LEGISLATIVE SERVICES AGENCY
OFFICE OF FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT ANALYSIS
200 W. Washington St., Suite 301
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 233-0696
iga.in.gov
FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
LS 7108 NOTE PREPARED: Jan 8, 2020
BILL NUMBER: SB 441 BILL AMENDED:
SUBJECT: Various Education Matters.
FIRST AUTHOR: Sen. Melton BILL STATUS: As Introduced
FIRST SPONSOR:
FUNDS AFFECTED: X GENERAL IMPACT: State & Local
DEDICATED
X FEDERAL
Summary of Legislation: This bill has the following provisions:
Data Standard: The bill requires certain school corporations and schools to provide information and meet
certain requirements regarding compatibility with the Ed-Fi Data Standard.
Moratorium: The bill establishes a five year moratorium for any new school corporations, charter schools,
and eligible choice scholarship schools. It limits student enrollment in virtual charter schools.
Training Requirements: The bill provides that a school corporation may request that the Department of
Education (DOE) waive for school employees of the school corporation one or more school employee
training requirements.
Teacher Licenses: The bill amends requirements regarding: (1) out of state license holders obtaining an
Indiana teaching license; and (2) adding a content area to an Indiana teaching license if an individual holds
a teaching license in a content area in another state. It establishes a Temporary District Level Administrator
License and a Temporary Building Level Administrator License.
Teacher Appreciation Grant: The bill provides that a special education cooperative, cooperative career and
technical education program, and special education program established by an interlocal agreement may
qualify for a teacher appreciation grant.
Accountability Grade: The bill provides that an elementary school's final category or designation of school
performance assigned by the State Board of Education (State Board) for the 2018-2019 school year may not
be lower than the elementary school's grade for the 2017-2018 school year. It provides that the official
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category or designation of school performance for any school for the 2018-2019 school year may not be used
for purposes of certain consequences related to school performance.
Points Scale: The bill requires the State Board to adopt emergency rules to amend the points scale used to
determine a school's final category or designation of school performance.
Count Dates: The bill amends, beginning July 1, 2021, the day established for fall count and spring count
in determining average daily membership (ADM). It amends the count dates for determining grants for
special education programs and the use of the count dates in distributing grants for special education
programs. The bill also repeals certain provisions regarding the fall and spring count dates.
Teacher Evaluations: The bill removes the requirements that teacher evaluations must include objective
measures of student growth as part of the evaluation.
Black Reflective Tape: The bill removes the requirements that school buses must have black reflective tape.
Professional Growth Points: The bill repeals a provision that provides that the professional growth
experience points required to renew a practitioner license or an accomplished practitioner license be obtained
through the completion of externships or certain other types of professional development.
Effective Date: Upon passage; July 1, 2018 (retroactive); July 1, 2020; July 1, 2021.
Explanation of State Expenditures: Accountability Grade: Under this provision, an elementary school’s
accountability grade for the 2018-2019 school year cannot be lower than its 2017-2018 grade; a high school’s
2018-2019 accountability grade would remain as is. The bill, however, provides that the accountability grade
any elementary or high school for the 2018-2019 school year may not be used for purposes of certain
consequences related to school performance.
The bill would have an indeterminable impact on state expenditures regarding charter and innovation
network school grants, choice scholarships, and the State Board expenditures. State expenditures for charter
and innovation school grants could be higher than they would be in the absence of this bill; the bill could
result in some choice-eligible schools that would not have been allowed to enroll new choice scholarship
students being allowed to do so. If these new students would have attended a public school, state tuition
support expenditures would be higher than they would be in the absence of this bill because the average per-
student funding for public schools is higher than the average choice scholarship. Finally, the State Board
would save on the resources it could have had to allocate to oversee schools on academic probation under
current law.
Moratorium: The impact on state tuition support expenditures is unknown at this time. It would depend on
how any change in ADM is distributed among the various types of schools. Assuming that the ADM would
be increasing, if a relatively greater percentage of the additional students were to attend a school corporation
or a charter school than they would in the absence of this bill, state tuition support expenditures would be
higher than they would be in the absence of this bill. This is because the per-student funding for a school
corporation or charter school is currently higher than the average choice scholarship and the per-student
funding for a virtual charter school. In FY 2020, the per-student funding for a school corporation is estimated
to be $6,964; for a charter school, $7,544; for a virtual school, $6,255; and for a choice scholarship, $4,632.
This could change depending on the distribution of a change in ADM and the per-student funding for each
type of school.
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[From school year 2020-2021 to 2024-2025, the bill imposes a five-year moratorium on any new charter
schools, school corporations, and choice scholarship schools. It caps the enrollment for current virtual
schools at the level in the 2020-2021 school year, and imposes a cap of 500 students enrolling in a virtual
school opening in the 2020-2021 school year and thereafter.]
Count Dates: Beginning in FY 2021, the bill changes the fall count date to the first business day in October,
and the spring count date to the first business day in February, unless the State Board decides to choose
alternate dates. Shifting the fall count date to early October could affect the collective bargaining timeline.
Under this bill, if the count day is the first business day in October, the DOE will have to provide the
certified general fund estimate by October 30, thereby reducing the time the parties can bargain with the
latest certified estimates from four weeks to about two.
The impact on changing the special education count date to October and February from December and April
respectively would potentially reduce the special education grant to school corporations. In the past, the
ADM count in February is between 0.5% and 1% lower than the count in September. If the special education
count follows the same pattern, the special education grant based on the February count will be lower than
the grant based on the September count, thereby reducing the total grant. The DOE will be able to use the
special education October count to satisfy federal requirements.
Data Standard: Under the bill, the DOE would have to employ the Ed-Fi data standard in addition to its
current data standard. This would be done in order to accommodate school corporations that have not
transitioned to the Ed-Fi data standard as well as those who have. The DOE would also have to provide
appropriate training for members of its Information Technology staff. The bill’s requirements represent an
additional workload [and/or expenditure] on the agency outside of the agency’s routine administrative
functions, and existing staffing and resource levels, if currently being used to capacity, may be insufficient
for full implementation. The additional funds and resources required could be supplied through existing staff
and resources currently being used in another program or with new appropriations. Ultimately, the source
of funds and resources required to satisfy the requirements of this bill will depend on legislative and
administrative actions.
Points Scale: The State Board should be able to be implement this requirement within existing resources.
Training Requirements: This should increase the workload of the DOE but this can be fulfilled within its
current resources.
Teacher Appreciation Grant: There would be no impact on state expenditures for teacher appreciation grants.
Teacher Licenses: Under this bill, the workload of the DOE is expected to increase due to: (1) applications
for two temporary administrator licenses established by this bill; and (2) and a possible increase in
applications for an Indiana license by holders of out-of-state licenses. If the DOE needs additional resources
to process the increase, they could be supplied through existing staff and resources currently being used in
another program or with new appropriations.
Teacher Evaluations: The DOE would have to update its model evaluation plan to include the provisions of
this bill. This can be accomplished within existing resources.
Explanation of State Revenues: Moratorium-State-Supported Charter School Authorizers: This applies
to Ball State University and the Indiana Charter School Board. A number of charter schools close each year
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(9 closed in school year 2019-2020.) The moratorium on any new charter schools, together with the number
of charter school closures, could cause a net decrease in the total ADM of the charter schools authorized by
Ball State University and/or the Indiana Charter School Board. As a result, the administrative fees for these
state-supported charter school authorizers would be lower than they would be under current law. Charter
school authorizers are entitled to an administrative fee of up to 3% of the basic tuition support of the charter
schools they authorize.
Explanation of Local Expenditures: Accountability Grade: Under current law, elementary schools that
receive an accountability grade of “F” have certain tasks they must complete, such as holding public
hearings, issuing public notices, and revising school plans. This bill would nullify the workload increase for
an elementary school that received an “F” in 2018-2019 but a higher grade in the 2017-2018 school year.
Data Standard: By June 30, 2022, school corporations must submit all student data to the DOE on data
systems that are Ed-Fi compatible or school corporation would incur the cost of submitting the required data
to the DOE using protocols, processes, and time lines established by the DOE. The fiscal impact would be
whether Ed-Fi compatible system are higher in cost than non Ed-Fi systems.
Count Dates: If a school corporation were to declare an impasse because of this provision, the school
corporation would have to incur the administrative costs associated with the impasse such as the cost of the
mediator.
Training Requirements: This could potentially reduce the training expenditures of the school corporation and
could reduce the need for substitute teachers to stand in for teachers undergoing training.
Teacher Evaluations: The fiscal impact would depend on local action. It is unlikely to change the amount
of funds school corporations allocate to their compensation plans. However, if a school corporation were not
to include objective measures of student achievement in its staff evaluation plan, a teacher’s evaluation rating
would be based solely on the teacher’s classroom performance and not on student performance on statewide
and local assessments. This could impact the rating the teacher receives and, in turn, the teacher’s eligibility
for a salary increase, performance grant award, and future employment in the school corporation.
Black Reflective Tape: Those school corporations that have not installed the tape would save on the potential
costs of doing so.
Teacher Licenses: This could initially increase the workload of governing bodies in submitting written
requests for a temporary license on behalf of the applicant. However, if the application is accepted it would
increase the number of administrators on staff thereby reducing the shortage of available administrators.
Similarly, the reduced requirements for out-of-state teachers could increase the number of available teachers
thereby reducing the need to employ substitutes.
Explanation of Local Revenues: Moratorium: The impact on tuition support funding is unknown at this
time. It would depend on the distribution of any change in ADM among the various types of schools. See
Explanation of State Revenues regarding the impact on administrative fees. This will also apply to the
Indianapolis Charter School Board.
Charter Renewals: Under current law, charter school authorizers cannot renew a charter and must impose
closure of any charter school that receives an "F"accountability grade for three consecutive years, unless it
receives a waiver from the SBOE. Since the bill specifies that the charter schools' grades for the 2018-2019
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school year cannot be used, it may allow any charter schools that had received an "F" two years in a row to
avoid closure if they would have received an "F" grade for the 2018-2019 school year. Indianapolis
Metropolitan High School and Neighbors New Vista High School-Porter County are the only two charter
schools that have received an "F" grade two years in a row and are open in the 2019-2020 school year.
Count Dates-Special Education Grant: The total special education grant would probably decrease because
of this provision. Based on the past ADM counts, it is expected that the special education count in February
is expected to between 0.5% and 1% lower than the count in October. This will lead to an overall decrease
in the special education grant. It is unknown by how much the decrease would be.
Teacher Appreciation Grant: The bill's provisions will not impact revenue schools receive from the Teacher
Appreciation Grant. However, some teachers that likely would not have been rated as effective or highly
effective will be rated as such under the bill. Unless they have been a teacher for two or fewer years, teachers
are eligible for a pay increase only if they receive an effective or highly effective rating.
State Agencies Affected: State Board of Education; Department of Education; Indiana Education
Employment Relations Board; State-supported charter school authorizers.
Local Agencies Affected: School corporations; Charter schools; Virtual Charter Schools; Indianapolis
Charter School Board; Local school corporation charter school authorizers.
Information Sources:
Fiscal Analyst: David Lusan, 317-232-9592.
SB 441 5


Statutes affected:
1. Introduced Senate Bill (S): 9-19-13-4, 20-28-5-18, 20-28-5-19, 20-28-11.5-4, 20-28-11.5-8, 20-28-11.5-9, 20-43-4-2, 20-43-4-9, 20-43-7-9, 20-43-10-3.5, 20-51-4-4