Amend the state aid formula for general education and for special education.
Summary
SB 200 revises South Dakota’s school funding formulas for both general education and special education. The bill updates the statutory definitions and calculations used to determine state aid, including fall enrollment, local need, local effort, teacher compensation, overhead, and special education allocations. It also sets new base-year dollar amounts for the target teacher salary and each special education disability level for the 2025-26 school year, with future amounts indexed to inflation or capped growth under the bill’s index factor.
For general education, the bill modifies how state aid is calculated by adjusting the state aid formula, the treatment of certain students in custody of state agencies, the handling of residential treatment facility students, and the rules for districts eligible to use the alternative local need calculation. For special education, it updates the levy used for local effort, revises the local need formula, and preserves the ability to use up to 15% of special education local need for early intervening services. The bill also makes a conforming change to technical college instructor salary funding so those appropriations rise in step with the teacher salary index factor.
Impact
SB 200 would directly affect the Department of Education’s annual state aid calculations and the amount of aid distributed to school districts under South Dakota’s general education and special education funding statutes. It changes multiple sections of Title 13, including the formulas that determine district entitlement, the levy rates used to generate local effort, and the indexed funding amounts for teacher compensation and special education disability categories. School districts, especially smaller districts and those eligible for the alternative local need calculation, would be affected by the revised eligibility and calculation rules.
Sentiment
The available voting history suggests the bill was controversial or at least not broadly supported at the committee stage, as it was tabled on a 5-1 vote. There are no committee transcripts provided, so there is no recorded debate to indicate detailed support or opposition arguments. The tabling vote indicates some interest in delaying further action rather than advancing the bill immediately.
Contention
The main points of contention likely center on the fiscal and policy effects of changing the state aid formula, including how much state versus local funding districts should receive, whether the alternative local need calculation should remain available, and how the revised special education levy and allocations would shift costs among districts and the state. Districts with different enrollment sizes, districts with wind energy tax revenue, and districts serving students in custody of state agencies or residential treatment facilities are among the parties most likely to be affected by the formula changes. Because the bill alters both general and special education funding, concerns may also involve state budget impact and equity among districts.
Permit a school district to implement a new or revised section 504 plan, individualized family service plan, or individualized education program for a student who is the child of an active-duty member of the United States armed forces.
Reduce maximum values for certain property taxes levied on owner-occupied single-family dwellings, and to increase the rates for certain gross receipts taxes and use taxes.
Relating to the authority of the Wood County Central Hospital District of Wood County, Texas, to provide brain and memory care services to residents of the hospital district through the creation and operation of brain and memory health care services districts.