(a)(1) DETERMINING THE ANNUAL COST OF THE RAISE PROGRAM. Subject to available funding for the RAISE Fund for any fiscal year of the state, the RAISE Fund weighted allocations for each qualifying student group shall be established in the annual Education Trust Fund appropriations act for that fiscal year and shall include weights for:
a. Poverty;
b. Special education;
c. English Language Learners;
d. Charter school students;
e. Gifted students; and
f. Other student groups as deemed necessary.
(2)The amount of funds determined necessary and available to provide the weighted allocations shall be appropriated from the RAISE Fund by the Legislature in the annual Education Trust Fund appropriations act.
(3)The weighted percentages established in this subsection may grow over time, as funding a
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(a)(1) DETERMINING THE ANNUAL COST OF THE RAISE PROGRAM. Subject to available funding for the RAISE Fund for any fiscal year of the state, the RAISE Fund weighted allocations for each qualifying student group shall be established in the annual Education Trust Fund appropriations act for that fiscal year and shall include weights for:
a. Poverty;
b. Special education;
c. English Language Learners;
d. Charter school students;
e. Gifted students; and
f. Other student groups as deemed necessary.
(2) The amount of funds determined necessary and available to provide the weighted allocations shall be appropriated from the RAISE Fund by the Legislature in the annual Education Trust Fund appropriations act.
(3) The weighted percentages established in this subsection may grow over time, as funding allows and determined necessary, but not to exceed the maximum weighted percentages established in this section.
(4) The weighted allocation for each qualifying student shall be calculated by multiplying the percentage for each weighted allocation by the base funding factor. LEAs will receive weighted allocations for each qualifying student in each student group.
(5) It is the intent of the Legislature that LEAs are given flexibility in spending decisions when serving the needs of the student groups that generated the funds. Flexibility shall include the ability for LEAs to combine or shift funding across student groups that generated the funds to best serve students with the greatest need, while meeting federal maintenance of effort requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. LEAs with conversion charter schools shall allocate to the conversion charter school operator all weighted allocations generated by the students at the conversion charter school.
(b) The weighted allocations for each qualifying student shall be established as follows:
(1) A student who is identified through direct certification shall generate weighted allocations for poverty up to 20 percent.
(2) A student who is identified for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 20 U.S.C. § 1400 et seq. shall generate a weight based on any exceptionality identified in their Individual Education Plan (IEP). Three tiers shall be established in the annual Education Trust Fund appropriations act, with input from the department, based on the additional resources required to support students in each special education tier. A student shall generate a weighted allocation for each tier as follows:
a. The weighted allocation for a Tier I is within a range of up to 25 percent.
b. The weighted allocation for a Tier II is within a range of up to 50 percent.
c. The weighted allocation for a Tier III is within a range of up to 150 percent.
(3) A student who is identified as an English Language Learner (ELL) shall generate a weighted allocation of up to 15 percent. A student shall generate an additional weighted allocation for concentrated ELL within a range of up to five percent if the students’ LEA has a percentage of ELL students enrolled which is at or above the level specified in the Education Trust Fund appropriations act.
(4) An LEA shall generate a gifted student weighted allocation within a range of up to five percent, with an assumption that five percent of its ADM is made up of gifted students. The LEA may use these funds for any gifted or enrichment program for students who give evidence of high achievement capability.
(5) A student at a public charter school shall generate a weighted allocation within a range of up to 10 percent. This weighted allocation shall only be allocated to charter schools that are physically located in a county or city school system that receives local funding from all revenue sources exceeding the value of 10 mills of ad valorem taxes for that county or city school system.
(c) A student shall generate funding for each weight for which that student qualifies.
(d) Funding allocations made pursuant to this section are based on data collected for an LEA during the immediately preceding school year and reported to the department pursuant to Section 16-13-363.
(e) When making future funding decisions, priority shall be given to the special education weight in order to meet the federal maintenance of effort requirements under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 20 U.S.C.
§ 1400 et seq.