79-1241.03.

Distribution of funds; certification by department to educational service unit and learning community; distribution.

(1) Two percent of the appropriation for core services and technology infrastructure funds shall be transferred to the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council. The remainder of such funds shall be distributed pursuant to subsections (2) through (5) of this section.

(2)(a) The distance education and telecommunications allowance for each educational service unit shall equal eighty-five percent of the difference of the costs for telecommunications services, for access to data transmission networks that transmit data to and from the educational service unit, and for the transmission of data on such networks paid by the educational service unit as reported on the annual financial report for the most recently available complete data year minus the receipts from the federal Universal Service Fund pursuant to 47 U.S.C. 254, as such section existed on January 1, 2021, for the educational service unit as reported on the annual financial report for the most recently available complete data year and minus any receipts from school districts or other educational entities for payment of such costs as reported on the annual financial report of the educational service unit.

(b) The base allocation of each educational service unit shall equal two and one-half percent of the funds appropriated for distribution pursuant to this section.

(c) The satellite office allocation for each educational service unit shall equal one percent of the funds appropriated for distribution pursuant to this section for each office of the educational service unit, except the educational service unit headquarters, up to the maximum number of satellite offices. The maximum number of satellite offices used for the calculation of the satellite office allocation for any educational service unit shall equal the difference of the ratio of the number of square miles within the boundaries of the educational service unit divided by four thousand minus one with the result rounded to the closest whole number.

(d) The statewide adjusted valuation shall equal the total adjusted valuation for all member districts of educational service units pursuant to section 79-1016 used for the calculation of state aid for school districts pursuant to the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act for the school fiscal year for which the distribution is being calculated pursuant to this section.

(e) The adjusted valuation for each educational service unit shall equal the total adjusted valuation of the member school districts pursuant to section 79-1016 used for the calculation of state aid for school districts pursuant to the act for the school fiscal year for which the distribution is being calculated pursuant to this section, except that such adjusted valuation for member school districts that are also member districts of a learning community shall be reduced by ten percent. The adjusted valuation for each learning community shall equal ten percent of the total adjusted valuation of the member school districts pursuant to section 79-1016 used for the calculation of state aid for school districts pursuant to the act for the school fiscal year for which the distribution is being calculated pursuant to this section.

(f) The local effort rate shall equal $0.0135 per one hundred dollars of adjusted valuation.

(g) The statewide student allocation shall equal the difference of the sum of the amount appropriated for distribution pursuant to this section plus the product of the statewide adjusted valuation multiplied by the local effort rate minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance, base allocation, and satellite office allocation for all educational service units and minus any adjustments required by subsection (4) of this section.

(h) The sparsity adjustment for each educational service unit and learning community shall equal the sum of one plus one-tenth of the ratio of the square miles within the boundaries of the educational service unit divided by the fall membership of the member school districts for the school fiscal year immediately preceding the school fiscal year for which the distribution is being calculated pursuant to this section.

(i) The adjusted students for each multidistrict educational service unit shall equal the fall membership for the school fiscal year immediately preceding the school fiscal year for which aid is being calculated of the member school districts that will not be members of a learning community and ninety percent of the fall membership for such school fiscal year of the member school districts that will be members of a learning community pursuant to this section multiplied by the sparsity adjustment for the educational service unit. The adjusted students for each single-district educational service unit shall equal ninety-five percent of the fall membership for the school fiscal year immediately preceding the school fiscal year for which aid is being calculated if the member school district will not be a member of a learning community and eighty-five percent of the fall membership for such school fiscal year if the member school district will be a member of a learning community pursuant to this section, multiplied by the sparsity adjustment for the educational service unit. The adjusted students for each learning community shall equal ten percent of the fall membership for such school fiscal year of the member school districts multiplied by the sparsity adjustment for the learning community.

(j) The per student allocation shall equal the statewide student allocation divided by the total adjusted students for all educational service units and learning communities.

(k) The student allocation for each educational service unit and learning community shall equal the per student allocation multiplied by the adjusted students for the educational service unit or learning community.

(l) The needs for each educational service unit shall equal the sum of the distance education and telecommunications allowance, base allocation, satellite office allocation, and student allocation for the educational service unit and the needs for each learning community shall equal the student allocation for the learning community.

(m) The distribution of core services and technology infrastructure funds for each educational service unit and learning community shall equal the needs for each educational service unit or learning community minus the product of the adjusted valuation for the educational service unit or learning community multiplied by the local effort rate.

(3) If an educational service unit is the result of a merger or received new member school districts from another educational service unit, the educational service unit shall be considered a new educational service unit for purposes of this section. For each new educational service unit, the needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance for such new educational service unit shall, for each of the three fiscal years following the fiscal year in which the merger takes place or the new member school districts are received, equal an amount not less than the needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance for the portions of the educational service units transferred to the new educational service unit for the fiscal year immediately preceding the merger or receipt of new member school districts, except that if the total amount available to be distributed pursuant to subsections (2) through (5) of this section for the year for which needs are being calculated is less than the total amount distributed pursuant to such subsections for the fiscal year immediately preceding the merger or receipt of new member school districts, the minimum needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance for each educational service unit pursuant to this subsection shall be reduced by a percentage equal to the ratio of such difference divided by the total amount distributed pursuant to subsections (2) through (5) of this section for the fiscal year immediately preceding the merger or receipt of new member school districts. The needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance for the portions of educational service units transferred to the new educational service unit for the fiscal year immediately preceding a merger or receipt of new member school districts shall equal the needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance calculated for such fiscal year pursuant to subsections (2) through (5) of this section for any educational service unit affected by the merger or the transfer of school districts multiplied by a ratio equal to the valuation that was transferred to the new educational service unit for which the minimum is being calculated divided by the total valuation of the educational service unit transferring the territory.

(4) If the minimum needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance pursuant to subsection (3) of this section for any educational service unit exceeds the amount that would otherwise be calculated for such educational service unit pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, the statewide student allocation shall be reduced such that the total amount to be distributed pursuant to this section equals the appropriation for core services and technology infrastructure funds and no educational service unit has needs minus the distance education and telecommunications allowance less than the greater of any minimum amounts calculated for such educational service unit pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

(5) The State Department of Education shall certify the distribution of core services and technology infrastructure funds pursuant to subsections (2) through (5) of this section to each educational service unit and learning community on or before July 1 of each year for the following school fiscal year. Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, any funds appropriated for distribution pursuant to this section shall be distributed in ten as nearly as possible equal payments on the last business day of each month beginning in September of each school fiscal year and ending in June. Payments to educational service units pursuant to this section shall be used for core services and technology infrastructure with the approval of representatives of two-thirds of the member school districts of the educational service unit, representing a majority of the adjusted students in the member school districts used in calculations pursuant to this section for such funds. The valuation of individual school districts shall not be considered in the utilization of such core services or technology infrastructure funds by member school districts for funds received after July 1, 2010. Funds distributed to learning communities shall be used for evaluation and research pursuant to section 79-2104.02 with the approval of the learning community coordinating council.

(6) For purposes of this section, the determination of whether or not a school district will be a member of an educational service unit or a learning community shall be based on the information available May 1 for the following school fiscal year.

(7) It is the intent of the Legislature that:

(a) Funding for core services and technology infrastructure for each educational service unit consist of both amounts received pursuant to this section and an amount greater than or equal to the product of the adjusted valuation for the educational service unit multiplied by the local effort rate; and

(b) Each multidistrict educational service unit use an amount equal to at least five percent of such funding for core services and technology infrastructure for cooperative projects between member school districts and that each such educational service unit use an amount equal to at least five percent of such funding for core services and technology infrastructure for statewide projects managed by the Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council.