Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division
HF 228 – Open Enrollment Equality, School District Diversity Plans (LSB1045HV.2)
Staff Contact: Michael Guanci (515.725.1286) michael.guanci@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – Final Action
Description
House File 228 repeals school district voluntary diversity plans set in place in FY 2009 and
disallows denial of open enrollment based on those plans; eliminates provisions directing the
State Board of Education to adopt rules and guidelines for districts with voluntary diversity
plans; and removes requirements for the Department of Education (DE) to provide technical
assistance to the school districts with voluntary diversity plans in place. The Bill further allows
for open enrollment after the March 1 deadline for grades 1 through 12 during the 2021-2022
school year if a school district had a voluntary diversity plan in place during the 2020-2021
school year. The Bill is effective upon enactment.
Background
Voluntary diversity plans were enacted after changes made by the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling
in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, 551 U.S. 701 (2007).
A voluntary diversity plan had to be adopted by the school district within a certain time frame,
could only concern a limited number of factors, and could not use race as a factor.
Five Iowa school districts currently have voluntary diversity plans, with three districts (Davenport
Community Schools, Des Moines Public Schools, and Waterloo Community School District)
using socioeconomic status and two districts (West Liberty Community School District and
Postville Community School District) using English language learner (ELL) status as their
metrics for denying open enrollment. There are no districts in Iowa currently under a court-
ordered desegregation plan.
Assumptions
The estimated fiscal impact is based on averages of FY 2018-FY 2019 survey data for voluntary
diversity plans and FY 2018-FY 2020 data for open enrollment denials and includes the
following assumptions:
• Affected school districts will allow open enrollment out of the district for students who
previously had been denied open enrollment under voluntary diversity plans.
• Districts that previously adopted a voluntary diversity plan will have an increase in open
enrollment out, equal to the number of the previous year’s requests denied due to the
voluntary diversity plan, starting in FY 2022.
• During the 2021-2022 school year only, affected school districts will also have an increase in
open enrollment out for students who would have been denied under current law due to
filing after the March 1 deadline.
• During the 2021-2022 school year only, receiving districts will only be able to deny open-
enrolled students from the affected districts due to insufficient classroom space.
• The deadline for open enrollment for students entering kindergarten is September 1, 2021,
and the changes may impact FY 2022 program costs for the students’ resident districts.
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Fiscal Impact
House File 228 has no fiscal impact to the State. Districts that have denied previous open
enrollment requests based on the districts’ voluntary diversity programs may experience a
decrease in per pupil funds equal to the cost of the previous year’s State cost per pupil (SCPP)
and teacher leadership supplement, as well as a decrease resulting from any additional ELL
weighting for the applicable pupils. The following table shows the possible fiscal impact by
district based on survey information from previous school years’ open enrollment survey data.
The data has been averaged where applicable.
Fiscal Impact to School Districts Due to Increased Open Enrollment — HF 228
FY 2022 FY 2023
Est. Number of New Estimate of Total Est. Number of New Estimate of Total
Open Enrollment Out Funds Leaving Open Enrollment Out Funds Leaving
of Resident District Resident District of Resident District Resident District
Davenport* 94 $ 694,566 94 $ 712,144
Des Moines 361 2,667,429 192 1,454,592
Postville 2 14,778 2 15,152
Waterloo 75 554,175 57 431,832
West Liberty** 5 36,945 0 0
* Data not available to fully calculate FY 2022.
** No voluntary diversity open enrollment denials for the years examined.
Open enrollment funds included the previous year's SCPP and teacher leadership categorical.
It is unknown into which districts pupils may choose to open enroll; therefore, the fiscal impact to
the receiving districts cannot be determined. This estimate does not include any additional
enrollments due to previously denied open enrollments from prior fiscal years. Any additional
pupils previously denied under the voluntary open enrollment plans from previous fiscal years
who choose to open enroll may increase the fiscal impact on the resident school districts.
Sources
Iowa Association of School Boards
Iowa Department of Education
Urban Education Network of Iowa
Des Moines Independent School District
LSA calculations
/s/ Holly M. Lyons
June 7, 2021
Doc ID 1219475
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in
developing this fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services
Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 256F.4
Enrolled: 256F.4