COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDMENTS TO H.B. 2385
(Reference to printed bill)
Page 6, between lines 28 and 29, insert:
"Sec. 3. Section 15-239, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-239. School compliance and recognition; accreditation; audits
A. The department of education may:
1. Monitor school districts to ascertain that laws applying to the school districts are implemented as prescribed by law.
2. Adopt a system of recognition for school districts that meet or exceed the requirements of the law that apply to the school districts.
3. Establish standards and procedures for the accreditation of all schools requesting state accreditation.
B. The department of education may adopt guidelines necessary to implement this section.
C. The department of education may conduct financial, compliance or average daily membership audits of school districts and charter schools. Beginning in fiscal year 2011‑2012 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the department of education shall conduct at least ten per cent more sampling on daily attendance records as part of average daily membership audits than were conducted in fiscal year 2010‑2011.
D. The auditor general may conduct financial, program, compliance or average daily membership audits of school districts and charter schools. Beginning in fiscal year 2011‑2012 and in each fiscal year thereafter, the auditor general shall conduct at least ten per cent more sampling on daily attendance records as part of average daily membership audits than were conducted in fiscal year 2010‑2011."
Renumber to conform
Page 20, between lines 22 and 23, insert:
"Sec. 6. Section 15-461, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-461. Transporting school districts; joining existing school districts
A. If a school district does not offer a full-time instructional program as defined in section 15‑901 in any grade level to the pupils who reside in that school district, transports all of the pupils who reside in that school district to an adjacent school district or school districts for instruction and transports more than three hundred fifty pupils annually to an adjacent school district or school districts, the county school superintendent shall dissolve the transporting school district and annex the geographic boundaries of the transporting school district to the adjacent school district that provides instruction to the majority of the pupils who reside in the transporting school district.
B. The county school superintendent shall make the record of boundaries conform to the annexation and shall notify the board of supervisors and the county assessor of the boundary change. The change is effective immediately on notification from the county school superintendent.
C. The terms of the governing board members of the previously existing transporting school district do not expire on the effective date of the dissolution of the school district and continue until January 1 following the next general election, during which time the members of the governing board of the previously existing transporting school district shall serve as additional members of the governing board of the adjacent school district.
D. The adjacent school district shall revise its annual budget to reflect the annexation of the transporting school district.
E. The adjacent school district is liable for all indebtedness and liabilities, bonded or otherwise, outstanding against the dissolved transporting school district, and all property, balances and deficits of the dissolved transporting school district become the property, balances and deficits of the adjacent school district."
Renumber to conform
Page 22, between lines 5 and 6, insert:
"Sec. 9. Section 15-806, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-806. Excuse from school attendance
The governing board of each school district shall adopt a policy governing the excuse of pupils for religious purposes from school attendance. The policy may permit a pupil to be excused from school attendance for the following reasons:
1. Widespread illness for any period of three consecutive days or more.
2. Adverse weather conditions for any period of three consecutive days or more.
3. Concerted refusal by students to attend classes for any period of three consecutive days or more.
4. Threats of violence against school property, school personnel or students for any period of one day or more.
5. School closure due to situations affecting the safety of persons or property resulting from fire, flooding or floodwater, an earthquake, a hazardous material event or another cause if approved by the department of education.
6. Religious purposes, including participation in religious exercises or religious instruction. If the policy permits a pupil to be excused for religious purposes, the policy shall stipulate the conditions under which the excuse will be granted. These conditions shall include at least the following:
1. (a) The person who has custody of the pupil has given written consent.
2. (b) Any religious instruction or exercise takes place at a suitable place away from school property designated by the church or religious denomination or group."
Renumber to conform
Page 23, line 22, after the period strike remainder of line
Strike lines 23, 24 and 25, insert "The daily log shall be used by the school district or charter school to qualify the pupils who participate in Arizona online instruction in the school's average daily attendance calculations pursuant to section 15‑901 subsection F of this section."
Line 42, strike "section 15‑901" insert "this subsection"; strike "an average a" insert "an average"
Page 25, line 43, strike ", minus withdrawals," insert ", minus withdrawals,"
Line 45, strike ". Withdrawals include students formally" insert "who are enrolled on September 15, November 15, January 15 and March 15, divided by four. Withdrawals include students formally"
Page 26, strike lines 1 through 6, insert "withdrawn from schools and students absent for ten consecutive school days, except for excused absences as identified by the department of education pursuant to section 15‑806. For the purposes of this section, School districts and charter schools shall report student absence data to the department of education at least once every sixty days in session. For computation purposes, the effective date of withdrawal shall be retroactive to the last day of actual attendance of the student."
Line 8, strike "until fiscal year 2001‑2002,"
Page 26, line 12, strike "three hundred forty‑six"; strike lines 13 through 20; line 21, strike "kindergarten program shall meet at least"; after "hours" insert "for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent"
Line 36, strike "and who is taught in less than"; strike lines 37 through 42, insert ". The average daily membership of a part‑time high school student shall be 0.75 if the student is enrolled in an instructional program of three subjects that meet at least five hundred eighty hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent. The average daily membership of a part‑time high school student shall be 0.5 if the student is enrolled in an instructional program of two subjects that meet at least three hundred sixty hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent. The average daily membership of a part‑time high school student shall be 0.25 if the student is enrolled in an instructional program of one subject that meets at least one hundred eighty hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent."
Page 27, lines 2 and 3, strike "Until fiscal year 2001‑2002,"
Line 7, after "least" strike remainder of line; strike lines 8 through 14; line 15, strike " Until fiscal year 2001‑2002," insert "seven hundred twelve hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent."
Strike lines 18 through 25; line 26, strike "hours. Until fiscal year 2001‑2002," insert "least eight hundred ninety hours for a one hundred eighty day school, or the equivalent."
Strike lines 29 through 36; line 37, strike "sixty‑eight hours" insert "total of at least one thousand sixty‑eight hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent"
Line 45, strike "a full‑time" insert "an"; after "of" insert "four or more"
Page 28, line 1, after "education" insert ", that meets for a total of at least seven hundred twenty hours for a one hundred eighty day school year, or the equivalent"
Strike lines 24 through 45
Page 29, strike lines 1 through 23
Page 37, line 2, after the period insert "This subsection does not apply to Arizona online instruction."
Line 4, after the first "to" insert "make budget adjustments pursuant to section 15‑905, make corrections pursuant to section 15‑915 and"
Page 38, between lines 14 and 15, insert:
"Sec. 17. Section 15-915, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:
15-915. Correction of state aid or budget limit errors; definition
A. If the superintendent of public instruction determines that the calculation of state aid for a school district or charter school or the calculation of the school district's or charter school's budget limits within the previous three years year did not conform with statutory requirements, the superintendent shall require correction of the errors as follows:
1. Corrections may be made in the current year or in the budget year, except that in case of hardship to the school district, the superintendent may approve corrections partly in one year and partly in the year after that year.
2. Errors in the calculation of state aid shall be corrected by increasing or decreasing the state aid to the school district or charter school in the year or years in which the correction is made.
3. Errors in the calculation of the school district's or charter school's budget limits shall be corrected at a public hearing by requiring the governing board to reduce or by allowing it to increase its budget by the amount of the correction to be made that year. Overbudgeting errors corrected as provided in this paragraph are exempt from the provisions of section 15‑905, subsections L and M. Not later than three days after the hearing and correction, the budget as revised shall be submitted electronically to the superintendent of public instruction. Nothing in this paragraph shall be construed to require a decrease in state aid not otherwise required by paragraph 2 of this subsection.
B. Subject to the review by the joint legislative budget committee, the superintendent of public instruction shall adjust state aid for a school district in the current year if the governing board of a school district requests the recalculation of state aid for a prior year due to a change in assessed valuation that occurred as the result of a judgment in accordance with section 42‑16213.
C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section, a school district or charter school may not make upward revisions to its average daily membership counts for a particular school year after June 30 of the subsequent school year.
D. For the purposes of this section, "state aid":
1. For school districts means state aid as determined in section 15‑971 and additional state aid as determined in section 15‑972.
2. For charter schools means state aid as determined in section 15‑185.END_STATUTE"
Renumber to conform
Page 53, after line 29, insert:
"Sec. 23. Effective date
This act is effective from and after June 30, 2011."
Amend title to conform