1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; enhancing the educational 
  1.3             experience of children attending schools with 
  1.4             concentrated levels of poverty; increasing the general 
  1.5             education formula allowance; appropriating money; 
  1.6             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, sections 124A.22, 
  1.7             subdivision 2, as amended; and 124A.23, subdivision 1; 
  1.8             proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.9             chapter 124. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  [124.315] [FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE LUNCH AID.] 
  1.12     Subdivision 1.  [AID AMOUNTS.] Each school district shall 
  1.13  receive, in addition to other state aids, the sum of $400 times 
  1.14  the number of students who received free school lunch, based on 
  1.15  the fall enrollment count for the preceding year and $200 times 
  1.16  the number of students who received reduced-price lunch, based 
  1.17  on the fall enrollment count for the previous year.  
  1.18     Subd. 2.  [REVENUE ALLOCATION.] Each school district must 
  1.19  allocate aid received under subdivision 1 to each school program 
  1.20  in the district based on the concentration of economically 
  1.21  disadvantaged students.  School programs with a concentration of 
  1.22  students receiving free or reduced-price lunches above the 
  1.23  district's average must receive proportionally more of the 
  1.24  allotted funds than school programs where the concentration of 
  1.25  poor students is below the district's average. 
  1.26     Subd. 3.  [REVENUE USES.] The school district shall use the 
  1.27  funds for one or more of the following objectives or for other 
  2.1   purposes approved by the state board of education: 
  2.2      (1) provide additional learning opportunities by 
  2.3   lengthening the school year or extending the school day; 
  2.4      (2) strengthen Head Start and similar early childhood 
  2.5   education and school-readiness programs; 
  2.6      (3) provide day care services for both students with 
  2.7   children and the parents of students while they are 
  2.8   participating in school-related activities; 
  2.9      (4) establish or expand full-service schools and 
  2.10  social-service centers, including, but not limited to, the St. 
  2.11  Paul schools and Wilder Foundation community schools project; 
  2.12     (5) provide transportation allowing students to remain 
  2.13  enrolled in one school for the entire school year regardless of 
  2.14  their place of residence within the district; 
  2.15     (6) involve parents in appropriate school activities, 
  2.16  instructional programs, or school management and decision 
  2.17  making; 
  2.18     (7) operate "gateway programs" for all students new to the 
  2.19  district in order to inform students and families of options 
  2.20  provided by the district, and to evaluate and assign students to 
  2.21  an appropriate educational program; 
  2.22     (8) provide expanded instruction of English as a second 
  2.23  language (ESL) for students and their parents; or 
  2.24     (9) reduce dropout rates. 
  2.25     Subd. 4.  [MONITORING RESULTS.] Districts shall submit a 
  2.26  plan to the state board of education to monitor expenditures of 
  2.27  the free and reduced-price lunch allowance, provide accurate 
  2.28  statistics of student participation, and describe staff 
  2.29  assignments in the affected programs.  The state board of 
  2.30  education may withhold funds in whole or in part from any school 
  2.31  district that fails to use the allocated funds for the purposes 
  2.32  described in its program plan. 
  2.33     Subd. 5.  [REVENUE ADJUSTMENT.] Free and reduced-price 
  2.34  lunch aid must be adjusted for each resident pupil attending a 
  2.35  nonresident district according to this subdivision. 
  2.36     (a) Free and reduced-price lunch aid paid to a resident 
  3.1   district must be reduced by an amount equal to the free and 
  3.2   reduced-price lunch aid attributable to the pupil in the 
  3.3   resident district. 
  3.4      (b) Free and reduced-price lunch aid paid to a district 
  3.5   serving a nonresident pupil shall be increased by an amount 
  3.6   equal to the free and reduced-price lunch aid attributable to 
  3.7   the pupil in the nonresident district.  
  3.8      (c) If the amount of the reduction to be made from the free 
  3.9   and reduced-price lunch aid of the resident district is greater 
  3.10  than the amount of free and reduced-price lunch aid otherwise 
  3.11  due the district, the excess reduction must be made from other 
  3.12  state aids due the district. 
  3.13     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124A.22, 
  3.14  subdivision 2, as amended by Laws 1997, chapter 1, section 4, is 
  3.15  amended to read: 
  3.16     Subd. 2.  [BASIC REVENUE.] The basic revenue for each 
  3.17  district equals the formula allowance times the actual pupil 
  3.18  units for the school year.  The formula allowance for fiscal 
  3.19  year 1995 is $3,150.  The formula allowance for fiscal year 1996 
  3.20  is $3,205.  The formula allowance for fiscal year 1997 and 
  3.21  subsequent fiscal years is $3,505.  The formula allowance for 
  3.22  fiscal year 1998 is $3,750.  The formula allowance for fiscal 
  3.23  year 1999 and subsequent fiscal years is $3,900. 
  3.24     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 124A.23, 
  3.25  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.26     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL EDUCATION TAX RATE.] The 
  3.27  commissioner shall establish the general education tax rate by 
  3.28  July 1 of each year for levies payable in the following year.  
  3.29  The general education tax capacity rate shall be a rate, rounded 
  3.30  up to the nearest tenth of a percent, that, when applied to the 
  3.31  adjusted net tax capacity for all districts, raises the amount 
  3.32  specified in this subdivision.  The general education tax rate 
  3.33  shall be the rate that raises $1,054,000,000 for fiscal year 
  3.34  1996 and $1,359,000,000 for fiscal year years 1997 and 1998 and 
  3.35  $1,479,000,000 for 1999 later fiscal years.  The general 
  3.36  education tax rate may not be changed due to changes or 
  4.1   corrections made to a district's adjusted net tax capacity after 
  4.2   the tax rate has been established.  
  4.3      Sec. 4.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.4      Subdivision 1.  [STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.] The sums 
  4.5   indicated in this section are appropriated from the general fund 
  4.6   to the state board of education for the fiscal years designated. 
  4.7      Subd. 2.  [FREE AND REDUCED-PRICE LUNCH AID.] For free and 
  4.8   reduced-price lunch aid under section 1: 
  4.9        $60,000,000    .....     1998
  4.10       $60,000,000    .....     1999
  4.11     Sec. 5.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.12     Section 1 is effective for revenue for fiscal years 1998 
  4.13  and later.