1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to education finance; modifying required minimum distance to next nearest 
1.3 	school building for purposes of calculating sparsity revenue; appropriating money;
1.4 	amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 126C.10, subdivision 6.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 126C.10, subdivision 6, is amended to read:
1.7 		Subd. 6.Definitions. The definitions in this subdivision apply only to subdivisions 7 
1.8 	and 8.
1.9 	(a) "High school" means a public secondary school, except a charter school under chapter 
1.10 	124E, that has pupils enrolled in at least the 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. If there is no high 
1.11 	school in the district and the school is at least 19 miles from the next nearest school, the 
1.12 	commissioner must designate one school in the district as a high school for the purposes of 
1.13 	this section.
1.14 	(b) "Secondary average daily membership" means, for a district that has only one high 
1.15 	school, the average daily membership of pupils served in grades 7 through 12. For a district 
1.16 	that has more than one high school, "secondary average daily membership" for each high 
1.17 	school means the product of the average daily membership of pupils served in grades 7 
1.18 	through 12 in the high school, times the ratio of six to the number of grades in the high 
1.19 	school.
1.20 	(c) "Attendance area" means the total surface area of the district, in square miles, divided 
1.21 	by the number of high schools in the district. For a district that does not operate a high 
1.22 	school and is less than 19 miles from the nearest operating high school, the attendance area 
1.23 	equals zero.
2.1 	(d) "Isolation index" for a high school means the square root of 55 percent of the 
2.2 	attendance area plus the distance in miles, according to the usually traveled routes, between 
2.3 	the high school and the nearest high school. For a district in which there is located land 
2.4 	defined in section 84A.01, 84A.20, or 84A.31, the distance in miles is the sum of:
2.5 	(1) the square root of one-half of the attendance area; and
2.6 	(2) the distance from the border of the district to the nearest high school.
2.7 	(e) "Qualifying high school" means a high school that has an isolation index greater than 
2.8 	23 and that has secondary average daily membership of less than 400.
2.9 	(f) "Qualifying elementary school" means a public elementary school, except a charter 
2.10 	school under chapter 124E, that is located 19 18 miles or more from the nearest elementary 
2.11 	school or from the nearest elementary school within the district and, in either case, has an 
2.12 	elementary average daily membership of an average of 20 or fewer per grade.
2.13 	(g) "Elementary average daily membership" means, for a district that has only one 
2.14 	elementary school, the average daily membership of pupils served in kindergarten through 
2.15 	grade 6. For a district that has more than one elementary school, "average daily membership" 
2.16 	for each school means the average daily membership of pupils served in kindergarten through 
2.17 	grade 6 multiplied by the ratio of seven to the number of grades in the elementary school.

2.18 	EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective for revenue for fiscal year 2020 and later.

2.19 	Sec. 2. APPROPRIATION; ELEMENTARY SPARSITY AID.
 2.20 		Subdivision 1.Department of Education. The sums indicated in this section are 
2.21 	appropriated from the general fund to the Department of Education in the fiscal year 
2.22 	designated.
2.23 		Subd. 2.Elementary sparsity aid. For additional elementary sparsity aid under 
2.24 	Minnesota Statutes, section 126C.13:

2.25		$
	.......
	.....
	2020
	
2.26		$
	.......
	.....
	2021