ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Fifth Legislature, First Regular Session
schools; resources; services; consolidation grants
Purpose
Establishes a five-year resource and service consolidation grant program (grant program) administered by the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). Appropriates $10,000,000 from the state General Fund (GF) in FY 2022.
Background
Statute designates the office of a county school superintendent (county superintendent) as a local education agency (LEA) that is eligible to receive and spend local, state and federal monies to provide programs and services to school districts, charter schools, county free library districts, municipal libraries, nonprofit and public libraries, tribal schools and libraries and private schools (A.R.S. 15-301).
Each year, a county superintendent provides an annual report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction by October 1, reporting the amount of monies received from state school funds, special school district taxes, the total expenditures for school purposes and the balance of each school district at the close of the school year. Additionally, statute authorizes a county superintendent to provide services in their respective county or jointly with two or more counties (A.R.S. 15-302).
H.B. 2022 appropriates $10,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2022 to ADE for the grant program.
Provisions
Grant Program
1. Directs ADE to conduct a five-year grant program.
2. Deems a county superintendent or a group of county superintendents eligible to apply for a grant if they demonstrate in a submitted proposal:
a) how grant monies will be made available to consolidate resources and develop new services for outlined entities;
b) the need for resource and service consolidation within the county or counties;
c) that LEAs have requested resource and service consolidation and how the proposal will address those requests;
d) the cost savings or efficiencies that will result from the proposal; and
e) that the proposal will be self-sufficient within five years.
3. Specifies that multiple county superintendents may jointly apply for a single grant to consolidate resources across county lines.
4. Requires ADE to:
a) award grants by February 1, 2022; and
b) annually disburse grant monies to recipients for five consecutive years or until ADE determines that the proposal is self-sufficient, whichever is sooner.
5. Directs ADE, in conjunction with county superintendents, to develop evaluation criteria examining the use of grant monies and whether the submitted proposal is progressing towards self-sufficiency.
6. Prohibits ADE from providing funding to grant recipients if:
a) ADE determines the proposal will not be self-sufficient within five years or;
b) that grant monies are not being used in accordance with the terms of the proposal.
7. Allows ADE to adopt policies and procedures to carry out the grant program.
8. Repeals the grant program on July 1, 2027.
Miscellaneous
9. Appropriates $10,000,000 from the state GF in FY 2022 to ADE for the grant program.
10. Exempts the appropriation from lapsing.
11. Becomes effective on the general effective date.
House Action
ED 1/12/21 DP 8-2-0-0
APPROP 1/20/21 DP 11-2-0-0
3rd Read 2/23/21 35-25-0
Prepared by Senate Research
March 4, 2021
JO/JS/gs