(Doc Name h:\legwork\house\amend\h-wm\008\aid to districts-technology.docx):
EXPLANATION: New proviso to ensure Aid to Districts-Technology funds are allocated to the Department of Education and are distributed to the districts accordingly.
Amend the bill, as and if amended, Part IB, Section 1a,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION - EIA, page 317, after line 27, by
adding an appropriately numbered paragraph to read:
/(SDE-EIA: Aid to Districts-Technology) Funds appropriated
to the Department of Education for Aid to
Districts - Technology shall be distributed to the public school
districts of the state, the special schools of the state and the
South Carolina Public Charter School District, per pupil, based
on the previous year's one hundred thirty-five day average daily
membership, according to the below calculations: (1) For a
school district with a poverty index of less than 75: $35 per
ADM; (2) For a school district with a poverty index of at least
75 but no more than 85: $50 per ADM; or (3) For a school
district with a poverty index of greater than 85 or a special
school with no defined poverty index: $70 per ADM. Poverty will
be defined as determined for the poverty add on weight in
Proviso 1.3 of this Act.
The Department of Education may
adjust the per-ADM rates for each of the three classes defined
above in order to conform to actual levels of student attendance
and available appropriations, provided that the per-ADM rate for
each class is adjusted by the same percentage.
Funds
distributed to a school district may only be used for the
following purposes: (1) To improve external connections to
schools, with a goal of reaching at least 100 kilobits per
second, per student in each school by 2017; (2) To improve
internal connections within schools, with a goal of reaching at
least 1 megabit per second, per student in each school by 2017;
or (3) To develop or expand one-to-one computing initiatives.
A school district that has achieved each of the above goals
may submit a plan to the K-12 Technology Committee for
permission to expend its allocation on other technology-related
uses; such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld and the
K-12 Technology Committee must permit districts to appeal any
process should a district not receive approval and must provide
technical assistance to districts in developing plans should the
district request such.
Funds appropriated may not be used
to supplant existing school district expenditures on technology.
By June 30, 2018, each school district that receives funding
during Fiscal Year 2017-18 must provide the K-12 Technology
Committee with an itemized report on the amounts and uses of
these funds, using a form developed by the Education Oversight
Committee. In this report, a school district must provide
information on its efforts to obtain reimbursements through the
"E-Rate" Schools and Libraries Program administered by
the Universal Service Administrative Company. Within its
available resources, the K-12 Technology Committee shall support
school districts' efforts to obtain these reimbursements.
/
Renumber sections to conform.
Amend totals and titles to conform.