upon application
to the Chief Financial Officer of the District of Columbia, and within the enrollment
ceilings of their charters, alternative education and special education public charter
schools may receive payment for any student enrolling after October 5, on a pro rata basis
from the date on which the school begins to provide services to that student; provided,
that the student constitutes a net increase to the school's enrollment as of that date.
Upon application by an alternative or special education public charter school, the Chief
Financial Officer of the District of Columbia authorized to make any given quarterly
payment to an alternative or special education public charter school up to 3 months in
advance based upon the budgeted funds for the approved projected program slots of the
public charter school. Additionally, during the first year of operation, repayment of the
loan advance for start-up cost shall be suspended until the alternative or special
education public charter school primarily serving level 4 and level 5 students reaches 80%
of the projected enrollment. If the alternative or special education public charter school
has not reached 80% of its projected enrollment by its January disbursement, 50% of the
loan repayment shall be deferred until the next fiscal year.".
(3) Subsection (c) is amended by striking the phrase "October 15" and
inserting the phrase "October 25" in its place.
(4) Subsection (d) is amended by adding the phrase "to each payment" after
the phrase "shall be added".
(f) Section 109 (D.C. Code § 31-2908) is amended to read as follows:
"(a)(1) The annual facility allowance for public charter schools shall be
determined as follows: Starting with FY 1998, the total funds being estimated from all
sources for each year's DCPS capital improvement program shall be divided by the October
DCPS pupil count, as defined in section 107, for the same fiscal year to determine the
DCPS per pupil facility cost for that year.
"(2) Each year's DCPS per pupil facility cost shall be averaged with those of
prior years to calculate a moving average until a total of 5 years are included in the
calculations. Thereafter, the calculations shall include the most recent 5 years. This
moving average shall constitute the per pupil facility allowance for the succeeding fiscal
year, to be paid as prescribed in section 109(a).
"(b) If supplemental funds for the capital improvement program are received by
DCPS during any given fiscal year, the total of those supplemental funds shall be added to
that fiscal year's capital improvement program in determining that year's DCPS per pupil
facility cost in the next fiscal year's calculations of the moving average.".
Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
The fiscal impact statement is attached.
Sec. 4. Effective date. This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or
in the event of veto by the Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and
approval by the Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority as provided
in section 203(a) of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management
Assistance Act of 1995, approved April 17, 1995 (109 Stat. 116; D.C. Code § 47-392.3(a)),
and shall remain in effect for no longer than 90 days, as provided for emergency acts of
the Council of the District of Columbia in section 412(a) of the District of Columbia Home
Rule Act, approved December 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 788; D.C. Code § 1-229(a)). |
