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SPONSOR: |
Nava |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Enrollment Growth Program Units Calculation |
SB |
231/aSFC |
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ANALYST: |
L. Baca |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
NFI |
|
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Recurring |
GF |
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Responses
Received From
State
Department of Education (SDE)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of SFC
Amendment
The amendments adopted by The Senate Finance Committee strike the appropriation and modify the formula to use a factor of 1.5 instead of Adjusted Average Units Per MEM. The formula for determining enrollment growth units will now read as follows:
((Current Year MEM -
Previous Year MEM) - (Current Year MEM x
.01)) X 1.5 +
Units
The General Appropriation Act includes $4.5
million for enrollment growth in the appropriation for Public School Support.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
Senate Bill 231 amends
the Public School Finance Act to change the calculation for determining
enrollment growth units based on adjusted average units per MEM plus an additional
.50 unit for a school district experiencing an increase in MEM of 1.0 percent
or greater from the 40th day of the preceding year; and appropriates
$6,300.0 to the State Department of Education to fund the increase in
enrollment growth units.
This bill was
submitted on behalf of the Legislative Education Study Committee (LESC).
Significant Issues
Since the shift to prior year funding of school districts during the 1999-2000 school year, this proposed change is the third modification to the method for distributing state support to school districts for enrollment growth. This change provides a stable and more comprehensive approach to recognizing membership growth and returns “consistency” to funding enrollment growth. The LESC and the State Board of Education support this approach.
Utilizing this method, those districts with
increasing enrollments as defined in statute receive the funding need to
provide the instructional needs of the additional students. Based on a table provided by the SDE, 49
school districts will not be affected by the change, 34 will receive increases
in funding, and 17 will generate fewer units and funding. (See attached tables prepared by SDE.)
The enrollment growth calculation for this
method is described by SDE as follows:
“The bill would change the calculation of growth units based on the difference between the current year 40 day MEM and the prior year 40 day MEM. For districts experiencing a growth rate of one percent or greater, additional growth units would be calculated by multiplying the difference in MEM greater than one percent by the current year statewide average number of adjusted program units per student. Additionally, districts experiencing a growth rate of one percent or greater would also be entitled to marginal growth units calculated by multiplying all new students by a factor of 0.50.”
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of
$6,300.0 contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general fund. Any
unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of fiscal year 2004
shall revert to the general fund.
Based on 2002-2003 40th day membership and units
adjusted for the implementation of full-day kindergarten and on the 2002-2003
initial unit value of $2,896.01, the estimated additional funding needed for FY
2004 is $6,300.0
DUPLICATION, RELATIONSHIP
SB 231is identical to
HB 169, Enrollment Growth Program Units;
Is similar to SB
17, Enrollment Growth Program Units, a different
approach to funding enrollment growth which uses two calculations for computing
enrollment growth:
1) the total number of new students in a growing district is multiplied by the statewide average number of units per MEM on the current year 40th day report;
2) in a district with a growth rate greater than one percent, the difference in MEM greater than one percent is multiplied by a .5 marginal growth factor.
The calculations in HB 169, SB 231 and SB 17 are adjusted to exclude full-day kindergarten membership for the first year that full-day kindergarten is implemented in a school as required in the bills.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The bill contains a reversion clause.
Historically, however, funds flowing through the New Mexico Public School
Funding Formula have not reverted.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
In the bill, MEM is
defined as the 40th day school district membership, including early
childhood full-time equivalent membership and special education membership, but
excluding full-day kindergarten membership for the first full year that
full-day kindergarten is implemented.
LRB/yr/ls
2002-03 BUDGETED
GROWTH FUNDING COMPARED TO FUNDING THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN GENERATED BY THE
PROPOSED FORMULA
APPLIED TO GROWING DISTRICTS AND USING THE 2002-2003 INITIAL UNIT VALUE