22-32-108.5. Board of education - distribution of additional mill levy revenue - definitions - legislative declaration.

Statute text

(1) (a) The general assembly recognizes that section 15 of article IX of the state constitution grants to each school district board of education control of instruction in the schools of the school district. The power of local control of instruction applies to all of the schools of the school district and therefore imposes on the school district board of education the responsibility to ensure the equitable treatment of all of the students enrolled in all of the schools of the school district.

(b) The general assembly further finds that section 2 of article IX of the state constitution requires the general assembly to provide for the maintenance of a thorough and uniform system of free public schools throughout the state. Requiring each school district board of education to equitably use and distribute its resources to meet the needs of all students enrolled in all of the schools of the school district supports greater uniformity in providing public education services within each school district and throughout the state.

(c) The general assembly finds, therefore, that each school district board of education has the duty to ensure that the school district uses and allocates its resources in a manner that results in the equitable treatment of all students enrolled in the school district, according to their individual needs, regardless of the type of school of the school district in which each student is enrolled.

(2) As used in this section, unless the context otherwise requires:

(a) "Additional mill levy revenue" means the amount of property tax revenue that a school district collects from mills that are authorized by voters before, on, or after June 2, 2017, and that a school district levies in addition to the school district's total program mill levy established in section 22-54-106 (2) or (2.1), whichever is applicable, not including mills that a school district may levy for purposes of incurring or repaying bonded indebtedness or for paying amounts due pursuant to installment sales agreements, financed purchase of an asset agreements, or certificate of participation agreements entered into as of June 2, 2017, for which additional mill levy revenue was contractually committed as of June 2, 2017.

(b) "Alternative education campus" means a public school that is designated by the state board of education as an alternative education campus pursuant to section 22-7-604.5.

(c) "Charter school" means a charter school authorized by a school district as provided in part 1 of article 30.5 of this title 22.

(d) "Innovation school" means a school in which a local school board implements an innovation plan as provided in section 22-32.5-104 or a school that is included in an innovation school zone, as defined in section 22-32.5-103.

(e) "Local school board" means the school district board of education of a participating school district.

(f) "Participating school district" means a school district that, on or after June 2, 2017:

(I) Collects additional mill levy revenue; and

(II) Is designated as a school district of innovation as provided in article 32.5 of this title 22 or authorizes at least one charter school as provided in part 1 of article 30.5 of this title 22.

(g) "Per pupil mill levy share" means an amount equal to the total amount of additional mill levy revenue that a participating school district collects for a budget year divided by the school district's funded pupil count, as defined in section 22-54-103, for that budget year.

(h) "Per pupil program share" means an amount equal to the amount of additional mill levy revenue allocated to a program in a participating school district's plan, divided by the total number of students enrolled in the schools of the participating school district who are eligible to participate in the program, multiplied by the number of eligible students enrolled in a charter school or school of innovation that chooses to receive the per pupil program share in lieu of participating in the program.

(i) "Plan" means the plan for using and distributing additional mill levy revenue as described in this section that is adopted by a local school board.

(j) "Type" means the status of a school of the school district as a traditional, charter, innovation, or magnet school or as operating under some other organizational or governance structure. "Type" does not include a school's status as an alternative education campus or other alternative high school or status based on the grade levels the school serves or the type of performance plan the school operates under as described in part 4 of article 11 of this title 22.

(3) For the 2019-20 budget year and for each budget year thereafter, the local school board of each participating school district shall either implement a plan for using and distributing the additional mill levy revenue that the participating school district collects for each budget year, as described in subsection (4) of this section, or distribute to each charter school and innovation school of the participating school district an amount equal to at least ninety-five percent of the participating school district's per pupil mill levy share for the applicable budget year multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the charter school or the innovation school for the applicable budget year, as described in subsection (5) of this section.

(4) (a) A local school board that chooses to adopt a plan must adopt the plan by July 1, 2018. Subject to statutory limits or requirements that apply to specific mill levy authorizations and any purposes specifically approved by voters in approving additional mill levy revenue, the plan must ensure that the additional mill levy revenue is distributed to, or otherwise used for programs that benefit, the schools of the participating school district based on meeting the needs of and equitably supporting the education of all of the students enrolled in all of the schools of the participating school district, regardless of the type of school in which each student is enrolled. For each program included in the plan, a charter school or innovation school may choose to receive the per pupil program share in lieu of participating in the program, in which case the participating school district shall distribute to the charter school or innovation school the per pupil program share. The charter school or innovation school shall use the per pupil program share to provide a program or services, as selected by the charter school or innovation school, to benefit the students for whom it received the per pupil program share. The local school board shall ensure that the determination of the amount of additional mill levy revenue that a school of the participating school district receives as a distribution or through participation in a program is not based on and does not take into account the school's type. The local school board shall ensure that equitable distribution of the additional mill levy revenue is fully implemented in the 2019-20 budget year and in each budget year thereafter.

(b) Through the plan, a local board of education may use the additional mill levy revenue to provide additional per pupil funding to students enrolled in alternative education campuses, students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq., students identified as English language learners pursuant to section 22-24-105, and students who have individualized education programs under part 1 of article 20 of this title 22, so long as the amount distributed for the benefit of each student is the same regardless of the type of school in which the student is enrolled.

(c) Each plan must require the local school board to equitably distribute all of the participating school district's additional mill levy revenue that is not distributed for specific programs or student populations, as provided in subsections (4)(a) and (4)(b) of this section, to the schools of the participating school district in direct proportion to the number of students enrolled in each school. The distribution must include all of the schools of the participating school district without regard to type of school.

(d) Each plan must:

(I) Identify the amount of additional mill levy revenue that the participating school district spends on administrative services or other district-level uses as specifically authorized in this subsection (4);

(II) Describe each of the administrative services or other district-level uses; and

(III) Specify how the administrative services or other district-level uses benefit all of the students enrolled in the schools of the participating school district.

(e) Each local school board that adopts a plan shall periodically review the plan and update it as necessary to ensure that the additional mill levy revenue that the participating school district collects is equitably distributed as provided in subsections (4)(a) to (4)(c) of this section to the schools of the participating school district to benefit all of the students enrolled in all of the schools of the participating school district.

(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this subsection (4) to the contrary, a local school board may, but is not required to, distribute a portion of the additional mill levy revenue to a multi-district online school of the participating school district.

(5) (a) Beginning in the 2019-20 budget year and in each budget year thereafter, the local school board of a participating school district that chooses not to adopt a plan shall distribute to each charter school and innovation school of the participating school district an amount equal to at least ninety-five percent of the participating school district's per pupil mill levy share for the applicable budget year multiplied by the number of students enrolled in the charter school or the innovation school for the applicable budget year. In counting the number of pupils enrolled in a charter school or innovation school, the school district shall count a pupil enrolled in kindergarten or in a preschool program as at least a half-day pupil and may, at the school district's discretion, count a pupil who is included in the school district's online pupil enrollment, as defined in section 22-54-103.

(b) If a local school board has in place or adopts a written policy that directs the participating school district to distribute any portion of its additional mill levy revenue to specifically benefit students enrolled in alternative education campuses, students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals under the federal "Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act", 42 U.S.C. sec. 1751 et seq., students who are identified as English language learners under section 22-24-105, or students who have individualized education programs under part 1 of article 20 of this title 22, the participating school district may continue distributing the revenue for these purposes, so long as:

(I) The amount distributed for each student is the same regardless of the type of school in which the student is enrolled; and

(II) The participating school district distributes any amount of additional mill levy revenue that remains after distribution for these purposes in accordance with subsection (5)(a) of this section.

(6) If a local school board distributes a portion of the total additional mill levy revenue that it collects for the 2016-17 budget year to the charter schools or innovation schools of the participating school district by percentage, by distribution of a per pupil amount, or by a combination of percentage and per pupil amount, the local school board shall ensure that the percentage of the total additional mill levy revenue and the per pupil amount that is distributed to the charter schools and innovation schools of the participating school district is not reduced for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 budget years. An authorizing school district or the charter school may renegotiate contract provisions concerning services or fees for services as a material revision to the charter contract, subject to the provisions of section 22-30.5-105 (4), which renegotiation shall not include negotiations regarding reauthorization of the charter school.

(7) The amount of additional mill levy revenue that a charter school receives pursuant to this section is in addition to the amount of money that the charter school receives from the school district pursuant to part 1 of article 30.5 of this title 22. The amount of additional mill levy revenue that an innovation school receives pursuant to this section is in addition to any amount of money that the innovation school receives through the school's innovation plan as provided in article 32.5 of this title 22.

(8) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if a school district authorizes a charter school that is physically located within the geographic boundaries of another school district, the chartering school district is not required to include in the plan described in subsection (4) of this section or in the distribution described in subsection (5) of this section any amount of additional mill levy revenue for students who are enrolled in the charter school but do not reside within the boundaries of the school district.

(9) Beginning July 1, 2018, each participating school district shall:

(a) If the local school board chooses to adopt a plan, post a copy of the plan on the participating school district's website as provided in section 22-44-304 and annually update the plan as necessary; or

(b) If the local school board chooses not to adopt a plan, for the 2018-19 budget year, post a statement of intent to distribute the additional mill levy revenue as provided in subsection (5) of this section and, for the 2019-20 budget year and annually for each budget year thereafter, post the total amount of additional mill levy revenue collected by the participating school district for each property tax year, the amount distributed to support specific student populations as described in subsection (5)(b) of this section, and the total amount distributed to support said student populations and on a per-pupil basis to each charter school and innovation school, as a percentage and as a dollar amount.

(10) A charter school that receives any amount of additional mill levy revenue pursuant to this section shall ensure that the charter school admissions policy is in compliance with section 22-30.5-104 (3).

History

Source: L. 2017: Entire section added, (HB 17-1375), ch. 287, p. 1586, 1, effective June 2. L. 2020: (2)(a) amended, (HB 20-1418), ch. 197, p. 953, 35, effective June 30. L. 2021: (2)(a) amended, (HB 21-1316), ch. 325, p. 2000, 12, effective July 1.

Annotations

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 20-1418, see section 1 of chapter 197, Session Laws of Colorado 2020.