Source: http://legis.delaware.gov/json/BillDetail/GenerateHtmlDocument?legislationId=26486&legislationTypeId=1&docTypeId=2&legislationName=SB172
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 02:13:00+00:00

Document:
AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 14 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO SCHOOL FUNDING TRANSPARENCY.
§ 1511. School Funding Transparency.
(1) Comply with ESSA requirements by reporting federal funding separate from State and local funding.
(2) Create business rules that will identify which district and charter expenses are to be included and excluded in the per-pupil calculation.
a. At a minimum, expense categories required under ESSA should be included such as administration, instruction, attendance and health services, pupil transportation services, operation and maintenance of plant, fixed charges, and net expenditures to cover deficits for food services and student body activities.
b. At a minimum, expense categories that do not link directly to the day-to-day schooling of Pre-K-12 th grade students should be excluded. Excluded expense categories include adult education, capital expenditures, community services, tuition, debt service, and rent.
(3) Define the method of determining student enrollment counts used in the per-pupil calculation.
a. Category 1: Expenditures on resources actually tracked to the school.
b. Category 2: Each school’s share of central office expenditures (expenditures shared across multiple schools).
Each district and charter school must also report the grand total of Categories 1 and 2.
a. Require that at least the expense categories required under ESSA are commonly defined across the State in how they get assigned to Category 1 or 2.
b. Require that districts and charter schools report whether they have assigned any expense categories that they have discretion over into Category 1 or 2.
c. Require that all expenditures for personnel who work in schools at least 80% of the time are reported in Category 1 using actual, not average, salary costs.
d. Require that central office expenditures be either divided across all schools according to student enrollment or be divided by time spent in each school.
e. Require that charter schools without central offices report 100% of included district and charter expenses, as defined in § 1511(a)(2) of this section, in Category 1, since all expenditures are made at the school site, so that reporting is comparable across districts and charter schools.
§ 1511(a)(2) of this section, are still reported.
a. Online individual school report cards.
b. Downloadable statewide data files or interactive, user-friendly online statewide data tools that allow the user to draw comparisons between schools.
a. The school level (Elementary, Middle or High School).
b. The grade levels served and student enrollment of each school.
d. The districtwide school-level per-pupil expenditure average, using districtwide averages for Category 1 spending as defined in § 1511(a)(4) of this section.
e. School-level student demographics including rates of English learners, students living in poverty, and special education students by need category.
f. School-level student outcomes, including proficiency in State assessments and graduation rates.
g. Average teacher salary at the school-level.
h. Average paraprofessional salary at the school-level.
a. The district and statewide averages of student demographics, as defined in § 1511(b)(2)(e) of this section.
b. The district and statewide averages of student outcomes, as defined in § 1511(b)(2)(f) of this section.
§1511(b)(2)(g) and §1511(b)(2)(h) of this section.
d. Names of special programs in the school that drive resource allocation, such as districtwide special education programs.
(4) Individual school report cards must be posted on State, district, and charter websites.
(1) Hold at least 3 public meetings to review and receive input on the standardized statewide approach before finalizing the approach for district and charter school use.
(2) Hold at least 3 public meetings to review and receive input on the templates for publically reporting data.
d. Local school board members.
g. Advocates with specific knowledge of low income students, special education, or of English learners.
(4) Report twice to the Chairs of the House and Senate Education Committees on how the requirements of §1511(c) of this section were met and how feedback was incorporated by the end of December 2018 and again before the release of the 2018-2019 data that will be reported no later than December 2019.
(1) Each of the local school boards and citizen’s budget oversight committees.
(2) School and central office leaders from districts and charters.
(3) The general public and parents, which must be held at a time and place accessible to working parents and with translation services available.
1. Establish, in collaboration with stakeholders, a statewide approach for districts and charter schools for reporting expenditures at the school level and the school’s share of central office expenditures so that per-pupil expenditure data is consistent and comparable across the State.
2. Report per-pupil expenditure data with key information that provide context on differences in funding such as school type, student demographics, and student outcomes.
3. Provide optional trainings to increase understanding of the data.
As a result, this bill is intended to enable all taxpayers, parents, and schools to understand their school spending and resources in order to make data-driven decisions for students.

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