The bill amends "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" to revise state funding for special education by introducing a new scale for determining "extraordinary" costs, which are defined as costs exceeding a state-approved threshold. This threshold is set at an amount above three and one-half times the core foundation amount for fiscal year 2026 and above three times the core foundation amount for fiscal year 2027. The bill also allows for the appropriation of funds for approved excess costs associated with special education students who move into a district after the district's budget is approved. It addresses funding for various educational programs and transportation costs, and it modifies the eligibility for a regionalization bonus for public school districts that regionalize, with specific percentages of the state's share of foundation education aid allocated for the first two fiscal years following regionalization. The bill includes deletions of language related to prorating funds among eligible school districts when approved costs exceed appropriated funding.

Additionally, the bill provides for extra state support for English learners (EL), applying a fifteen percent (15%) EL factor to the core-instruction per-pupil amount to determine additional state support for EL students. It also defines the role and required training for school resource officers (SROs) and establishes a reimbursement scheme for school districts or municipalities that employ SROs at public middle and high schools. The reimbursement is set at one-half (½) of the cost of salaries and benefits for qualifying positions, with certain restrictions. The bill is set to take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
2162: 16-7.2-6