PSBA Special Legislative Report: Budget, PlanCon, School Code
As this report is filed, the General Assembly remains in session, wrapping up the budget, code bills and other key pieces of legislation. PSBA will be providing additional reports as these are finalized. Here is what's happening:
General Assembly will send on-time budget to the governor
 This afternoon the Senate approved the 2019-20 state budget passed earlier this week by the House, enabling the spending plan to be sent to the governor. The $34 billion spending plan was inserted into House Bill 790 is a spending increase of $596 million, or 1.8%, over the current year's budget. Key appropriations for education include a $160 million increase for the basic education subsidy, $50 million more for special education, $10 million increase for career and technical education and $60 million for school safety and security grants. See PSBA's special report for details.
PlanCon reform goes to the governor
 PSBA is pleased to report that today the Senate concurred with House amendments to Senate Bill 700 (Sen. Browne, R-Lehigh) modernizes the state approval process for reimbursement for school construction and renovation projects (known as PlanCon). Senate Bill 700 will now go to Gov. Wolf, and we urge him to sign the bill.
The bill incorporates the recommendations of the State Public School Building Construction and Reconstruction Advisory Committee by: 1) simplifying the administrative process; 2) recognizing high-performance building standards; 3) creating a program for smaller maintenance and modernization projects that include a special set-aside for school safety needs, and; 4) establishing a new reimbursement formula. The PA Department of Education must issue guidelines by March 31, 2020. PSBA had a seat on the Advisory Committee and was active in developing the recommendations that are included in Senate Bill 700.
School safety package
 The Senate and House are working on separate school safety packages that are being considered under Senate Bill 144 and House Bill 621. PSBA is examining the bills and will be providing another Special Legislative Report on the bills tomorrow.
Flexible instruction days -- Senate Bill 440 (Sen. Phillips-Hill, R-York) amends the School Code to codify a pilot program that allows schools to use Flexible Instructional Days (FIDs) in the instance of a cancellation to fulfill instructional requirements in English language arts, math, science and social studies. Interested schools would apply with the PA Department of Education (PDE); approved applications would be valid for three years, when the school would need to reapply. School districts may use up to five flexible instructional days per school year.
Farm-to-School program -- House Bill 1514 (Rep. Hershey, R-Juniata) revises and re-establishes the existing Healthy Farms Healthy Schools program into the PA Farm-to-School Program, to provide grants for improving childhood nutrition education and increasing exposure to agriculture for children in grades Pre-K through 5.
Omnibus School Code
 The Senate Appropriations Committee amended House Bill 1615 (Rep. Turzai, R-Allegheny) with amendments for an omnibus School Code bill that includes:
Special education funding commission: Reconstitutes the Special Education Funding Commission to review the funding formula for special education payments. The commission's work will be limited to reviewing payments to school districts. The group will convene by Aug.15, 2019 and issue a report by Nov. 30, 2019.
Full academic year requirement (PA System of School Accountability for ESSA purposes): Provides that the test scores for students that are habitually truant, 20% of the days during the school year, shall not be included in the school accountability performance calculation. Full academic year means that the student is enrolled on or before Oct. 1 through the last day of the testing window.
School district budgets: Provides for school districts to submit an electronic copy of their budget to the PA Department of Education (PDE) and for the department to post district budgets on its website within 30 days of receipt of the information.
PlanCon moratorium: Extends the moratorium prohibiting PDE from approving new school building construction or reconstruction applications for fiscal year 2019-20.
School superintendent qualifications: Provides that a person that has served as a chief recovery officer or financial administrator is eligible for election or appointment as a superintendent or assistant superintendent.
Compulsory school age: Redefines compulsory school age from ages eight to 18 to be established as ages six to 18.
School "lunch shaming" changes: Provides that if a student is not eligible for participation in the school food program and owes more than $50 in a school year for meals, a school may provide alternative meals to the student until the student's unpaid balance for school meals is paid or a payment plan has been established. Such actions by schools who choose to provide an alternative meal shall not be considered as public identification or stigmatization of a student.
Innovation school program: Provides for the designation of two (2) innovation schools to study and evaluate innovative approaches to serving the needs of economically disadvantaged students in the areas of workforce development, mentoring services, before-school and after-school programs, prevention measures and social wrap around services. Requires the designated schools to be in the bottom 5% of schools in the Commonwealth based on income, have a special education population greater than 20%, have either partnered with behavioral health specialists or provided integrated health services and be located in a federally designated Promise Zone.
Education Improvement Tax Credit (EITC): Increases the amount of tax credits available for scholarship organizations under the EITC program by $25 million, from $160 million to $185 million. Increases the maximum annual household income allowed for scholarship eligibility from $85,000 to $90,000. Adds a Qualified Subchapter S Trust to the definition of a "pass-through entity" and provides preference for tax credits submitted on July 1 for a two-year commitment by a business firm that was denied credits in the prior fiscal year.
Opportunity scholarship program for economically disadvantaged schools: Provides for a new $5 million tax credit to increase the award amount for opportunity scholarships received through the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit Program (OSTC) by students attending economically disadvantaged schools by up to $1,000. It also increases the maximum scholarship amount for a student attending an economically disadvantaged school from $8,500 to $9,500 and a student with disabilities attending an economically disadvantaged school from $15,000 to $16,000.
Career and technical education center funding: Provides for the secondary career and technical education subsidy to be fully funded and not prorated by PDE. Full funding will provide an estimated $66.5 million for career and technical education programs offered at school district and area career and technical centers, an increase of about $7 million over the amount provided in fiscal year 2018-19.
Basic Education Funding (BEF) and Social Security payments: Includes provisions to distribute basic education funding to school districts, which includes $5.55 billion in base payments and about $700 million to be distributed through the formula. The amount to be distributed provides for an increase of $160 million over 2018-19. Provides the disbursement of funds to make payments for the state's share of school employees' Social Security and Medicare contributions from the BEF appropriation. Provisions are included to identify shortfalls in payments prior to the end of fiscal year and to distribute any excess funds through the basic education funding formula. The amount budgeted for Social Security and Medicare contributions in the 2019-20 state budget is $487 million.
Intermediate unit funding: Provides level funding for intermediate units to be funded at an amount equal to 5.5% of the special education funding appropriation
Use of undistributed funds: Allows PDE to use up to $7 million in undistributed funds to assist school districts in financial distress or identified for financial watch status.
Ready-to-Learn block grants: Provides for the distribution of Ready-to-Learn Block Grants to each school entity in an amount not less than the amount received from the 2018-19 appropriation for Ready-to-Learn Block Grants ($268 million).
Fee assistance for AP and IB exams: Beginning in the 2019-20 school year, PDE will provide assistance with fees for advanced placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams for to students in financial need. A school entity offering the exam shall not accept any rebates from the College Board or IB program for students with financial need, and the rebate shall be credited toward the exam fee.
AVTS-CTC references: Provides for all references in statute or regulations to "area vocational technical school" to be replaced with "area career and technical school."
Foster child college tuition: Establishes a tuition and fee waiver program for youth who are or were in foster care who are Pennsylvania residents and eligible for the federal Chafee Education and Training Grant Program under the Federal Foster Care Independence Act of 1999, beginning with the fall 2020 semester.
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