1999 Minnesota Statutes

     127A.42 Reduction of aid for violation of law. 

    Subdivision 1.    State aids.  The amount of special 
 state aids to which a district is entitled shall be the amount 
 computed according to statutes.  The annual state aid 
 certificate made by the commissioner to the commissioner of 
 finance shall show the amount of any reductions made. 

    Subd. 2.    Violations of law.  The commissioner shall 
 reduce the district's special state aid for any school year 
 whenever the board of the district authorizes or permits 
 violations of law within the district by: 

    (1) employing a teacher who does not hold a valid teaching 
 license or permit in a public school; 

    (2) noncompliance with a mandatory rule of general 
 application promulgated by the commissioner in accordance with 
 statute, unless special circumstances make enforcement 
 inequitable, impose an extraordinary hardship on the district, 
 or the rule is contrary to the district's best interests; 

    (3) the district's continued performance of a contract made 
 for the rental of rooms or buildings for school purposes or for 
 the rental of any facility owned or operated by or under the 
 direction of any private organization, if the contract has been 
 disapproved, the time for review of the determination of 
 disapproval has expired, and no proceeding for review is 
 pending; 

    (4) any practice which is a violation of sections 1 and 2 
 of article 13 of the Constitution of the state of Minnesota; 

    (5) failure to reasonably provide for a resident pupil's 
 school attendance under Minnesota Statutes; or 

    (6) noncompliance with state laws prohibiting 
 discrimination because of race, color, creed, religion, national 
 origin, sex, age, marital status, status with regard to public 
 assistance or disability, as defined in section 363.03. 

 The reduction must be made in the amount and upon the procedure 
 provided in this section or, in the case of the violation stated 
 in clause (1), upon the procedure provided in section 127A.43.  

    Subd. 3.    Assurance of compliance.  After consultation 
 with the commissioner of human rights, the commissioner of 
 children, families, and learning shall adopt rules in 
 conformance with chapter 14.  The rules must direct districts to 
 file with the commissioner of children, families, and learning 
 assurances of compliance with state and federal laws prohibiting 
 discrimination and specify the information required to be 
 submitted in support of the assurances.  The commissioner shall 
 provide copies of the assurances and the supportive information 
 to the commissioner of human rights.  If, after reviewing the 
 assurances and the supportive information it appears that one or 
 more violations of the Minnesota Human Rights Act are occurring 
 in the district, the commissioner of human rights shall notify 
 the commissioner of the violations, and the commissioner of 
 children, families, and learning may then proceed pursuant to 
 subdivision 4. 

    Subd. 4.    Notice to board.  When it appears that an 
 enumerated violation is occurring in a district, the 
 commissioner shall notify the board of that district in 
 writing.  The notice must specify the violations, set a 
 reasonable time within which the district must correct the 
 specified violations, describe the correction required, and 
 advise that if the correction is not made within the time 
 allowed, special state aids to the district will be reduced.  
 The time allowed for correction may be extended by the 
 commissioner if there is reasonable ground therefor.  

    Subd. 5.    Dispute violations; hearing.  The board to 
 which such notice is given may, by a majority vote of the whole 
 board, decide to dispute that the specified violation exists or 
 that the time allowed is reasonable or the correction specified 
 is correct, or that the commissioner may reduce aids.  The board 
 must give the commissioner written notice of the decision.  If 
 the commissioner, after further investigation as the 
 commissioner deems necessary, adheres to the previous notice, 
 the commissioner shall notify the school board of its decision.  

    Subd. 6.    Violation; aid reduction.  The commissioner 
 shall not reduce state aids payable to the district if the 
 violation specified is corrected within the time permitted, or 
 if the commissioner on being notified of the district board's 
 decision to dispute decides the violation does not exist.  
 Otherwise state aids payable to the district for the year in 
 which the violation occurred shall be reduced as follows:  The 
 total amount of state aids to which the district may be entitled 
 shall be reduced in the proportion that the period during which 
 a specified violation continued, computed from the last day of 
 the time permitted for correction, bears to the total number of 
 days school is held in the district during the year in which a 
 violation exists, multiplied by 60 percent of the basic revenue, 
 as defined in section 126C.10, subdivision 2, of the district 
 for that year. 

    Subd. 7.    Reduction in aids payable.  Reductions in 
 aid under this section and sections 127A.41 and 127A.43 must be 
 from general education aid.  If there is not sufficient general 
 education aid remaining to be paid for the school year in which 
 the violation occurred, the reduction shall be from the other 
 aids listed in section 127A.44, subdivision 2, that are payable 
 to the district for that year in the order in which the aids are 
 listed in section 127A.44, subdivision 2.  If there is not a 
 sufficient amount of state aids remaining payable to the 
 district for the school year in which the violation occurred to 
 permit the full amount of reduction required, that part of the 
 required reduction not taken from that school year's aids will 
 be taken from the state aids payable to the district for the 
 next school year, and the reduction will be made from the 
 various aids payable for the next year in the order above 
 specified. 

    Subd. 8. Repealed, 1999 c 241 art 9 s 54 

    Subd. 9.    Notice to district.  Any notice given to the 
 board of a district will be deemed given when a copy thereof is 
 mailed, registered, to the superintendent of the district, if 
 there is a superintendent, and to the clerk of the board of the 
 district.  If it is shown that neither the superintendent nor 
 the clerk in fact received such notice in the ordinary course of 
 mail, then the time for correction will be accordingly extended 
 by the commissioner so that a reasonable time will be allowed 
 from actual receipt of notice for correction.  If notice is sent 
 by the commissioner with respect to a violation which is 
 continued by the district in a succeeding year, no separate 
 notice for that violation for the succeeding year will be 
 required.  Proceedings initiated by such notice shall include 
 any continuing violation notwithstanding that a part thereof 
 occurs in a year different from the year in which it started.  
 The commissioner may require reasonable proof of the time that a 
 violation ceased for the determination of the amount of aids to 
 be withheld.  Costs and disbursements of the review by the 
 district court, exclusive of those incurred in the 
 administrative proceedings, may be taxed against the losing 
 party and in the event taxed against the state must be paid from 
 the appropriations made to the department for the payment of 
 special state aids. 

    HIST: Ex1959 c 71 art 5 s 15; 1963 c 203 s 1; 1965 c 51 s 18; 
 1973 c 492 s 14; 1975 c 59 s 3; 1975 c 162 s 29; 1975 c 173 s 
 1-3; 1976 c 2 s 61,172; 1978 c 706 s 30; 1978 c 764 s 38,39; 
 1982 c 424 s 130; 1983 c 247 s 58; 1983 c 314 art 7 s 23; 1985 c 
 248 s 70; 1986 c 444; 1988 c 486 s 21,22; 1Sp1995 c 3 art 16 s 
 13; 1998 c 397 art 4 s 18-24,51; art 11 s 3; 1998 c 398 art 5 s 
 55; 1999 c 241 art 9 s 33,34