HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 140

(By Delegates Pasdon, Duke, Espinosa, Hamrick, Kelly, Kurcaba, Moye and Pushkin)

[Originating in the Committee on Education]

(March 11, 2015)

Requesting the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to conduct a study on public school finance.

            Whereas, The Public School Support Plan as set forth in Article 9A, Chapter 18 of the Code of West Virginia is intended to provide a reasonable and reliable estimate of the funding necessary to provide the basic foundation for a thorough and efficient education using actual enrollment-based costs for personnel, benefits, transportation expenses, current expense and instructional programs; and

            Whereas, The public School Support Plan has been amended from time to time with the addition of non-formula allowances to address particular needs for funding, to compensate for differences in economies of scale for staffing based on student population density, and to recognize the added financial stress from rapidly growing enrollment; and

            Whereas, A review by the House Education Subcommittee on Public School Finance has identified areas of the overall system of public school finance that merit further consideration, including, but not limited to:

            (A) Whether the differences in staffing ratios for school systems with different student population density, including the adjustment for school systems with less than 1,400 students, adequately compensate for differences in economies of scale;

            (B) Whether the allowance for the replacement of school buses accurately reflects bus replacement needs based on the expected useful life of buses and bus safety;

            (C) A statutorily fixed dollar amount for the allowance for professional student support personnel that does not provide for needed increases in nurses and counselors as enrollment increases and further reduces nurse and counselor employment when the dollars are required for state salary increases;

            (D) The absence of state funded positions for technology system specialists to adequately service and maintain the growing number of instructional technology devices in use in the schools;

            (E) The lack of a rational basis between salary costs that are currently used for determining the allowance for current expense and the actual costs of school systems for funding general operations and maintenance;

            (F) The current non-formula allowances in areas including special education, high acuity/high cost special needs students, high cost nursing services, limited English proficient students, alternative education, tuition reimbursement, and beginning teacher induction and support programs that are fixed appropriations and do not reflect changing school system needs;

            (G) The salary equity provisions limiting the allowable difference in salary potential for school employees in different counties and attributable to differences in local salary supplements, date back to the equal inputs model of educational equity in place in 1984 and may not reflect the current market conditions; and

            Whereas, The appropriate consideration, analysis and development of alternatives if needed to address these issues requires study and fiscal analysis that can not reasonably be accomplished within the time frame of the regular legislative session; therefore, be it

            Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia:

            That the Joint Committee on Government and Finance is hereby requested to conduct a study on public school finance; and be it

            Further Resolved, That the said Joint Committee on Government and Finance is requested to report to the regular session of the Legislature, 2016, on its findings, conclusions and recommendations, together with drafts of any legislation necessary to effectuate its recommendations; and be it

            Further Resolved, That the expenses necessary to conduct this study, to prepare a report and draft necessary legislation are requested to be paid from legislative appropriations to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.