LB153 LB153
2021 2021
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 153
Introduced by Wayne, 13.
Read first time January 08, 2021
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to schools; to amend sections 79-528 and
2 79-1003, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2020; to change
3 reporting requirements; to define and redefine terms; to include
4 virtual school students in the calculation of aid under the Tax
5 Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act; to harmonize
6 provisions; and to repeal the original sections.
7 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 79-528, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2020, is amended to read:
3 79-528 (1)(a) On or before July 20 in all school districts, the
4 superintendent shall file with the State Department of Education a report
5 showing the number of children from five through eighteen years of age
6 belonging to the school district according to the census taken as
7 provided in sections 79-524 and 79-578.
8 (b) The board of any district neglecting to take and report the
9 enumeration shall be liable to the school district for all school money
10 which such district may lose by such neglect.
11 (2) On or before June 30 the superintendent of each school district
12 shall file with the Commissioner of Education a report described as an
13 end-of-the-school-year annual statistical summary showing (a) the number
14 of children attending school during the year under five years of age, (b)
15 the length of time the school has been taught during the year by a
16 qualified teacher, (c) the length of time taught by each substitute
17 teacher, (d) the number of classes a student is required to enroll in for
18 full-time enrollment in the district at each grade level for the school
19 year, (e) the definition of a class used by the district for the purpose
20 of determining full-time and part-time enrollment at each grade level for
21 the school year, (f) the number of classes completed by each virtual
22 school student as defined in section 79-1003 for the school year, and (g)
23 (d) such other information as the Commissioner of Education directs.
24 (3) On or before November 1 the superintendent of each school
25 district shall submit to the Commissioner of Education a report described
26 as the annual financial report showing (a) (i) the amount of money
27 received from all sources during the year and the amount of money
28 expended by the school district during the year, (b) (ii) the amount of
29 bonded indebtedness, (c) (iii) such other information as shall be
30 necessary to fulfill the requirements of the Tax Equity and Educational
31 Opportunities Support Act and section 79-1114, and (d) (iv) such other
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1 information as the Commissioner of Education directs.
2 (4)(a) On or before October 15 of each year, the superintendent of
3 each school district shall file with the commissioner the fall school
4 district membership report, which report shall include the number of
5 children from birth through twenty years of age enrolled in the district
6 on October 1 of a given school year. The report shall also include
7 enumerate (i) students by grade level, (ii) school district levies and
8 total assessed valuation for the current fiscal year, (iii) students
9 enrolled in the district as option students, (iv) resident students
10 enrolled in another district as option students, (v) students enrolled in
11 the district as open enrollment students, (vi) and resident students
12 enrolled in another district as open enrollment students, (vii) the
13 number of classes a student is required to enroll in for full-time
14 enrollment in the district at each grade level for such school year,
15 (viii) the definition of a class used by the district for the purpose of
16 determining full-time and part-time enrollment at each grade level for
17 such school year, (ix) the number of classes in which each virtual school
18 student as defined in section 79-1003 is enrolled on October 1 of such
19 school year, and (x) (iv) such other information as the Commissioner of
20 Education directs.
21 (b) On or before October 15 of each year prior to 2017, each
22 learning community coordinating council shall issue to the department a
23 report which enumerates the learning community levies pursuant to
24 subdivision (2)(b) of section 77-3442 and total assessed valuation for
25 the current fiscal year.
26 (b) (c) When any school district fails to submit its fall membership
27 report by November 1, the commissioner shall, after notice to the
28 district and an opportunity to be heard, direct that any state aid
29 granted pursuant to the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support
30 Act be withheld until such time as the report is received by the
31 department. In addition, the commissioner shall direct the county
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1 treasurer to withhold all school money belonging to the school district
2 until such time as the commissioner notifies the county treasurer of
3 receipt of such report. The county treasurer shall withhold such money.
4 Sec. 2. Section 79-1003, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
5 2020, is amended to read:
6 79-1003 For purposes of the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities
7 Support Act:
8 (1) Adjusted general fund operating expenditures means (a) for
9 school fiscal years 2013-14 through 2015-16, the difference of the
10 general fund operating expenditures as calculated pursuant to subdivision
11 (23) of this section increased by the cost growth factor calculated
12 pursuant to section 79-1007.10, minus the transportation allowance,
13 special receipts allowance, poverty allowance, limited English
14 proficiency allowance, distance education and telecommunications
15 allowance, elementary site allowance, summer school allowance,
16 instructional time allowance, teacher education allowance, and focus
17 school and program allowance, (b) for school fiscal years 2016-17 through
18 2018-19, the difference of the general fund operating expenditures as
19 calculated pursuant to subdivision (23) of this section increased by the
20 cost growth factor calculated pursuant to section 79-1007.10, minus the
21 transportation allowance, special receipts allowance, poverty allowance,
22 limited English proficiency allowance, distance education and
23 telecommunications allowance, elementary site allowance, summer school
24 allowance, and focus school and program allowance, and (c) for school
25 fiscal year 2019-20 and each school fiscal year thereafter, the
26 difference of the general fund operating expenditures as calculated
27 pursuant to subdivision (23) of this section increased by the cost growth
28 factor calculated pursuant to section 79-1007.10, minus the
29 transportation allowance, special receipts allowance, poverty allowance,
30 limited English proficiency allowance, distance education and
31 telecommunications allowance, elementary site allowance, summer school
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1 allowance, community achievement plan allowance, and focus school and
2 program allowance;
3 (2) Adjusted valuation means the assessed valuation of taxable
4 property of each local system in the state, adjusted pursuant to the
5 adjustment factors described in section 79-1016. Adjusted valuation means
6 the adjusted valuation for the property tax year ending during the school
7 fiscal year immediately preceding the school fiscal year in which the aid
8 based upon that value is to be paid. For purposes of determining the
9 local effort rate yield pursuant to section 79-1015.01, adjusted
10 valuation does not include the value of any property which a court, by a
11 final judgment from which no appeal is taken, has declared to be
12 nontaxable or exempt from taxation;
13 (3) Allocated income tax funds means the amount of assistance paid
14 to a local system pursuant to section 79-1005.01;
15 (4) Average daily membership means, as provided in each school
16 district's annual statistical summary pursuant to section 79-528, the
17 average daily membership for grades kindergarten through twelve
18 attributable to the local system, including as provided in each
19 district's annual statistical summary, and includes the proportionate
20 share of students enrolled in a public school instructional program on
21 less than a full-time basis;
22 (5) Base fiscal year means the first school fiscal year following
23 the school fiscal year in which the reorganization or unification
24 occurred;
25 (6) Board means the school board of each school district;
26 (7) Categorical funds means funds limited to a specific purpose by
27 federal or state law, including, but not limited to, Title I funds, Title
28 VI funds, federal vocational education funds, federal school lunch funds,
29 Indian education funds, Head Start funds, and funds from the Education
30 Innovation Fund;
31 (8) Consolidate means to voluntarily reduce the number of school
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1 districts providing education to a grade group and does not include
2 dissolution pursuant to section 79-498;
3 (9) Converted contract means an expired contract that was in effect
4 for at least fifteen school years beginning prior to school year 2012-13
5 for the education of students in a nonresident district in exchange for
6 tuition from the resident district when the expiration of such contract
7 results in the nonresident district educating students, who would have
8 been covered by the contract if the contract were still in effect, as
9 option students pursuant to the enrollment option program established in
10 section 79-234;
11 (10) Converted contract option student means a student who will be
12 an option student pursuant to the enrollment option program established
13 in section 79-234 for the school fiscal year for which aid is being
14 calculated and who would have been covered by a converted contract if the
15 contract were still in effect and such school fiscal year is the first
16 school fiscal year for which such contract is not in effect;
17 (11) Department means the State Department of Education;
18 (12) District means any school district or unified system as defined
19 in section 79-4,108;
20 (13) Ensuing school fiscal year means the school fiscal year
21 following the current school fiscal year;
22 (14) Equalization aid means the amount of assistance calculated to
23 be paid to a local system pursuant to section 79-1008.01;
24 (15) Fall membership means, the total membership in kindergarten
25 through grade twelve attributable to the local system as reported on the
26 fall school district membership reports for each district pursuant to
27 section 79-528, the total membership in kindergarten through grade twelve
28 attributable to the local system, including the proportionate share of
29 students enrolled in a public school instructional program on less than a
30 full-time basis;
31 (16) Fiscal year means the state fiscal year which is the period
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1 from July 1 to the following June 30;
2 (17) Formula students means:
3 (a) For state aid certified pursuant to section 79-1022, the sum of
4 the product of fall membership from the school fiscal year immediately
5 preceding the school fiscal year in which the aid is to be paid
6 multiplied by the average ratio of average daily membership to fall
7 membership for the second school fiscal year immediately preceding the
8 school fiscal year in which the aid is to be paid and the prior two
9 school fiscal years plus sixty percent of the qualified early childhood
10 education fall membership plus tuitioned students from the school fiscal
11 year immediately preceding the school fiscal year in which aid is to be
12 paid minus the product of the number of students enrolled in kindergarten
13 that is not full-day kindergarten from the fall membership multiplied by
14 0.5; and
15 (b) For the final calculation of state aid pursuant to section
16 79-1065, the sum of average daily membership plus sixty percent of the
17 qualified early childhood education average daily membership plus
18 tuitioned students minus the product of the number of students enrolled
19 in kindergarten that is not full-day kindergarten from the average daily
20 membership multiplied by 0.5 from the school fiscal year immediately
21 preceding the school fiscal year in which aid was paid;
22 (18) Free lunch and free milk calculated students means, using the
23 most recent data available on November 1 of the school fiscal year
24 immediately preceding the school fiscal year in which aid is to be paid,
25 (a) for schools that did not provide free meals to all students pursuant
26 to the community eligibility provision, students who individually
27 qualified for free lunches or free milk pursuant to the federal Richard
28 B. Russell National School Lunch Act, 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq., and the
29 federal Child Nutrition Act of 1966, 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq., as such acts
30 and sections existed on January 1, 2015, and rules and regulations
31 adopted thereunder, plus (b) for schools that provided free meals to all
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1 students pursuant to the community eligibility provision, (i) for school
2 fiscal year 2016-17, the product of the students who attended such school
3 multiplied by the identified student percentage calculated pursuant to
4 such federal provision or (ii) for school fiscal year 2017-18 and each
5 school fiscal year thereafter, the greater of the number of students in
6 such school who individually qualified for free lunch or free milk using
7 the most recent school fiscal year for which the school did not provide
8 free meals to all students pursuant to the community eligibility
9 provision or one hundred ten percent of the product of the students who
10 qualified for free meals at such school pursuant to the community
11 eligibility provision multiplied by the identified student percentage
12 calculated pursuant to such federal provision, except that the free lunch
13 and free milk students calculated for any school pursuant to subdivision
14 (18)(b)(ii) of this section shall not exceed one hundred percent of the
15 students qualified for free meals at such school pursuant to the
16 community eligibility provision;
17 (19) Free lunch and free milk student means, for school fiscal years
18 prior to school fiscal year 2016-17, a student who qualified for free
19 lunches or free milk from the most recent data available on November 1 of
20 the school fiscal year immediately preceding the school fiscal year in
21 which aid is to be paid;
22 (20) Full-day kindergarten means kindergarten offered by a district
23 for at least one thousand th