school districts;
desegregation; report
X |
Committee on Education |
|
|
|
Caucus and COW |
|
|
|
Third Read |
|
|
|
As Passed the House |
|
HB 2550 caps the expenditures that are exempt from the Revenue Control Limit (RCL) and the Capital Outlay Revenue Limit (CORL) of a school district for desegregation expenses at the FY 2001-02 levels, requires school district governing boards to biennially report desegregation expenditures to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and appropriates $120,000 to the Auditor General to analyze the reported data and submit findings and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature.
The ability for Arizona school districts to budget for the expenses of a court order for desegregation or an administrative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) was placed in statute by Laws 1985, Chapter 166, Section 15. Current statute allows a governing board to budget for the expenses of complying with or continuing to implement activities which were required or permitted by a court order of desegregation or OCR administrative agreement directed toward remediating alleged or proven racial discrimination.
School district governing boards are required to prepare separate maintenance and operations and capital outlay desegregation budgets designed to allow a school district to plan and provide in detail for expenditures to be incurred for the purposes of complying with the court order or administrative agreement. The form is prescribed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction in conjunction with the Auditor General. Additionally, the governing board is required to complete a detailed report of desegregation expenditures as part of the annual financial report.
Desegregation expenditures are currently exempt from the RCL and CORL. Governing boards have the ability to fund desegregation expenses outside of the RCL from three options:
1. Use maintenance and operations monies equal to any excess desegregation or compliance expenses beyond the RCL before June 30 of the current year.
2. Notify the county school superintendent to add the amount necessary to comply with the court order or administrative agreement to the primary property tax rate.
3. A combination of the first two options if the amount does not exceed the budgeted amount.
The amount for which governing boards may budget for capital purposes is 12% of the maintenance and operation desegregation budget, and is funded by notifying the county school superintendent to add the amount necessary to the primary property tax rate.