ASSEMBLY, No. 1337

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

 

 

By Assemblyman DeCROCE

 

 

An Act concerning aid for special education and amending P.L.1990, c.52.

 

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

    1. Section 14 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-16) is amended to read as follows:

    14. Each district's special education aid shall be determined in accordance with the following calculations:

    a. The number of special education aid units shall be determined by adding the products obtained by multiplying the pupils in each category by the appropriate additional cost factors. The additional cost factors shall be the following:

 

    Special Education Categories Additional

                                                                                                                           Cost Factors

    Educable............................. 0.60

    Trainable............................ 0.99

    Orthopedically handicapped........... 1.70

    Neurologically impaired.............. 0.42

    Perceptually impaired................ 0.12

    Visually handicapped................. 2.79

    Auditorily handicapped............... 1.63

    Communication handicapped............ 0.84

    Emotionally disturbed................ 1.09

    Socially maladjusted................. 0.67

    Chronically ill...................... 2.23

    Multiply handicapped................. 1.05

    Resource room........................ 0.45

    Autistic............................. 1.84

    Preschool Handicapped, half day...... 0.30

    Preschool Handicapped, full day...... 0.60

    County special services school district 1.38

    Regional Day schools................. 1.38

    County Vocational School,

    Special Education Services.......... 0.59

    Residential facility for the retarded.. 1.72

    Day training center.................. 2.37

    Residential youth center............. 1.39

    Training school or correctional facility 0.56

    Child treatment center or psychiatric

    hospital............................. 1.03

    Supplementary and speech instruction.. 0.18

         based on the

         number of

         pupils

         actually

         receiving

         such

         instruction

         in the prior

         school year

 

    b. The number of special education aid units for home instruction shall be determined by multiplying the number of hours of instruction actually provided in the prior school year by 0.0025.

    c. For the purposes of this section, special education aid shall be paid to the districts in which the pupils reside except in the case of home, supplementary or speech instruction where aid shall be paid to the district providing the service. No tuition may be charged for such home, supplementary or speech instruction. For the 1991-92 school year special education aid for pupils enrolled in resource room programs in county vocational schools or county special services schools and for home, supplementary or speech instruction shall be paid to the districts in which the pupils reside.

    d. Special education aid shall equal the number of special education aid units multiplied by the State foundation amount, as defined pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-6).

    e. For the 1991-92 school year, aid for all pupils in preschool handicapped classes shall be calculated using the additional cost factor for half day programs. Beginning with the 1992-93 school year, both half day and full day cost factors shall be utilized.

    f. For each special education pupil whose individualized education program requires a residential placement, the school district shall receive special education aid in an amount equal to the greater of the special education aid for the pupil calculated pursuant to subsection d. of this section or an amount equal to that portion of the cost for the pupil which exceeds 200 percent of the district's average per-pupil cost for educating a regular education pupil in the prebudget year.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.62, s.10)

 

    2. Section 85 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-28) is amended to read as follows:

    85. a. "Maximum permissible net budget" means the amount calculated as follows:  

    PNB = PCI x PR x PBY where

    PNB is the maximum permissible increase in the net budget for the budget year;

    PCI is the average annual percentage increase in per capita income as defined in section 3 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-3);

    PR is 1.7442 - (.6460 x BR), however PR shall not be greater than 1.1628 or less than .9690;

    BR is the ratio of the district's local levy budget of the prebudget year to the district's maximum foundation budget for the budget year as determined pursuant to section 6 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-6); and

    PBY is the net budget for the prebudget year.

    For the purposes of this subsection, the term "net budget" shall not include State aid received by the district pursuant to section 14 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-16) or the district's local levy expenditures for special education services pupils.

    b. In determining a district's maximum permissible net budget for the 1991-92 school year, the district's net budget for the 1990-91 school year shall be increased by the amount of any current expense or capital outlay surplus which was appropriated in the district's 1990-91 annual school budget.

    c. Annually through the 1995-96 school year for each special needs district, the commissioner shall calculate an equity spending cap which shall provide for a percentage increase in the district's budget that, if sustained for each year through the 1995-96 school year, would result in the per pupil budget of the special needs district equalling the average per pupil budget of the districts included in the Department of Education's district factor groups I and J. The equity spending cap shall also allow for those budget items included in the net budget, but excluded from the local levy budget, to grow annually at the PCI or CPI, as appropriate. To ensure equity, the commissioner shall also adjust the calculation of the equity cap, when necessary, to account for the payment of teacher pension and social security aid.

    As used in this subsection:  

    CPI is the consumer price index as defined in section 3 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-3);

    PCI is the average annual percentage increase in per capita income as defined in section 3 of P.L.1990, c.52 (C.18A:7D-3); and

    Per pupil budget is the budget divided by the resident enrollment.     d. If, for any year, a special needs district's equity spending cap determined by the commissioner pursuant to subsection c. of this section exceeds the maximum permissible increase in the net budget as determined pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the district may increase its net budget in accordance with the equity spending cap.

    e. A board of education of a school district which: (1) for the two years prior to the prebudget year, has had an annual average increase in the district's resident enrollment which is greater than two percent; or (2) between the prebudget year and the year prior to the prebudget year, has had an increase in the district's local cost for special education pupils which is greater than five percent; or (3) during the 1990-91 school year but prior to April 1, 1991, has entered into a lease purchase agreement, may apply to the Commissioner of Education for a waiver of the expenditure limitation established pursuant to this section. A board of education of a school district that sends pupils and pays tuition to a special needs district may apply to the Commissioner of Education for a waiver of the expenditure limitation established pursuant to this section. Any waiver granted by the commissioner pursuant to this subsection shall not be included in the question on excess expenditures which is to be submitted to the voters of the district pursuant to subsection f. of this section.

    f. Any school district may submit a proposal to raise the amount of tax levy necessary to exceed the maximum permissible net budget permitted by this section to the legal voters of the district for type II school districts without a Board of School Estimate and to the Board of School Estimate for those school districts with a Board of School Estimate as required during the school budget approval process pursuant to chapters 22 and 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and section 13 of P.L.1971, c.271 (C.18A:46-41). The proposal to raise additional tax levy to exceed the maximum permissible net budget shall be in addition to the amounts required to be approved for each school district in accordance with chapters 22 and 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and section 13 of P.L.1971, c.271 (C.18A:46-41). In the event that a school district's proposal to raise the tax levy to exceed the maximum permissible net budget is not approved in accordance with the budget approval process set forth in chapter 22 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes for type II districts and for type I districts, chapter 54 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes for county vocational school districts and section 13 of P.L.1971, c.271 (C.18A:46-41) for county special services school districts, that disapproval shall be deemed final and shall not be subject to further review or appeal.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.62, s.19)


    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill provides a revised formula for calculating State aid in the case of a special education pupil whose individualized education program (IEP) requires a residential placement. Under the bill, a district would receive the amount of the aid now provided under the formula or an amount equal to that portion of the cost for the pupil which exceeds 200 percent of the district's average per-pupil cost for educating a regular education pupil in the prebudget year, whichever amount is greater.

    In addition, the bill exempts expenditures for special education from the cap now imposed on the amount of the annual increase which is permitted in a school district budget.

 

 

 

Provides revised formula to calculate aid for certain special education pupils and exempts special education expenditures from budget cap.