Arizona Laws 15-979. Instructional improvement fund
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-979
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Charter school: means a public school established by contract with the state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college district or a group of community college districts pursuant to article 8 of this chapter to provide learning that will improve pupil achievement. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- including: means not limited to and is not a term of exclusion. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Student count: means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the fiscal year before the current year, except that for the purpose of budget preparation student count means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the current year. See Arizona Laws 15-901
- Subject: means a division or field of organized knowledge, such as English or mathematics, or a selection from an organized body of knowledge for a course or teaching unit, such as the English novel or elementary algebra. See Arizona Laws 15-101
(Caution: 1998 Prop. 105 applies.)
A. The instructional improvement fund is established consisting of monies deposited pursuant to sections 5-601.02(H)(3)(a)(i) and 5-601.02(H)(3)(b)(i), and interest earned on those monies. The department of education shall administer the fund. The fund is not subject to appropriation, and expenditures from the fund are not subject to outside approval notwithstanding any statutory provision to the contrary.
B. Monies received pursuant to Section 5-601.02 shall be deposited directly with the instructional improvement fund. On notice from the department of education, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. No monies in the instructional improvement fund shall revert to or be deposited in any other fund, including the state general fund. Monies in the instructional improvement fund are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to the lapsing of appropriations. Monies provided from the instructional improvement fund shall supplement, not supplant, existing state and local monies.
C. The department of education shall pay the monies in the fund to school districts and charter schools. The department of education shall determine the amount of monies from the fund to be paid to each school district and charter school as follows:
1. Determine the student count for each school district and charter school as provided in section 15-943.
2. Determine the student count for all school districts and charter schools as provided in section 15-943.
3. Divide the amount determined in paragraph 1 of this subsection by the total amount determined in paragraph 2 of this subsection.
4. Multiply the quotient determined in paragraph 3 of this subsection by the total amount of instructional improvement fund monies available to be distributed to school districts and charter schools under this section.
D. Each school district and charter school may utilize up to fifty percent of the amount of monies determined pursuant to subsection C for teacher compensation increases and class size reduction as provided in section 15-977.
E. Monies that are not utilized as provided in subsection D shall be utilized for the following maintenance and operation purposes:
1. Dropout prevention programs.
2. Instructional improvement programs including programs to develop minimum reading skills for students by the end of third grade.
F. School districts and charter schools that receive monies from the instructional improvement fund shall submit a report by November 15 of each year to the department of education that provides an accounting of the expenditure of monies distributed from the fund during the previous fiscal year. The department of education in conjunction with the auditor general shall prescribe the format of the report under this subsection.