The legal citation for the regulatory authority of this memo is as follows: Arkansas Code Annotated §§ 6-5-301 et seq., 6-20-601 et seq., 6-20-2301 et seq., and 6-20-2501 et seq., and Acts 811, 1186, 1397, 1421, 1469, 1474 and 1501 of 2009.
The June 30 state aid notice for fiscal year 2009-10 will be posted to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) web site http://arkansased.org/about/reports.html. Scroll down to State Aid Notices. Select State Aid Notice 2009-10 Preliminary - PDF June 30, 2010.
For each listed funding category, the following information is provided: indication of the existence of an ADE rule; the preliminary amount of state aid; the applicable statutory code; indication of the existence of expenditure restrictions; the revenue code; and the source of fund code. The Data section of the state aid notice provides much of the data supporting the funding calculations. The Funding section of the state aid notice provides preliminary funding estimates based on available data. Changes to data due to updates or corrections will result in changes to all associated funding categories. Districts will be notified of changes on subsequent state aid notices.
• The portion of state foundation funding aid that is educational excellence trust funds changed as a result of corrections in school district data received since the February 26 state aid notice.
• Bonded debt assistance reflects a change in the method of calculating miscellaneous funds since the July 31, 2009, state aid notice. Act 1469 of 2009, Section 15, defines miscellaneous funds used in the calculation of state foundation funding aid, in part, as the average of the miscellaneous funds collected in the five years immediately preceding the previous year, multiplied by the ratio of the uniform rate of tax to the school district’s total millage rate. Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-2503(a)(3) defines miscellaneous funds used in the calculation of bonded debt assistance as the average miscellaneous funds collected in the previous five years. On January 11, the legislative rules committee reviewed the miscellaneous funds rule showing the foundation funding method of calculation will be used for both foundation funding and bonded debt assistance.
• Preliminary calculated amounts of isolated funding pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-601 et. seq., declining enrollment funding, and quarter one and estimates of quarters two, three, and four of student growth funding are provided. The final determination of 2009-10 student growth funding will be made in 2010-11 pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-2305 as amended by Act 1501 of 2009. Pursuant to state law, a district cannot receive both declining enrollment funding (with the exception of adequacy funding of both isolated special needs and declining enrollment) and either student growth or isolated special needs funding. A district that is eligible to receive funding for declining enrollment and student growth or declining enrollment and isolated special needs, will receive the category that yields the most funding. A preliminary comparison of declining enrollment funding to estimated student growth funding and/or isolated special needs funding has been made and is reflected on this state aid notice. A final comparison will be made in 2010-11. Districts will be notified of this comparison on the final 2009-10 state aid notice posted in 2010-11. Footnotes are provided on the state aid notice regarding eligibility for qualifiers of both declining enrollment funding and isolated special needs funding.
• Actual uniform rate of tax collections and 98% of uniform rate of tax collections less actual uniform rate of tax collections amounts are provided.
Please review the state aid notice carefully. A comparison of the most recent state aid notice to prior state aid notices may prove helpful in detecting errors and variances. Questions may be directed to Vivian Roberts at 501-682-4486.
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