74th OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2007 Regular Session
NOTE: Matter within { + braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within { - braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
{ + braces and plus signs + } .
LC 479
Senate Bill 213
Printed pursuant to Senate Interim Rule 213.28 by order of the
President of the Senate in conformance with presession filing
rules, indicating neither advocacy nor opposition on the part
of the President (at the request of Superintendent of Public
Instruction Susan Castillo for Department of Education)
SUMMARY
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
Allows school district to offer half-day or full-day
kindergarten or both. Changes basis of calculation of aggregate
days membership for full-day kindergarten pupils for purposes of
State School Fund distributions.
Declares emergency, effective July 1, 2007.
A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to kindergarten; creating new provisions; amending ORS
327.006, 327.077, 327.082, 339.030 and 339.141; and declaring
an emergency.
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
SECTION 1. ORS 327.082 is amended to read:
327.082. (1) { + School districts shall offer a half-day or
full-day kindergarten or both a half-day and full-day
kindergarten. + } School districts { - which - } { + that + }
operate kindergartens
{ - that conform to the standards and rules adopted by the
State Board of Education - } shall be eligible for
apportionments from the State School Fund on the basis of
{ - resident - } average daily membership in the
kindergartens. { + The apportionments shall be adjusted based on
whether a school district offers a half-day or full-day
kindergarten. + }
(2) The apportionments shall be paid in the same manner as
other apportionments from the State School Fund are paid.
Computation of the amounts due each district operating a
kindergarten shall be made by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction pursuant to rules of the State Board of Education.
The rules shall establish a method of computation that is
consistent with the method of computation of other apportionments
from the State School Fund.
SECTION 2. ORS 327.006 is amended to read:
327.006. As used in ORS 327.006 to 327.133, 327.348, 327.355,
327.357, 327.360 and 327.731:
(1) 'Aggregate days membership' means the sum of days present
and absent, according to the rules of the State Board of
Education, of all resident pupils when school is actually in
session during a certain period. { - The aggregate days
membership of kindergarten pupils shall be calculated on the
basis of a half-day program. - }
(2)(a) 'Approved transportation costs' means those costs as
defined by rule of the State Board of Education and is limited to
those costs attributable to transporting or room and board
provided in lieu of transporting:
(A) Elementary school students who live at least one mile from
school;
(B) Secondary school students who live at least 1.5 miles from
school;
(C) Any student required to be transported for health or safety
reasons, according to supplemental plans from districts that have
been approved by the state board identifying students who are
required to be transported for health or safety reasons,
including special education;
(D) Preschool children with disabilities requiring
transportation for early intervention services provided pursuant
to ORS 343.224 and 343.533;
(E) Students who require payment of room and board in lieu of
transportation;
(F) A student transported from one school or facility to
another school or facility when the student attends both schools
or facilities during the day or week; and
(G) Students participating in school-sponsored field trips that
are extensions of classroom learning experiences.
(b) 'Approved transportation costs' does not include the cost
of constructing boarding school facilities.
(3) 'Average daily membership' or 'ADM' means the aggregate
days membership of a school during a certain period divided by
the number of days the school was actually in session during the
same period. However, if a district school board adopts a class
schedule that operates throughout the year for all or any schools
in the district, average daily membership shall be computed by
the Department of Education so that the resulting average daily
membership will not be higher or lower than if the board had not
adopted such schedule.
(4) 'Consumer Price Index' means the Consumer Price Index for
All Urban Consumers of the Portland, Oregon, Standard
Metropolitan Statistical Area, as compiled by the United States
Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
(5) 'Kindergarten' means a kindergarten program that conforms
to the standards and rules adopted by the State Board of
Education.
(6) 'Net operating expenditures' means the sum of expenditures
of a school district in kindergarten through grade 12 for
administration, instruction, attendance and health services,
operation of plant, maintenance of plant, fixed charges and
tuition for resident students attending in another district, as
determined in accordance with the rules of the State Board of
Education, but net operating expenditures does not include
transportation, food service, student body activities, community
services, capital outlay, debt service or expenses incurred for
nonresident students.
(7)(a) 'Resident pupil' means any pupil:
(A) Whose legal school residence is within the boundaries of a
school district reporting the pupil, if the district is legally
responsible for the education of the pupil, except that 'resident
pupil' does not include a pupil who pays tuition or for whom the
parent pays tuition or for whom the district does not pay tuition
for placement outside the district; or
(B) Whose legal residence is not within the boundaries of the
district reporting the pupil but attends school in the district
with the written consent of the affected school district boards.
(b) A pupil shall not be considered to be a resident pupil
under paragraph (a)(A) of this subsection if the pupil is
attending school in another school district pursuant to a
contract under ORS 339.125 and in the prior year was considered
to be a resident pupil in another school district under paragraph
(a)(B) of this subsection. The pupil shall continue to be
considered a resident of another school district under paragraph
(a)(B) of this subsection.
(c) A pupil shall not be considered to be a resident pupil
under paragraph (a)(B) of this subsection if the pupil is
attending school in a school district pursuant to an agreement
with another school district under ORS 339.133 and in the prior
year was considered to be a resident pupil under paragraph (a)(A)
of this subsection because the pupil was attending school in
another school district pursuant to a contract under ORS 339.125.
The pupil shall continue to be considered a resident pupil under
paragraph (a)(A) of this subsection.
(d) 'Resident pupil' includes a pupil admitted to a school
district under ORS 339.115 (7).
(8) 'Standard school' means a school meeting the standards set
by the rules of the State Board of Education.
(9) 'Tax' and 'taxes' includes all taxes on property, excluding
exempt bonded indebtedness, as those terms are defined in ORS
310.140.
SECTION 3. ORS 327.077 is amended to read:
327.077. (1) A school may qualify as a remote small elementary
school if the average daily membership in { - grades one - }
{ + kindergarten + } through { + grade + } eight for an
elementary school teaching:
{ + (a) Nine grades is below 252. + }
{ - (a) - } { + (b) + } Eight grades is below 224.
{ - (b) - } { + (c) + } Seven grades is below 196.
{ - (c) - } { + (d) + } Six grades is below 168.
{ - (d) - } { + (e) + } Five grades is below 140.
{ - (e) - } { + (f) + } Four grades is below 112.
{ - (f) - } { + (g) + } Three grades is below 84.
{ - (g) - } { + (h) + } Two grades is below 56.
{ - (h) - } { + (i) + } One grade is below 28.
(2) A school may qualify as a small high school if:
(a) The school is in a school district that has an ADMw of less
than 8,500; and
(b) The average daily membership in grades 9 through 12 for a
high school teaching:
(A) Four grades is below 350.
(B) Three grades is below 267.
(3) No elementary school shall qualify as a remote small
elementary school under subsection (1) of this section if it is
within eight miles by the nearest traveled road from another
elementary school unless there are physiographic conditions that
make transportation to another school not feasible.
(4)(a) If an elementary school in a school district qualifies
as a remote small elementary school, the district shall have an
additional amount added to the district's ADMw.
(b) The additional amount = { { - 224 - } { + 252 + } -
(ADMa :(number of grades in the school : { - eight - }
{ + nine + }))} X 0.0045 X ADMa X distance adjustment.
(5)(a) If a high school in a district qualifies as a small high
school, the district shall have an additional amount added to the
district's ADMw.
(b) The additional amount = {350 - (ADMa :(number of grades in
the school : four))} X 0.0029 X ADMa.
(6) The distance adjustment for an elementary school = 0.025
for each 10th of a mile more than eight miles that a school is
away from the nearest elementary school measured by the nearest
traveled road or 1.0, whichever is less.
(7)(a) A school may qualify as a remote small elementary school
under this section only if the location of the school has not
changed since January 1, 1995, and if the school qualified as a
remote small school on July 18, 1995.
(b) A school may qualify as a small high school under this
section only if the location of the school has not changed since
January 1, 1995, and if the school qualified as a small high
school on October 23, 1999.
(c) A public charter school as defined in ORS 338.005 may
qualify as a remote small elementary school under this section
only if the location of the school has not changed since January
1, 1995, and if the school qualified as a nonchartered public
remote small school on July 18, 1995.
(d) A public charter school as defined in ORS 338.005 may
qualify as a small high school under this section only if the
location of the school has not changed since January 1, 1995, and
if the school qualified as a nonchartered public remote small
school on July 18, 1995.
(e) The Superintendent of Public Instruction may waive the
requirements of paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this subsection
if the superintendent determines that exceptional circumstances
exist.
(f) An alternative education program as defined in ORS 336.615
may not qualify as a small high school under this section.
(8) The opening of a public charter school shall not disqualify
a school as a remote small elementary school under subsection (3)
of this section or change the distance adjustment for a school
under subsection (6) of this section.
(9)(a) Notwithstanding subsections (2), (5) and (7)(b) and (d)
of this section, if two high schools merge and prior to the
merger at least one of the high schools qualified as a small high
school under this section, the Department of Education shall
continue to add an additional amount pursuant to subsection (5)
of this section to the ADMw of the school district in which the
new merged high school is located that is equal to the higher of:
(A) The additional amount the school district of each of the
former small high schools would have received under this section
for the small high school based on the ADMa of each of the high
schools prior to the merger; or
(B) In the case of a high school that remains qualified as a
small high school under subsection (2) of this section after a
merger, the ADMa of the merged small high school.
(b) The department shall add the additional amount under this
subsection only for the first four fiscal years after the merger
of the two high schools is final. If the merger of the two high
schools becomes final on or before September 1, for purposes of
this paragraph the merger shall be considered final in the prior
fiscal year.
(10) For purposes of this section:
(a) The 'adjusted average daily membership' or 'ADMa' for an
elementary school shall be the average daily membership for the
school, but no less than 25.
(b) The 'adjusted average daily membership' or 'ADMa' for a
high school shall be the average daily membership for the school,
but no less than 60.
SECTION 4. ORS 339.030 is amended to read:
339.030. (1) In the following cases, children shall not be
required to attend public full-time schools:
(a) Children being taught in a private or parochial school in
the courses of study usually taught in { - grades 1 - } { +
kindergarten + } through { + grade + } 12 in the public schools
and in attendance for a period equivalent to that required of
children attending public schools in the 1994-1995 school year.
(b) Children proving to the satisfaction of the district school
board that they have acquired equivalent knowledge to that
acquired in the courses of study taught in { - grades 1 - }
{ + kindergarten + } through { + grade + } 12 in the public
schools.
(c) Children being taught for a period equivalent to that
required of children attending public schools by a private
teacher the courses of study usually taught in { - grades 1 - }
{ + kindergarten + } through { + grade + } 12 in the public
school.
(d) Children being educated in the children's home by a parent
or legal guardian.
(e) Children excluded from attendance as provided by law.
(2) The State Board of Education by rule shall establish
procedures whereby, on a semiannual basis, an exemption from
compulsory attendance may be granted to the parent or legal
guardian of any child 16 or 17 years of age who is lawfully
employed full-time, lawfully employed part-time and enrolled in
school, a community college or an alternative education program
as defined in ORS 336.615. An exemption also may be granted to
any child who is an emancipated minor or who has initiated the
procedure for emancipation under ORS 419B.550 to 419B.558.
SECTION 5. ORS 339.141 is amended to read:
339.141. (1) For the purposes of this section:
(a) 'Public charter school' has the meaning given that term in
ORS 338.005.
(b) 'Regular school program' means the regular curriculum
provided in the required full-time day sessions in the schools of
the district, including public charter schools, for { - grades
1 - } { + kindergarten + } through { + grade + } 12 { - and
the school program for kindergarten - } during the period of
approximately nine months each year when the schools of the
district or public charter schools are normally in operation and
does not include summer sessions or evening sessions.
(c) 'Tuition' means payment for the cost of instruction and
does not include fees authorized under ORS 339.155.
(2) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section,
district school boards and public charter schools may establish
tuition rates to be paid by pupils receiving instruction in
educational programs, classes or courses of study, including
traffic safety education, which are not a part of the regular
school program. Tuition charges, if made, shall not exceed the
estimated cost to the district or public charter school of
furnishing the program, class or course of study.
(3) Except as provided in ORS 336.805 for traffic safety
education:
(a) No tuition shall be charged to any resident pupil regularly
enrolled in the regular school program for special instruction
received at any time in connection therewith.
(b) No program, class or course of study for which tuition is
charged, except courses of study beyond the 12th grade, shall be
eligible for reimbursement from state funds.
SECTION 6. { + (1) The amendments to ORS 327.006, 327.077 and
327.082 by sections 1 to 3 of this 2007 Act apply to State School
Fund distributions commencing with the 2007-2008 distribution.
(2) The amendments to ORS 327.082, 339.030 and 339.141 by
sections 1, 4 and 5 of this 2007 Act first apply to the 2007-2008
school year. + }
SECTION 7. { + This 2007 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2007 Act takes effect July 1,
2007. + }
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