SPECIAL EDUCATION MILLAGE S.B. 410 & 411:
SUMMARY OF INTRODUCED BILL
IN COMMITTEE
Senate Bills 410 and 411 (as introduced 5-4-21)
Sponsor: Senator Lana Theis (S.B. 410)
Senator Kimberly LaSata (S.B. 411)
Committee: Education and Career Readiness
CONTENT
Senate Bill 410 would amend the State School Aid Act to require a resident intermediate school district (ISD) or school district to transfer its special education millage support per pupil, in addition to other State and Federal funding, to an enrolling district or ISD if the resident and enrolling districts or ISDs did not reach an agreement on the responsibility for the payment of the added costs of special education programs and services for a nonresident pupil who was eligible for those services.
Senate Bill 411 would amend the Revised School Code to specify that payments described under Senate Bill 410 between a resident ISD or district and an enrolling ISD or district would be considered special education operating purposes.
The bills are tie-barred.
Senate Bill 410
The Act generally provides a process by which a district may count a nonresident pupil residing in that district located in a contiguous ISD in membership without the approval of that pupil's resident district. Currently, in order for a district or ISD to enroll a nonresident pupil who resides in a district located in a contiguous ISD and who is eligible for special education programs and services, or who is a child with disabilities, as defined under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the enrolling district must have a written agreement with the pupil's resident district for the purpose of providing the pupil with a free appropriate public education.
The written agreement must include an agreement on the responsibility for the payment of the added costs of special education programs and services for that pupil. The agreement also must address how the agreement must be amended in the event of significant changes in the costs or level of special education programs or services required by the pupil.
Under the bill, beginning on its effective date, if an agreement were not reached, a district or ISD could enroll a nonresident pupil who resided in a district located in a contiguous ISD and who was eligible for special education programs and services. After the pupil's enrollment, the resident ISD would have to transfer its special education millage support per pupil, in addition to all other State and Federal funding that otherwise would be provided to the enrolling district or ISD for that pupil, to the enrolling district or ISD. If an agreement were not reached, as provided in the bill, the enrolling district or ISD would be responsible, consistent with State and Federal law, for providing the enrolling pupil with a free appropriate public education.
"Special education millage support per pupil" would mean the total of the proceeds from millage authorized or renewed after the bill's effective date by the resident ISD of the pupil under Section 1724a of the Code, divided by the sum of the number of special education pupils who are counted in membership by the resident ISD of the pupil and the number of pupil who are counted in membership in constituent districts of the resident ISD of the pupil. "Constituent district" would mean a district or PSA that is located within the geographic boundaries of the ISD.