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NCASA/NCPAPA
Legislative Links
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October
17, 2008
Special Edition
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October
21, 2008
Special Edition |
November
20, 2008 Special Edition |
January
16, 2009 Special Edition |
| January
23, 2009
Pre-Session |
January
30, 2009 |
February
6, 2009 |
February
13, 2009 |
| February
20, 2009 |
February
27, 2009 |
March
6, 2009 |
March
13, 2009 |
| March
20, 2009 |
March
27, 2009 |
April
3, 2009 |
April
9, 2009 |
| April
17, 2009 |
April
23, 2009 |
April
30, 2009 |
May
8, 2009 |
| May
15, 2009 |
May
21, 2009 |
May
28, 2009 |
June
6, 2009 |
| June
15, 2009 |
June
19, 2009 |
June
26, 2009 |
July
2, 2009 |
| July
10, 2009 |
July
17, 2009 |
July
24, 2009 |
July
31, 2009 |
| August
7, 2009 |
August
13, 2009 |
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Articles in this week's
Legislative Link Include:
1. State Board Authorizes Budget Flexibility
2. General Assembly Wraps Up 2009 Session
3. NCASA Analyzes Budget’s Impact On Schools
4. Summary Of This Week’s Action On Bills
Affecting Public Schools
State
Board Authorizes Budget Flexibility
The State Board of Education met in a special called
meeting Wednesday to respond to directives outlined
in the enacted state budget law. The board’s
main focus was to adopt policy revisions that will
provide school districts with more flexibility to
transfer funds between line items to help address
the $225 million discretionary reduction that the
budget requires of LEAs for 2009-2010.
As approved by the board Wednesday, many of the
previous restrictions on transferring funds between
various public school line items have been lifted
for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 fiscal years.
One example of the new flexibility approved for
school districts includes the option for LEAs to
increase class size in Grades 4-12 without first
seeking a waiver from the State Board of Education.
Associate State Superintendent Philip Price provided
the board with a listing of proposed funding flexibility
changes, and all were approved as proposed, with
the exception of one recommendation on the Children
with Disabilities allotment. Lt. Governor Walter
Dalton asked, and the full board agreed, that flexibility
with the Children with Disabilities allotment will
be granted only to the extent that it does not decrease
the per-pupil allotment from 2008-09. This change
still will allow districts to have more flexibility
with the increased funding provided through the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act.
A complete listing of the funding flexibility changes
the board has approved for school districts (excluding
the change to the Children with Disabilities allotment
noted above) is available at http://www.ncasa.net/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=199
by viewing “State Board of Education –
Chart of Proposed LEA Funding Flexibility for FY
2009-10 and FY 2010-11 (Attachment 3).” Other
information regarding the state budget directives
the State Board reviewed is available at the same
website.
Several board members expressed their hope that
school districts will heed the directives in the
state budget law that calls on them to take maximum
advantage of federal stimulus funding they are receiving
and to “minimize the impact on the classroom.”
Others requested that the board be given an update
on the impact the $225 million discretionary reduction
is having on school districts and their efforts
to manage this major cut through increased budget
flexibility.
Price told the board that all line item funding
transfers can be tracked by the Department of Public
Instruction, since each LEA must complete a form
outlining the specific transfers that the LEA chooses
to make. A synopsis of funding transfers made by
the LEAs will be part of a follow-up report the
board will receive from the DPI staff in three or
six months. Price also told board members that the
line item flexibility approved Wednesday will end
June 30, 2011 unless additional action is taken
by the State Board to extend or alter that flexibility.
State Board Chairman Bill Harrison concluded the
meeting by thanking board members for taking action
to help school districts manage the difficult budget
situation they are facing.
“As we all know, 90 percent of the (public
school) budget is in personnel, and I don’t
think there’s any way the LEAs could manage
without this type of flexibility,” Harrison
said.
Complete Copy of Legislative Link
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