SF4505

Purpose

Clarify and increase funding for student support personnel in Minnesota schools. The bill increases the amount of student support personnel aid and sets new rules for how districts and charter schools receive and use that aid.

Key Provisions

• Initial student support personnel aid (for districts and charters)

  • Independent or special school districts: initial aid equals the greater of (the student support personnel allowance times the district’s adjusted pupil units) or 40,000.
  • Charter schools: initial aid equals the greater of (the student support personnel allowance times the charter’s adjusted pupil units) or 20,000.
  • Fund balance rule: starting in fiscal year 2025, the aid must be set aside in a fund balance that may not exceed the greater of the prior year’s aid entitlement or the prior year’s fund balance.

• Cooperative student support personnel aid (for districts in intermediate districts or cooperative units)

  • For independent or special districts that are members of an intermediate district or other cooperative unit: aid equals the greater of (the cooperative student support personnel allowance times the district’s adjusted pupil units) or 40,000.
  • If a district belongs to more than one cooperative unit, the revenue is allocated among those units.
  • The aid cannot exceed the district’s actual expenditures.

• Definitions and funding amounts (how much aid and allowances are worth)

  • The student support personnel allowance: 17.08 for FY 2025; 30.05 for FY 2026 and 2027; 34.32 for FY 2028 and later.
  • The cooperative student support allowance: 0.85 for FY 2025 and 1.60 for FY 2026 and later. (The text shows some OCR garble around these figures; the intended values are shown here.)

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Replaces and updates the formula for calculating initial and cooperative student support personnel aid, including new minimum aid amounts (40,000 for districts and 20,000 for charters) and a fund balance cap starting in FY2025.
• Establishes annual escalation of the student support personnel allowance and the cooperative allowance, affecting how much aid districts and charters receive in future years.
• Requires allocation of cooperative aid among multiple cooperative units when a district belongs to more than one unit, and ties aid to actual expenditures (not to exceed them).

Summary in Everyday Terms

The bill increases and reshapes how Minnesota schools receive money to hire and support staff who help students (like counselors and other support staff). It sets minimum starting amounts for districts and charter schools, creates rules about keeping some of the aid in a savings-like fund, and adjusts how help from cooperative groups is calculated and shared when districts belong to several cooperatives. It also lays out yearly changes to the amounts used to calculate this aid.

Relevant terms - student support personnel aid - initial student support personnel aid - cooperative student support personnel aid - student support personnel allowance - adjusted pupil units - fund balance - independent school district - special school district - charter school - intermediate district - cooperative unit - Minnesota Statutes 124D.901 subdivision 3 - fiscal year - actual expenditures - allocation