ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Phoenix, Arizona
Purpose
Limits the
number of students a school district governing board is required to admit into a
high school district from an elementary school district that is not within a
high school district to 350 students if the students are without certificates
of educational convenience. Allows the School Facilities Board (SFB) to determine
alternative methods for serving students if resources available to a school
district are insufficient and requires the SFB to provide funding for a high
school if specified conditions are met.
Under current law, a high school student may be admitted to another school district outside of the boundaries of the student’s school district area if the student resides in an elementary school district within the State that is not within the boundaries of a high school district. The elementary school district is required to pay tuition for all students admitted to a high school located in a school district outside of the boundaries of the elementary school district.
Forty-two elementary school districts exist in the State that are not located within the boundaries of a high school district or unified school district. At this time, there are seven elementary school districts that have 350 or more high school students where admission is required into another school district that serves high school students outside of the boundaries of the elementary school district.
H.B. 2096 limits
the number of students a school district governing board is required to admit
into a high school district from an elementary school district that is not
within a high school district to 350 students if the students are without
certificates of educational convenience. Additionally, this bill allows the SFB to
determine an alternative method of serving students, if the SFB finds the
resources available to a school district are insufficient, including expending
new school facilities fund monies to expand current school facilities serving
students. The SFB is also required to
provide funding for a new high school if certain conditions stipulated in the act
are met.
There is no anticipated fiscal impact
to the state general fund associated with this bill.
Provisions
1. Limits the number of high school students a school district governing board is required to admit into a high school district from an elementary school district that is not within a high school district to no more than 350 students if the students do not have a certificate of educational convenience.
2. Stipulates that if a school district pays tuition to another school district for all or a portion of the school district’s high school students, the capital plan must indicate the number of students for which the tuition is paid to the other school district.
3. Requires a school district accepting students from another school district to indicate the enrollment projections for these students separately in the capital plan.
4. Requires the School Facilities Board (SFB), the receiving district and the resident district to develop a capital plan to determine how to best serve students if the projected growth and existing number of students who are served in a school district other than the student’s resident school district exceeds 350 students from a single resident school district.
5.
Requires the SFB to review the capital facilities plan and
determine if the resources currently available to a school district for
educating high school students are sufficient if a unified school district does
not currently have a high school and the approved projections indicate the
unified school district qualifies for a high school within the next three
years.
6.
Requires the SFB to determine if the resources available
to a school district for educating high school students are sufficient.
7.
Allows the SFB to determine an alternative method of
serving students if the SFB determines the resources available to a school
district are insufficient, including expending new school facilities fund
monies to expand current school facilities that serve those students. Extends the SFB’s allowance for serving
students with insufficient resources to approved contracts not yet issued for
construction.
8.
Requires that monies provided by the SFB revert to the
originating fund if the SFB determines that the resources currently available
to the school district are insufficient.
9.
Requires the SFB to provide funding for a high school that
serves grades nine through 12 if all of the following conditions are met:
a) The unified district
does not currently have a high school.
b) The unified district
became a unified district before June 30, 1985.
c) The unified district
pays tuition for at least 400 students to another district.
d)
The high school is expected to serve at least 400 students.
10. Contains technical and conforming changes.
11. Contains a retroactivity clause of March 1, 2002.
ED 3/25/02 DP 9-0-0-1-0
3rd Read 4/03/02 57-3-0-0
Prepared by Senate Staff
April 16, 2002