S-411, Committee Amendment "B" [MINORITY REPORT]
SUMMARY
This amendment is the minority report of the Joint Standing Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs. Part A of the amendment accomplishes the following.
1. It clarifies the authorization provided to regional planning committees to negotiate a cost-sharing agreement for those costs of a proposed regional school unit that are in addition to the local contribution required pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15690.
2. It repeals a cross-reference to the unit of law that is repealed in the bill regarding the requirement that each municipality that is a member of a new regional school unit contribute a minimum of 2 mills of the municipality's property fiscal capacity to the total cost of education of the new regional school unit.
3. It includes language inadvertently left out of the bill regarding the requirement that the reorganization plan include a process for amending the cost-sharing formula.
4. It clarifies the roles of the municipal officers and the school committee for municipal school units whose municipal charters give authority to approve the school budget to the municipal officers and establishes the requirements for calling a budget meeting and the procedures for the budget meeting.
5. It clarifies the relationship between a regional school unit board and a local school that seeks to raise additional funds for an elementary school or a secondary school that is owned or managed by the member municipality. The amendment also removes 2 references to "elementary" schools in the school closure provisions to clarify that secondary schools are also subject to these requirements.
6. It permits the Commissioner of Education to authorize so-called "doughnut hole" school units that have 1,200 or fewer students and no other available reorganization partners to form a regional school unit that serves at least 1,000 students if these isolated, rural school units meet certain criteria.
7. It clarifies the assumption of existing debt that is transferred from an original education unit to a new regional school unit that is formed after July 1, 2008.
8. It provides regional school unit boards with the legal authority to receive and spend state and local funds, including funds for the election of regional school unit board members and to hire a superintendent prior to the operational date of the new regional school unit on July 1, 2009.
Part B of the amendment accomplishes the following.
1. It provides existing school administrative units and school unions with the option of forming a union school association that serves a minimum of 1,000 students instead of a regional school unit that is organized pursuant to the school reorganization provisions of Public Law 2007, chapter 240, Part XXXX.
2. It provides that the Commissioner of Education may approve union school associations. The union school association is based on the school union model of governance, except that the central administrative office of the union school association must also meet the savings targets for administrative costs through collaboration with the school administrative units that comprise the union school association.
3. It provides that, by April 1, 2008, school administrative units and school unions may file with the Commissioner of Education a notice of intent to engage in planning and negotiation to develop an alternative plan to form a union school association. It also provides that each school administrative unit and school union shall submit to the Commissioner of Education, by July 1, 2008, the alternative reorganization plan to form a union school association.
4. It provides that an alternative plan to form a union school association must include, among other things: the participating school units; the composition and powers of the union school association joint committee; the weighted voting method for the joint committee; the development of the budget for the first school year; a 3-year transition plan for the centralization of joint administrative services; and an estimate of the cost savings to be achieved.
5. It provides that, upon approval by the Commissioner of Education, an alternative plan for the formation of a union school association must be ratified by the governing boards of the participating school administrative units and school unions.
6. It changes the reporting deadline, notwithstanding Public Law 2007, chapter 240, Part XXXX, section 45, for the Department of Education review of unfunded state mandates pertaining to school systems from December 15, 2008 to July 1, 2008.
Fiscal Note
Potential future biennium cost increase - General Fund
Fiscal Detail and Notes
Although this legislation will not impact the total state and local cost of funding K-12 public education in fiscal year 2008-09, it may affect the distribution of subsidy to local school administrative units (SAU's) with some units receiving more subsidy and some units receiving less subsidy. The impact to individual school administrative units can not be determined at this time.
Providing school administrative units with the option of forming a union school association that serves a minimum of 1,000 students versus the paramenters established in Public Law 2007, chapter 240, Part XXXX may increase the total cost of K-12 public education in future biennia due to less savings being achieved. The amount can not be determined at this time and will depend on the number of union school associations established, the number of students served by the associations, and the ability of union school associations to implement efficiencies that will reduce its per-pupil expenditures in order to be more in line with the state average. Information provided by the Department of Education indicates that, for fiscal year 2005-06, the average per-pupil expenditures for school unions that served pre-kindergarten to grade 8 students was $1,009 higher than the state average and $1,385 higher for school unions that served pre-kindergarten to grade 12 students.
One example is in the special education area. Title 20-A, §15681-A, sub-§2(D) requires that school administrative units receive sufficient funds for special education to ensure that the SAU's meet the federal maintenance of effort requirement for receiving federal Individuals with Disabilities Act funds. The maintenance of effort requirement states that the total amount of state and local funds budgeted by the local education agency for expenditures in a current fiscal year for the education of children with disabilities must be at least equal to the total amount of state and local school funds actually expended for the education of children with disabilities in the most recent preceding fiscal year. A smaller composition of school administrative units (1,000 students vs. 1,200 students) may result in less savings being achieved, thus requiring a higher level of state and local funding in order to fulfill the maintenance of effort requirement.
A second example in in the transportation area. Title 20-A, §15681-A, sub-§3 requires that school administrative units receive no less than 90% of the most recent year's reported net transportation expenditures. A smaller composition of school administrative units (1,000 students vs. 1,200 students) may result in less savings being achieved, resulting in a higher level of funding to meet the statutory requirement.