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Indiana lawmakers advance bills to
ensure school funding
CASEY SMITH
Associated Press/Report for America
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Indiana lawmakers
are expediting two similar bills intended to ensure schools receive full
funding for all students, regardless of whether they are receiving
instruction virtually or in the classroom due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The draft bills were filed in the
House and Senate at the start of the 2021 Legislative session, both
redefining what constitutes a "virtual student" and ensuring there would be
no reduction in per-student funding for traditionally in-person schools.
A twice-yearly count of students
attending schools is used to determine how much money the state allots to
each facility. According to the bills, students will not be counted as
"virtual" on Feb. 1 even if most or all of their learning takes place
online.
Without that change, millions of
dollars would be on the line for schools offering instruction online only.
Current state law caps per-pupil funding for students who take at least half
their classes virtually at 85% of full in-person student funding.
That would mean school districts using
hybrid formats or that only offer online instruction to minimize the
potential spread of COVID-19 could lose 15% of their basic per-student
funding, amounting to $855 per student.
House Bill 1003 unanimously passed the
Ways and Means committee Wednesday and could get passed out of the chamber
as early as next week. Senate Bill 2 was heard before the Senate's committee
for Education and Career Development the same day, although it's likely to
take several weeks before it's eligible for a vote.
"We appreciate that this is a priority
of the General Assembly, and that it's moving forward quickly," said
executive director of the Indiana Association of School Business Officials,
Denny Costerison, at the Statehouse Wednesday. "What we're looking for is
fairness - to continue the funding that was considered to be right when the
budget was passed in 2019."
Still, the bills are temporary fixes
because they would expire at the end of the spring 2021 semester. While
there were requests in both committees Wednesday to extend the date for the
definition change - such as for the full 2021-22 academic year - Rep. Tim
Brown, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said that amendment was
unlikely. Instead, Brown suggested lawmakers should wait to make decisions
about future school funding until after larger state budget models are
discussed.
The Legislature also doesn't face a
hard deadline of passing the bills before the February count date because
the money distributed based on those enrollment figures won't be sent to
school districts until later in the spring, Republican Senate President Pro
Tem Rodric Bray said.
"We would rather have this done so
that the schools know going into the count how that's going to work," Bray
said. "I feel very optimistic that this will pass both the House and the
Senate with very broad support for it."
State officials in
September approved a similar method to
maintain full funding for school districts during the fall semester.
Legislators are now the ones tasked with finding a funding solution for the
second half of the academic year.
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb is
expected to sign the legislation. He has maintained that he's committed to not
cutting education funding - even as other
state agencies have reduced budgets. He also promised
school leaders last summer they would receive
100% of state funding for each of their students, no matter how they receive
their instruction.
Posted 1/8/2021
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