2023 Oklahoma Statutes › Title 70. Schools › §70-18-113.1. Class size limitation - Penalties - Exemptions.

A. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to grades one through three.
1. Except as otherwise provided for in this section, no child shall be included in the average daily membership of a school district for the purpose of computing and paying state-appropriated funds if that child is regularly assigned to a teacher or to a class that includes more than twenty (20) students.
2. If a class or classes in a grade exceed the class size limitation provided for in this subsection, the class size limitation and penalty shall not apply if:
a.
the creation of an additional class would cause a class to have fewer than ten (10) students; and
b.
a teacher's assistant, as defined in Section 6-127 of this title, is employed to serve with each teacher in a class that exceeds the class size limitation provided for in this subsection.
3. No school district shall be penalized for exceeding class size limitations set forth in this subsection if the limitations are exceeded beginning after the first nine (9) weeks of the school year.
Any school district found to be in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall receive a penalty in the State Aid formula as a reduction to State Aid to be determined as follows:
a.
Multiply each pupil in excess of the class size membership limit as provided in this subsection by the grade level weight and by the Base Foundation Support Level for the current school year, and
b.
Multiply each pupil in excess of the class size membership limit as provided in this subsection by the grade level weight and by the Incentive Aid guarantee for the current school year times twenty (20), and
c.
Sum the products of subparagraphs a and b of this paragraph.
B. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only to grades four through six.
1. Except as otherwise provided for in this section, no child shall be included in the average daily membership of a school district for the purpose of computing and paying state-appropriated funds if that child is regularly assigned to a teacher or to a class that includes more than twenty (20) students.
2. If a class or classes in a grade exceed the class size limitation provided for in this subsection, the class size limitation and penalty shall not apply if the creation of an additional class would cause a class to have fewer than sixteen (16) students.
3. No school district shall be penalized for exceeding class size limitations set forth in this subsection if the limitations are exceeded beginning after the first nine (9) weeks of the school year.
4. Any school district found to be in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall receive a penalty in the State Aid formula as a reduction to State Aid to be determined as follows:
a.
Multiply each pupil in excess of the class size membership limit as provided in this subsection by the grade level weight and by the Base Foundation Support Level for the current school year, and
b.
Multiply each pupil in excess of the class size membership limit as provided in this subsection by the grade level weight and by the Incentive Aid guarantee for the current school year times twenty (20), and
c.
Sum the products of subparagraphs a and b of this paragraph.
C. Classes in the following subjects shall not be subject to the class size limitations provided for in subsections A and B of this section:
1. Physical education; and
2. Chorus, band, orchestra and similar music classes.
D. If a school district groups its grades as grades one through five, grades six through eight, and grades nine through twelve, then as to such district the provisions of subsection B of this section shall apply to grades four and five rather than grades four through six, and the provisions of Section 18-113.3 of this title shall apply to grades six through twelve.
E. Any violations of the provisions of this section shall result in denial of accreditation in accordance with the requirements of Section 3-104.4 of this title.
F. Any school district which at the beginning of the school year does not have sufficient classrooms to meet the class size limitation provided for in this section as determined by guidelines established by the State Board of Education shall not be penalized for failure to meet the class size limitations provided for in this section if:
a.
the school district has voted indebtedness, at any time within the five (5) years preceding the year the district exceeds the class size limitations or during the year the district exceeds the class size limitations, through the issuance of bonds or approval by voters of issuance of new bonds for more than eighty-five percent (85%) of the maximum allowable pursuant to the provisions of Section 26 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution as shown on the school district budget filed with the State Equalization Board for the current school year and certifications by the Attorney General prior to February 1 of the current school year; and
b.
on the date of filing of the school district budget with the State Equalization Board, the school district is voting the maximum millage allowable for the support, maintenance and construction of schools as provided for in subsections (a), (c), (d) and (d-1) of Section 9 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution and Section 10 of Article X of the Oklahoma Constitution.
G. Any school district which exceeds the class size limitations as set forth in this section shall submit a written report to the State Board of Education, on or before July 1 of each year, setting forth the procedures that the district will follow in order to comply with this section.
H. School districts which receive state-appropriated funds pursuant to the provisions of Section 18-112.2 of this title and do not comply with the provisions of this section shall be subject to loss of State Aid for each child in excess of the class size limitations specified in this section.
Added by Laws 1985, c. 329, § 3, emerg. eff. July 30, 1985. Amended by Laws 1986, c. 259, § 19, operative July 1, 1986; Laws 1987, c. 204, § 84, operative July 1, 1987; Laws 1988, c. 207, § 3, operative July 1, 1988; Laws 1989, c. 214, § 1, emerg. eff. May 9, 1989; Laws 1989, 1st Ex.Sess., c. 2, § 28, operative July 1, 1990; Laws 1990, c. 263, § 69, operative July 1, 1990; Laws 1991, c. 280, § 71, eff. July 1, 1991; Laws 1992, c. 324, § 15, eff. July 1, 1992; Laws 1996, c. 314, § 1, eff. July 1, 1996.