This bill amends section 15.1-27-04.1 of the North Dakota Century Code, focusing on the determination of state aid for school districts. It establishes a baseline funding formula that incorporates all state aid received during the 2018-19 school year, property tax deductions, and a percentage of various revenue types from the 2017-18 school year. A significant change is the retroactive application of this provision, as indicated by the insertion of "See note." Additionally, starting in the 2025-26 school year, the bill mandates that eighty-five percent of tuition from agreements to educate students from a school district on an air force base will be included in the state aid calculation, transitioning to a complete exclusion by the 2026-27 school year.

The bill further details the calculation process for state aid, particularly for school districts transitioning to elementary districts after the 2017-18 school year. It requires the superintendent to reduce baseline funding for these districts beginning in the 2020-21 school year, proportional to the number of weighted student units offered through another district. The bill also outlines a gradual reduction in baseline funding per weighted student unit starting in the 2021-22 school year, ensuring that funding does not fall below a specified minimum. Additionally, it includes provisions for calculating state aid for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years, adjustments to revenue types, and appropriates $34 million from the strategic investment and improvements fund to the Department of Public Instruction for integrated formula payments to school districts for the biennium beginning July 1, 2025, and ending June 30, 2027.

Statutes affected:
INTRODUCED: 15.1-27-04.1