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State Law

RIGL 16-7-23. Community requirements — Adequate minimum budget provision.

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101 views3 pages

State Law

RIGL 16-7-23. Community requirements — Adequate minimum budget provision.

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NBC 10 WJAR
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§ 16-7-23. Community requirements — Adequate minimum budget provision.

(a) The school committee’s budget provisions of each community for current
expenditures in each budget year shall provide for an amount from all sources
sufficient to support the basic program and all other approved programs shared by the
state. Each community shall contribute local funds to its school committee in an
amount not less than its local contribution for schools in the previous fiscal year
except to the extent permitted by §§ 16-7-23.1 and 16-7-23.2. Provided, that for the
fiscal years 2010 and 2011 each community shall contribute to its school committee in
an amount not less than ninety-five percent (95.0%) of its local contribution for
schools for the fiscal year 2009. Calculation of the annual local contribution shall not
include Medicaid revenues received by the municipality or district pursuant to chapter
8 of title 40. A community that has a decrease in enrollment may compute
maintenance of effort on a per-pupil rather than on an aggregate basis when
determining its local contribution; furthermore, a community that experiences a
nonrecurring expenditure for its schools may deduct the nonrecurring expenditure in
computing its maintenance of effort. The deduction of nonrecurring expenditures shall
be with the approval of the commissioner. Provided, however, that notwithstanding
any provision of this title to the contrary, debt service that is no longer carried on the
books of any school district shall not be included in any school district’s annual
budget, nor shall nonrecurring debt service be included in maintenance of effort as set
forth in this chapter, nor shall any nonrecurring debt service be included in the
operating budget of any school district. For the purposes set forth above, nonrecurring
capital lease payments shall be considered nonrecurring debt service. The courts of
this state shall enforce this section by means of injunctive relief.

(b) Districts’ annual maintenance expenditures must meet the requirements of


subsection (b)(1), (b)(2), or (b)(3) of this section.

(1) A minimum of three percent (3%) of the operating budget shall be dedicated
exclusively for maintenance expenditures as defined in § 16-7-36(7) provided that
for FY 2019, that amount shall be one percent (1%), for FY 2020, that amount
shall be one and one-half percent (1.5%), for FY 2021 that amount shall be two
percent (2%), and for FY 2022 that amount shall be two and one-half percent
(2.5%).
(2) A minimum of three percent (3%) of the replacement value shall be dedicated
exclusively for maintenance expenditures as defined in § 16-7-36(7) provided that
for FY 2019, that amount shall be one percent (1%), for FY 2020 that amount
shall be one and one-half percent (1.5%), for FY 2021 that amount shall be two
percent (2%), and for FY 2022 that amount shall be two and one-half percent
(2.5%).

(3) A minimum of three dollars ($3.00), subject to inflation, per square foot of
building space shall be dedicated exclusively for maintenance expenditures as
defined in § 16-7-36(7).

(c) The department of elementary and secondary education shall be responsible for
establishing a reporting mechanism to ensure the intent of this section is being met. In
the event that a district does not meet its minimum expenditure requirement in a given
year, the state shall direct state housing aid paid pursuant to § 16-7-41 or § 16-105-5,
in an amount equal to the shortfall, to a restricted fund created by the district and
dedicated solely to meeting maintenance requirements.

(d) Whenever any state funds are appropriated for educational purposes, the funds
shall be used for educational purposes only and all state funds appropriated for
educational purposes must be used to supplement any and all money allocated by a
city or town for educational purposes and, in no event, shall state funds be used to
supplant, directly or indirectly, any money allocated by a city or town for educational
purposes. All state funds shall be appropriated by the municipality to the school
committee for educational purposes in the same fiscal year in which they are
appropriated at the state level even if the municipality has already adopted a school
budget. All state and local funds unexpended by the end of the fiscal year of
appropriation shall remain a surplus of the school committee and shall not revert to
the municipality. Any surplus of state or local funds appropriated for educational
purposes shall not in any respect affect the requirement that each community
contribute local funds in an amount not less than its local contribution for schools in
the previous fiscal year, subject to subsection (a) of this section, and shall not in any
event be deducted from the amount of the local appropriation required to meet the
maintenance of effort provision in any given year.

§ 16-7-24. Minimum appropriation by a community for approved school


expenses.
Each community shall appropriate or otherwise make available to the school
committee for approved school expenditures during each school year, to be expended
under the direction and supervision of the school committee of that community, an
amount, which, together with state education aid and federal aid: (1) shall be not less
than the costs of the basic program during the reference year, (2) plus the costs in the
reference year of all optional programs shared by the state; provided, however, that
the state funds provided in accordance with § 16-5-31 shall not be used to supplant
local funds. The board of regents for elementary and secondary education shall adopt
regulations for determining the basic education program and the maintenance of local
appropriation to support the basic education program. A community that has a local
appropriation insufficient to fund the basic education program pursuant to the
regulations described in this section and all other approved programs shared by the
state and required in law shall be required to increase its local appropriation in
accordance with § 44-5-2 or find efficiencies in other non-education programs to
provide sufficient funding to support the public schools. The city of Central Falls
annual local contribution to education shall be determined pursuant to subsection
16-7.2-6(d).

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