79-1007.15 Elementary site allowance; calculation.
79-1007.15. Elementary site allowance; calculation.(1) For school fiscal year 2008-09, the department shall calculate anelementary site allowance for any district in which (a) the district has morethan one elementary attendance site, (b) at least one of the elementary attendancesites does not offer any other grades, (c) the square miles in the districtdivided by the number of elementary attendance sites in the district equalsone hundred square miles or more per elementary attendance site, and (d) thefall membership in elementary site gradesin the district divided by the number of elementary site grades then divided again by the numberof elementary attendance sites equals fifteen or fewer students per gradeper elementary attendance site. Qualifying elementary attendance sites forsuch districts shall only offer elementary site gradesand shall have an average of fifteen or fewer students per grade in the fallmembership.(2) For school fiscal year 2009-10 and each school fiscal year thereafter,the department shall calculate an elementary site allowance for any districtwhich has at least one qualifying elementary attendance site and which submitsthe information required for the calculation on a form prescribed by the departmenton or before October 15 of the school fiscal year preceding the school fiscalyear for which aid is being calculated. A qualifying elementary attendancesite shall be an elementary attendance site, in a district with multiple elementaryattendance sites, which does not have another elementary attendance site withinseven miles in the same school district or which is the only public elementaryattendance site located in an incorporated city or village.(3) The elementary site allowance for each qualifying district shallequal the sum of the elementary site allowances for each qualifying elementaryattendance site in the district. The elementary site allowance for each qualifyingelementary attendance site shall equal five hundred percent of the statewideaverage general fund operating expenditures per formula student multipliedby the result of rounding the ratio of the fall membership attributed to theelementary attendance site divided by eight up to the next whole number ifthe result was not a whole number, except that if the resulting whole numberis greater than the number of elementary site grades, the whole number shall be reducedto equal the number of elementary site grades.(4) For purposes of this section:(a) Each district shall determine which grades are considered elementary site grades, except that (i)all grades designated as elementary site gradesshall be offered in each elementary attendance site in the district, without any preference indicated bythe school board or any school district administrator for students to attenddifferent elementary attendance sites depending on their elementary site gradelevel, for the school fiscal year for which aid is being calculated and foreach of the five school fiscal years preceding the school fiscal year forwhich aid is being calculated and (ii) elementary site grades shall not include grades nine, ten,eleven, or twelve;(b) An elementary attendance site is an attendance site in which elementary site grades are offered;(c) The primary elementary site shall be the elementary attendance siteto which the most formula students are attributed in the district and shallnot be a qualifying elementary attendance site; and(d) Fall membership means the fall membership for the school fiscalyear immediately preceding the school fiscal year for which aid is being calculated.(5) If the elementaryattendance site is new or is being reopened after being closed for at leastone school year, the requirements of subdivision (4)(a)(i) of this sectionwith respect to preceding school fiscal years shall not apply to school fiscalyears in which the elementary attendance site was not in operation.(6) The department shalldetermine if the qualifications for the elementary site allowance have beenmet for each elementary attendance site for which information has been submitted.The department may rely on the information submitted and any other informationavailable to the department, including, but not limited to, past attendancepatterns. The state board shall establish a procedure for appeal of decisionsof the department to the state board for a final determination. SourceLaws 2008, LB988, § 17; Laws 2009, First Spec. Sess., LB5, § 6.Effective Date: November 21, 2009