North Kent News

Michigan Association of School Boards issued the following announcement on Sept. 13. 

Conference Committee Reports School Aid Budget

The conference committee on the School Aid budget met Thursday afternoon and reported out its budget on a party-line vote. However, the report does not reflect negotiations with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

The conference report, House Bill 4242 CR1, includes a per-pupil foundation allowance increase of $120-240 using the 2x formula. It does not include the weighted per-pupil formulas for special education, at-risk or career technical education students as proposed by the Governor and the School Finance Research Collaborative.

Special education funding is not increased through the normal formula, but a separate line item includes $30.2 million for local and intermediate school districts to increase reimbursements by approximately 1%. At-risk funding is increased by only $5 million and the CTE per-pupil payment is maintained. The high school per-pupil allowance is not included in the proposal, nor is there any change in Great Start Readiness Program eligibility or rates.

The report does increase funding under the third grade reading section by $29.3 million; $14 million is for ISDs to hire reading coaches, however, ISDs will still have to pay the 50% match. The other $15 million is directed to a one-time summer school reading grant program for third grade pupils who are not proficient in the English Language Arts portion of the 2019 M-STEP.

Finally, the budget removes $150 million from the funding for universities and puts it back in the General Fund budget. The School Aid budget still will pay $350 million for universities and $415 million for community colleges. Funding for this budget is also contingent on the passage of HB 4125, which just received a hearing in the House Tax Policy Committee this week. This bill reverses the shift in income tax revenues from the School Aid Fund to other priorities that was done in the 2018 lame duck session. This would put approximately $170 million back into the School Aid Fund.

We are encouraged by movement on the budget, but disappointed the recommendations of the SFRC are not included. The budget is now before the House for a vote on the conference report, which cannot be amended. If approved by both the House and Senate, it will go to the Governor for her consideration, but seeing that it was drafted without her input, we are not sure what she will do with this proposal.

We will have a comparison of the conference report and the Governor’s budget in more detail next week on our website.

Committee Considers Changes to Enroll in Strict Discipline Academies

Tuesday morning, the House Education Committee took testimony on HB 4675, which would expand opportunities for districts to refer students to strict discipline academies. Strict discipline academies are unique charter schools that provide traditional education courses in a controlled environment and require strict adherence to behavior policies.

Under the current law, students may be referred to a strict discipline academy by the court or after they have been expelled from their district. This bill would allow a district to refer a student requiring Tier 3 support based on a multitiered system of supports before expelling or suspending the student.

A substitute was adopted in committee that would allow districts to refer students before they are expelled if the student has been identified as requiring intense intervention to address highly accelerated or severe and persistently challenging academic or nonacademic needs or requires Tier 3 supports under MTSS.

MASB supports the bill as introduced. We agree with the goal of intervening earlier to prevent these students from having to go through the expulsion process. The new language in the substitute raises some concerns due to the broad definition of students it could apply to including those receiving special education. We want to limit these referrals to students who have thoroughly exhausted all of the services of the local district. We have met with the bill sponsor to discuss that issue and will continue to work with her.

The committee did not take a vote on the bill, but further hearings are expected.

Seats Still Available for Behind the Scenes—Register Today!

The fall Behind the Scenes at the Capitol event will be held on Sept. 25, 2019 in the Anderson House Office Building from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. With the budget negotiations dragging dangerously close to the end of the fiscal year, it’s more important than ever to talk to your legislators and build those relationships.

The event will include a legislator panel, budget update and an address from the new State Superintendent of Public Instruction Michael Rice, Ph.D., among other items. It concludes at 1 p.m. giving you the afternoon to meet with your legislators and/or their staff. If you need any help setting up those meetings, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Register today and secure your spot. We hope to see you in Lansing on Sept. 25!