Second Regular Session Sixty-seventh General Assembly STATE OF COLORADO INTRODUCED LLS NO. 10-0183.01 Julie Pelegrin SENATE BILL 10-017 SENATE SPONSORSHIP King K., HOUSE SPONSORSHIP Stephens, Senate Committees House Committees Education A BILL FOR AN ACT Concerning assistance to school districts for implementing weighted student funding formulas. Bill Summary (Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced and does not reflect any amendments that may be subsequently adopted. If this bill passes third reading in the house of introduction, a bill summary that applies to the reengrossed version of this bill will be available at http://www.leg.state.co.us/billsummaries.) Interim Committee to Study School Finance. The bill makes legislative findings concerning the benefits of implementing weighted student funding formulas at the school district level. The bill creates in the department of education (department) a grant program to provide moneys to school districts for designing weighted student funding formulas and providing professional development for implementation of the formulas. The department will review the applications to ensure they meet the minimum specified requirements and award grants in the order applications are received. The grant program will be funded from any federal moneys or gifts, grants, or donations received by the department for the grant program. The commissioner of education will inform the revisor of statutes on July 1, 2011, that the department has or has not received sufficient moneys to implement the grant program, and the grant program will repeal on July 1, 2011, if the department has not received sufficient moneys by that date to implement the grant program. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Colorado: SECTION 1. Part 1 of article 2 of title 22, Colorado Revised Statutes, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION to read: 22-2-138. Weighted student funding - legislative declaration - grants - repeal. (1) The general assembly finds that: (a) Increased autonomy for public schools through the use of weighted student funding by school districts has been shown to raise the level of academic achievement in the public schools by ensuring that the moneys appropriated to address the individual needs of certain students follows those students into their respective schools; (b) The use of a district-level weighted student funding formula directs the incrementally increased funding provided for certain students based on identified student characteristics into each student's respective public school where the personnel at that school can use those moneys directly to benefit the particular student; (c) Using a weighted student funding formula to drive resources into each public school enables the school to develop the specific programs it needs to address each student's unique needs and enhance each student's academic growth; (d) To successfully implement a well-planned weighted student funding formula, school districts need to provide increased staff development that will empower the personnel leading each public school to exercise the increased autonomy that the public school receives due to application of the weighted student funding formula; (e) The design and implementation of a school district budget that includes significant use of a weighted student funding formula are challenging entrepreneurial tasks that require resources both for planning and for professional development to help ensure successful implementation. (2) (a) There is hereby created in the department a weighted student funding planning grant program, referred to in this section as the "grant program", to provide resources for school districts that choose to create and implement a weighted student funding formula. A school district may apply to the department for a one-time grant of up to one hundred thousand dollars for use in creating a weighted student funding formula or providing professional development to principals or other administrators for implementation of a weighted student funding formula, or for both design and professional development. Implementation of the grant program and the awarding of grants shall be subject to the receipt of sufficient moneys pursuant to subsection (3) of this section. (b) A school district that chooses to apply for a grant shall submit an application to the department beginning August 1 of the applicable budget year. Each application shall specify the grant amount the district is requesting and how the district will use the grant moneys, including: (I) Whether the school district already uses a weighted student funding formula in allocating moneys to the public schools of the school district; (II) The time frame for implementing a weighted student funding formula if one is not already in use and the process that the school district will use to design the formula; (III) The type of professional development, if any, that the school district seeks to provide with the grant moneys. (c) The department shall review the applications and, subject to the receipt of moneys pursuant to subsection (3) of this section, award one-time grants to school districts pursuant to this section. An individual grant shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars. The department shall pay the grant moneys from any moneys received pursuant to subsection (3) of this section based on the order in which the department receives the grant applications. (3) The department may seek, accept, and expend federal moneys and other gifts, grants, and donations to implement the grant program; except that the department may not accept a gift, grant, or donation that is subject to conditions that are inconsistent with this section or any other law of the state. The general assembly shall not appropriate state moneys for the implementation of the grant program. (4) (a) On July 1, 2011, or as soon as possible thereafter, the commissioner of education shall provide written notice to the revisor of statutes that the department, as of July 1, 2011, has or has not received federal moneys and allocated said moneys to the grant program or that the department, as of said date, has or has not received a sufficient amount in other gifts, grants, or donations to implement the grant program. (b) This section is repealed, effective July 1, 2011, if the revisor of statutes receives notice from the commissioner pursuant to paragraph (a) of this subsection (4) that the department, as of said date, has not received and allocated sufficient federal moneys or received a sufficient amount in other gifts, grants, or donations to implement the grant program. SECTION 2. Safety clause. The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that this act is necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, and safety.