Brief⁽¹⁾

S.B. 344 amends the school finance law as it relates to determining a school district's enrollment for computing the school district's State Financial Aid (general fund budget) for the school year. The changes are:

Decreasing Enrollment. The decreasing enrollment provision of law is expanded to add the condition that the average of the sum of the enrollment for the current school year and for the two immediately preceding school years will be used in determining the district's State Financial Aid (school district general fund budget) when enrollment so determined is greater than the enrollment in either the current or immediately preceding school year.

Four-Year-Old At-Risk Pupils--Enrollment Adjustment. The definition of "enrollment" for the purpose of determining a school district's general fund budget is modified such that if:

1. a district's enrollment in the current year has decreased from the preceding year and the district's enrollment for the current school year is determined on the basis of the enrollment in the preceding year, the enrollment used is that of the preceding year, less four-year-old at-risk pupils included in the enrollment in that year plus the enrollment of such pupils in the current school year; or



2. a district's enrollment for the current year is determined on the three-year average method, the average is computed less four-year-old at-risk pupils and the number of such pupils in the current school year is added.

A specific provision applies the concept in proviso (1) to the current school year--1998-99. (This is the same as present law, except for the adjustment for four-year-old at-risk pupils.)

Background

S.B. 344, as introduced, dealt with the declining enrollment issue in a different manner than is described in the brief (above). Under current law, if a district's "regular" enrollment has decreased from the enrollment in the preceding school year, the enrollment of the district may be computed on the basis of the enrollment in the preceding school year. The original version of S.B. 344 proposed to expand this provision so as to base computation of a school district's enrollment on the current year, the preceding school year, or the second preceding school year, whichever is greatest. In making this determination, the number of preschool at-risk pupils in the year used for making the determination was to be subtracted from the enrollment and the number of such pupils being served in the current school year (if any) was to be added.

Representatives of the following groups presented testimony as proponents of S.B. 344, as introduced: the School Finance Coalition, Shawnee Mission (USD 512), Manhattan-Ogden Public Schools (USD 383), Hugoton (USD 210), Central (USD 462), West Graham-Moreland (USD 280), Hays (USD 489), and Burrton (USD 369). There were no opponents.

The fiscal note on S.B. 344 explained that there are about 189 school districts with declining enrollments and that the cost to the State General Fund of the bill would be about $16.2 million in FY 2000.

The Committee amended the bill as described in the brief (above). The fiscal note of the bill, as amended, is estimated to be about $3.1 million from the State General Fund in FY 2000.

(For other school finance provisions, see also S.B. 171, assigned to the House Education Committee as of March 23, 1999.)

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html