Bill Text - HB1691 (2020)

Relative to kindergarten adequate education grants.


Revision: March 3, 2020, 9:50 a.m.

HB 1691-FN-LOCAL - AS INTRODUCED

 

 

2020 SESSION

20-3090

06/04

 

HOUSE BILL 1691-FN-LOCAL

 

AN ACT relative to kindergarten adequate education grants.

 

SPONSORS: Rep. Luneau, Merr. 10; Sen. Levesque, Dist 12; Sen. Morgan, Dist 23

 

COMMITTEE: Education

 

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ANALYSIS

 

This bill changes the formula for an additional adequate education grant to a school district that operates a full day kindergarten program.

 

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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

20-3090

06/04

 

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

 

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

 

AN ACT relative to kindergarten adequate education grants.

 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 

1  Kindergarten Adequate Education Grants.  Amend RSA 198:48-b to read as follows:

198:48-b  Kindergarten Adequate Education Grants.  

[Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary:]

I.  A school district which operates a full day kindergarten program in any school year in which the adequate education grant provided pursuant to RSA 198:42 does not include a count of the full day kindergarten students, shall receive an additional adequate education grant based on the number of pupils attending kindergarten in the district as of the beginning of the school year.

II.  The per pupil amount of the additional education grant provided in this section shall be [$1,200 for the 2008 school year] 50 percent of the amount distributed under RSA 198:40-a, II(a)[. Starting in the school year that commences in the fall of 2009, a school district which operates kindergarten in any school year in which the adequate education grant provided pursuant to RSA 198:42 does not include a count of kindergarten students, shall receive an additional adequate education grant calculated pursuant to the adequate education grant formula provided in RSA 198] based on the number of pupils [attending] enrolled and present on the first day of school in the current year in a full day kindergarten program in the district [as of the beginning of the school year].  Once pupils enrolled in an approved kindergarten program have been counted in the average daily membership, school districts shall receive, for each such pupil, an adequate education grant calculated in accordance with [RSA 198:41 and RSA 198:42.  School districts that receive kindergarten adequate education grants under this section shall not be eligible to receive any other per pupil adequate education grant] 198:40-a, II.

2  Effective Date.  This act shall take effect upon its passage.

 

LBAO

20-3090

Revised 3/3/20

 

HB 1691-FN-LOCAL- FISCAL NOTE

AS INTRODUCED

 

AN ACT relative to kindergarten adequate education grants.

 

FISCAL IMPACT:      [ X ] State              [    ] County               [ X ] Local              [    ] None

 

 

 

Estimated Increase / (Decrease)

STATE:

FY 2020

FY 2021

FY 2022

FY 2023

   Appropriation

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Revenue

$0

$0

$0

$0

   Expenditures

$851,166

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Funding Source:

  [    ] General            [ X ] Education            [    ] Highway           [    ] Other

 

 

 

 

 

LOCAL:

 

 

 

 

   Revenue

$851,166

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

Indeterminable

   Expenditures

$0

$0

$0

$0

 

METHODOLOGY:

This bill provides one-time funding for school districts relative to new full-day kindergarten programs.  Under current law, adequate education grants are distributed based on previous year student counts, which would mean a district operating a new full-day kindergarten program would not receive full-day adequate education grant for kindergarten pupils until the following year.  Under this bill, a one-time payment would be made in the year of implementation equal the difference between half and full day adequacy, effectively eliminating the year lag for full-day kindergarten funding.

 

In the current school year (2019-20) there are three towns with new full-day kindergarten programs.  Based on October 1, 2019 counts, this bill would result in the following estimated increases to state education trust fund expenditures and local school district revenue in FY 2020:

 

Chester

$83,448

Salem

$435,782

Windham

$331,936

TOTAL

$851,166

 

This bill’s impact on FY 2021 and beyond cannot be estimated as it is not known which, if any, other districts move from half-day to full-day kindergarten programs.

 

AGENCIES CONTACTED:

Department of Education