257.11 - SUPPLEMENTARY WEIGHTING PLAN. - Iowa Statutes

257.11 SUPPLEMENTARY WEIGHTING PLAN. 1. Regular curriculum. Pupils in a regular curriculum attending all their classes in the district in which they reside, taught by teachers employed by that district, and having administrators employed by that district, are assigned a weighting of one. 2. District-to-district sharing. a. In order to provide additional funds for school districts which send their resident pupils to another school district, which jointly employ and share the services of teachers under section 280.15, or which use the services of a teacher employed by another school district, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted. b. If the school budget review committee certifies to the department of management that the shared classes or teachers would otherwise not be implemented without the assignment of additional weighting, pupils attending classes in another school district, attending classes taught by a teacher who is employed jointly under section 280.15, or attending classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district are assigned a weighting of forty-eight hundredths of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district. c. Pupils attending class for all or a substantial portion of a school day pursuant to a whole grade sharing agreement executed under sections 282.10 through 282.12 shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this subsection. A school district which executes a whole grade sharing agreement and which adopts a resolution jointly with other affected boards to study the question of undergoing a reorganization or dissolution to take effect on or before July 1, 2014, shall receive a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes in another district, attends classes taught by a teacher who is jointly employed under section 280.15, or attends classes taught by a teacher who is employed by another school district. A district shall be eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this paragraph for a maximum of three years. Receipt of supplementary weighting for a second and third year shall be conditioned upon submission of information resulting from the study to the school budget review committee indicating progress toward the objective of reorganization on or before July 1, 2014. d. A school district which hosts a regional academy shall be eligible to assign its resident students attending classes at the academy a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the student's school day during which the student attends classes at the regional academy. The maximum amount of additional weighting for which a school district hosting a regional academy shall be eligible is an amount corresponding to thirty additional students. The minimum amount of additional weighting for which a school district establishing a regional academy shall be eligible is an amount corresponding to fifteen additional students if the academy provides both advanced-level courses and career and technical courses. 3. District-to-community college sharing and concurrent enrollment programs. a. In order to provide additional funds for school districts which send their resident high school pupils to a community college for college-level classes, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted. b. If the school budget review committee certifies to the department of management that the class would not otherwise be implemented without the assignment of additional weighting, pupils attending a community college-offered class or attending a class taught by a community college-employed instructor are assigned a weighting of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends class in the community college or attends a class taught by a community college-employed instructor times seventy hundredths for career and technical courses or forty-six hundredths for liberal arts and sciences courses. The following requirements shall be met for the purposes of assigning an additional weighting for classes offered through a sharing agreement between a school district and community college. The class must be: (1) Supplementing, not supplanting, high school courses required to be offered pursuant to section 256.11, subsection 5. (2) Included in the community college catalog or an amendment or addendum to the catalog. (3) Open to all registered community college students, not just high school students. The class may be offered in a high school attendance center. (4) For college credit and the credit must apply toward an associate of arts or associate of science degree, or toward an associate of applied arts or associate of applied science degree, or toward completion of a college diploma program. (5) Taught by an instructor employed or contracted by a community college who meets the requirements of section 261E.3, subsection 2. (6) Taught utilizing the community college course syllabus. (7) Taught in such a manner as to result in student work and student assessment which meet college-level expectations. 4. At-risk programs and alternative schools. a. In order to provide additional funding to school districts for programs serving at-risk pupils and alternative school pupils in secondary schools, a supplementary weighting plan for at-risk pupils is adopted. A supplementary weighting of forty-eight ten-thousandths per pupil shall be assigned to the percentage of pupils in a school district enrolled in grades one through six, as reported by the school district on the basic educational data survey for the base year, who are eligible for free and reduced price meals under the federal National School Lunch Act and the federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. § 1751-1785, multiplied by the budget enrollment in the school district; and a supplementary weighting of one hundred fifty-six one-hundred-thousandths per pupil shall be assigned to pupils included in the budget enrollment of the school district. Amounts received as supplementary weighting for at-risk pupils shall be utilized by a school district to develop or maintain at-risk pupils' programs, which may include alternative school programs. b. Notwithstanding paragraph "a", a school district which received supplementary weighting for an alternative high school program for the school budget year beginning July 1, 1999, shall receive an amount of supplementary weighting for the next three school budget years as follows: (1) For the budget year beginning July 1, 2000, the greater of the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a", or sixty-five percent of the amount received for the budget year beginning July 1, 1999. (2) For the budget year beginning July 1, 2001, the greater of the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a", or forty percent of the amount received for the budget year beginning July 1, 1999. (3) For the budget year beginning July 1, 2002, and succeeding budget years, the amount of supplementary weighting determined pursuant to paragraph "a". c. If a school district receives an amount pursuant to paragraph "b" which exceeds the amount the district would otherwise have received pursuant to paragraph "a", the department of management shall annually determine the amount of the excess that would have been state aid and the amount that would have been property tax if the school district had generated that amount pursuant to paragraph "a", and shall include the amounts in the state aid payments and property tax levies of school districts. The department of management shall recalculate the supplementary weighting amount received each year to reflect the amount of the reduction in funding from one budget year to the next pursuant to paragraph "b", subparagraphs (1) through (3). It is the intent of the general assembly that when weights are recalculated under this subsection, the total amounts generated by each weight shall be approximately equal. 5. Regional academies. a. For the school budget year beginning July 1, 2002, through the school budget year beginning July 1, 2007, in order to provide additional funds for school districts in which a regional academy is located, a supplementary weighting plan for determining enrollment is adopted. b. A school district which establishes a regional academy shall be eligible to assign its resident pupils attending classes at the academy a weighting of one-tenth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends classes at the regional academy. For the purposes of this subsection, "regional academy" means an educational institution established by a school district to which multiple schools send pupils in grades nine through twelve, and may include a virtual academy. A regional academy shall include in its curriculum advanced-level courses and may include in its curriculum vocational-technical courses. The maximum amount of additional weighting for which a school district establishing a regional academy shall be eligible is an amount corresponding to fifteen additional pupils. The minimum amount of additional weighting for which a school district establishing a regional academy shall be eligible is an amount corresponding to ten additional pupils if the academy provides both advanced-level courses and vocational-technical courses. However, if the sum of the funding amount calculated for all districts operating regional academies under this subsection exceeds one million dollars for the school year beginning July 1, 2004, and each succeeding fiscal year, the director of the department of management shall prorate the amount calculated for each district. The proration shall be based upon the amount calculated for each district when compared to the sum of the amount for all districts. 6. Shared operational functions -- increased student opportunities. a. In order to provide additional funding to increase student opportunities and redirect more resources to student programming for school districts that share operational functions, a supplementary weighting of two hundredths per pupil shall be assigned to pupils enrolled in a district that shares with a political subdivision one or more operational functions in the areas of superintendent management, business management, human resources, transportation, or operation and maintenance for at least twenty percent of the school year. The additional weighting shall be assigned for each discrete operational function shared. For the purposes of this section, "political subdivision" means a city, township, county, school corporation, merged area, area education agency, institution governed by the state board of regents, or any other governmental subdivision. b. Supplementary weighting pursuant to this subsection shall be available to a school district for a maximum of five years during the period commencing with the budget year beginning July 1, 2008, through the budget year beginning July 1, 2013. The minimum amount of additional weighting for which a school district shall be eligible is an amount equivalent to ten additional pupils, and the maximum amount of additional weighting for which a school district shall be eligible is an amount equivalent to forty additional pupils. Receipt of supplementary weighting by a school district pursuant to this subsection for more than one year shall be contingent upon the annual submission of information by the district to the department documenting cost savings directly attributable to the shared operational functions. Criteria for determining the number of years for which supplementary weighting shall be received pursuant to this subsection, subject to the five-year maximum, and for determining qualification of operational functions for supplementary weighting shall be determined by the department by rule, through consideration of long-term savings by the school district or increased student opportunities. c. Supplementary weighting pursuant to this subsection shall be available to an area education agency for a maximum of five years during the period commencing with the budget year beginning July 1, 2008. The minimum amount of additional funding for which an area education agency shall be eligible is fifty thousand dollars, and the maximum amount of additional funding for which an area education agency shall be eligible is two hundred thousand dollars. The department of management shall annually set a weighting for each area education agency to generate the approved operational sharing expense using the area education agency's special education cost per pupil amount and foundation level. Receipt of supplementary weighting by an area education agency for more than one year shall be contingent upon the annual submission of information by the district to the department documenting cost savings directly attributable to the shared operational functions. Criteria for determining the number of years for which supplementary weighting shall be received pursuant to this subsection, subject to the five-year maximum, and the amount generated by the supplementary weighting, and for determining qualification of operational functions for supplementary weighting shall be determined by the department by rule, through consideration of long-term savings by the area education agency or increased student opportunities. d. The amount of any supplementary weighting originally received under this subsection shall be reduced by an additional twenty percent from the original amount for each subsequent budget year that supplementary weighting may be received. e. This subsection is repealed effective July 1, 2014. 7. Shared classes delivered over the Iowa communications network. a. A school district that provides a virtual class to a pupil in another school district and the school district receiving that virtual class for a pupil shall each receive a supplemental weighting of one-twentieth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends the virtual class. b. Fifty percent of the funding the school district providing the virtual class receives as a result of this subsection shall be reserved as additional pay for the virtual classroom instructor. If an instructor's contract provides additional pay for teaching a virtual class, the instructor shall receive the greater amount of either the amount provided for in this paragraph or the amount provided for in the instructor's contract. c. A school district receiving a virtual class for a pupil from a community college, which class meets the sharing agreement requirements in subsection 3, shall receive a supplemental funding weighting of one-twentieth of the percentage of the pupil's school day during which the pupil attends the virtual class. d. For the purposes of this subsection, "virtual class" means either of the following: (1) A class provided by a school district to a pupil in another school district via the Iowa communications network's video services. (2) A class provided by a community college to a pupil in a school district via the Iowa communications network's video services. 8. Pupils ineligible. A pupil eligible for the weighting plan provided in section 256B.9 is not eligible for supplementary weighting pursuant to this section. A pupil attending an alternative program or an at-risk pupils' program, including alternative high school programs, is not eligible for supplementary weighting under subsection 2. 9. Shared classes and curriculum standards. A school district shall ensure that any course made available to a student through any sharing agreement between the school district and a community college or any other entity providing course programming pursuant to this section to students enrolled in the school district meets the expectations contained in the core curriculum adopted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 26. The school district shall ensure that any course that has the capacity to generate college credit shall be equivalent to college-level work. 10. School finance appropriations report. The department of education shall annually prepare a report regarding school finance provisions or programs receiving a standing appropriation, including supplementary weighting programs. The report shall provide information regarding amounts received or accessed by school districts pursuant to the provisions or programs, whether the amounts received represent an increase or decrease over amounts received during the previous budget year and the percentage increase or decrease, conclusions regarding the adequacy of amounts received by school districts and whether the amounts received are equitable between school districts based upon input from the school districts and analysis by the department, and the rationale for current trends being observed by the department and projections regarding possible trends in the future. The report shall be submitted to the general assembly by January 1 each year, and copies of the report shall be forwarded to the chairpersons and members of the committee on education in the senate and in the house of representatives.          Section History: Recent Form 89 Acts, ch 135, § 11; 90 Acts, ch 1190, § 7; 93 Acts, ch 180, § 96; 95 Acts, ch 111, § 1; 95 Acts, ch 209, § 13; 2000 Acts, ch 1198, §1, 6; 2001 Acts, ch 126, §5, 6; 2002 Acts, ch 1047, §3, 4, 20; 2002 Acts, ch 1140, §8; 2003 Acts, ch 179, §111; 2003 Acts, ch 180, §11; 2005 Acts, ch 19, §38; 2007 Acts, ch 130, §2--4; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §20, 44; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §43; 2008 Acts, ch 1181, §48, 49; 2008 Acts, ch 1191, §157; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §247; 2009 Acts, ch 133, §100 Referred to in § 11.6, 256.17, 257.6, 257.11A, 261E.2, 261E.8, 261E.9, 261E.10, 261E.11, 280.13A, 282.7          Footnotes 2007 strike and rewrite of subsection 7 applies to school budget years beginning on or after July 1, 2008; 2007 Acts, ch 214, §44