COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2801
((By Delegates Tabb, Paxton, Wysong, Williams,
Doyle, Campbell and Michael)
(Originating in the Committee on Finance)
[March 24, 2005]
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-9A-15 and §18-9A-22 of the Code of
West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to allowances of
public school support; authorizing certain advanced scheduled
payments of allowance for increased enrollment for certain
counties that have experienced certain recent increases in
enrollment; and authorizing grant allowances for certain
counties with low student net enrollment under certain
circumstances.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-9A-15 and §18-9A-22 the code of West Virginia, 1931,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-15. Allowance for increased enrollment.
(a) To provide for the support of increased net enrollments in
the counties in a school year over the net enrollments used in the
computation of total state aid for that year, there shall be
appropriated
for that purpose from the general revenue fund an amount equal to the average total state aid per net pupil
multiplied by the total of all of the increases in the net
enrollments of the counties made by comparing the most recent
reports of net enrollment for the second school month to the
immediately previous year's reports for the same school month.
(b) Any county wherein the net enrollment in the most recent
reports of net enrollment for the second school month compared to
the immediately previous year's reports for the same school month
has increased by fifty or more students may add to their request
schedule filed with the state board pursuant to section nineteen of
this article a schedule of payments to the county from the
appropriation made pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. The
total amount of the payments requested in the added request
schedule may not exceed sixty-five percent of the portion of the
appropriation which is attributable to the county's increased
enrollment payable over the first six months of the fiscal year.
(c) Upon determination of the several increases in the
respective counties' net enrollments, as of the close of the second
school month, each county showing such increase shall be allocated
an amount equal to that county's average per net pupil total state
aid multiplied by the increase in that county's net enrollment
determined as provided heretofore
, less any amounts paid and
payable to the county pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
If the amounts paid and payable pursuant to subsection (b) of this
section exceed the allocation due to the county under this
subsection, the county's schedule of payments of total state aid for the remainder of the fiscal year shall be reduced by the amount
of the overage and this amount shall be available for allocation
pursuant to this section.
Such The allocations shall be
distributed not later than the thirty-first day of December of each
year to the counties having increases in net enrollment as
heretofore provided. If the amount appropriated for this purpose
shall not be sufficient to provide payment in full for the total of
these several allocations, each county allocation shall be reduced
to an amount which is proportionate to the appropriation compared
to the total of the several allocations, and the allocations as
thus adjusted shall be distributed to the counties as provided in
this section:
Provided, That the governor shall request a
supplemental appropriation at the next legislative session for the
reduced amount.
(d) No provision of this section shall be construed to in any
way affect the allocation of moneys for educational purposes to a
county under other provisions of law.
(e) Except for those students who are enrolled in special
education programs, students who have not attained the age of five
prior to the first day of September
shall may not be included for
any purpose of this section.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to require any
specific level of funding by the Legislature.
§18-9A-22. Allowance to improve economies of scale of low student
enrollment counties.
(a) The Legislature finds that counties whose net enrollment
falls below a certain level may not have the economies of scale to
support the proper operation of the school system and the education
of their students. The Legislature further finds that to make a
determination of whether additional assistance is needed by such a
county, and if it is, then in what form and amount, it is necessary
to examine the local circumstances and ensure the efficient use of
available resources. Therefore, the purpose of this section is to
provide a process for examining the economies of scale of counties
with low student net enrollment and providing additional assistance
to them if necessary including, but not limited to, the grant of
funds.
(b) Upon the written request of a county with a student net
enrollment of less than one thousand four hundred students, the
state superintendent shall examine whether all of the resources
available to the county are being efficiently utilized and whether
additional assistance is needed within the county to improve its
economies of scale. The state superintendent may take any of the
following actions:
(1) If the state superintendent finds that all of the
resources of the county are not being used efficiently, the state
superintendent shall recommend areas of improvement to the county
and, if requested by the county, may provide technical assistance
to make the improvements;
(2) If the state superintendent finds that additional
assistance is needed to improve the economies of scale of the county, the state superintendent shall determine whether the
economies of scale may be increased with additional resources
through the regional education service agency, through cooperative
agreements with adjoining counties, and by technical assistance and
other programs available to the state superintendent. The state
superintendent shall take the actions that are within his or her
authority to increase the economies of scale of the county through
these means; and
(3) If the state superintendent finds that additional
assistance is needed to improve the economies of scale of the
county after the actions provided in subdivisions (1) and (2) of
this subsection are exhausted, the state superintendent may,
subject to appropriations made by the Legislature therefore, make
a grant of funds to the county to assist in improving its economies
of scale. The grant of funds may include any restrictions,
conditions and purposes that the state superintendent determines
necessary to improve the economies of scale of the county.