§ 16-7-23 - Community requirements – Adequate minimum budget provision. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 16-7-23

   § 16-7-23  Community requirements –Adequate minimum budget provision. – (a) The school committee's budget provisions of each community for currentexpenditures in each budget year shall provide for an amount from all sourcessufficient to support the basic program and all other approved programs sharedby the state. Each community shall contribute local funds to its schoolcommittee in an amount not less than its local contribution for schools in theprevious fiscal year. Calculation of the annual local contribution shall notinclude Medicaid revenues received by the municipality or district pursuant tochapter 8 of title 40. A community which has a decrease in enrollment maycompute maintenance of effort on a per pupil rather than on an aggregate basiswhen determining its local contribution; furthermore, a community whichexperiences a nonrecurring expenditure for its schools may deduct thenonrecurring expenditure in computing its maintenance of effort. The deductionof nonrecurring expenditures shall be with the approval of the commissioner.The courts of this state shall enforce this section by writ of mandamus.

   (b) Whenever any state funds are appropriated for educationalpurposes, the funds shall be used for educational purposes only and all statefunds appropriated for educational purposes must be used to supplement any andall money allocated by a city or town for educational purposes and, in noevent, shall state funds be used to supplant, directly or indirectly, any moneyallocated by a city or town for educational purposes. All state funds shall beappropriated by the municipality to the school committee for educationalpurposes in the same fiscal year in which they are appropriated at the statelevel even if the municipality has already adopted a school budget. All stateand local funds unexpended by the end of the fiscal year of appropriation shallremain a surplus of the school committee and shall not revert to themunicipality. Any surplus of state or local funds appropriated for educationalpurposes shall not in any respect affect the requirement that each communitycontribute local funds in an amount not less than its local contribution forschools in the previous fiscal year, subject to subsection (a) of this section,and shall not in any event be deducted from the amount of the localappropriation required to meet the maintenance of effort provision in any givenyear.