Bill > H4730

This bill proposes to amend the definition of certain terms used in the calculation of the foundation budget, which is the minimum amount of funding required for each school district in Massachusetts. The key provisions include: 1. Defining the "assumed in-school special education enrollment" as 4% of total foundation enrollment, plus 5% of vocational enrollment. 2. Defining the "employee health insurance rate" as the employer share of the average active employee premium for all Group Insurance Commission plans for the previous 3 fiscal years. 3. Redefining the "foundation benefits" allotment to be 1.29 times the sum of the employee health insurance rate and the retired employee health insurance rate. 4. Redefining the "foundation special education tuition" as the product of 3 times the statewide foundation budget per-pupil amount and the assumed tuitioned-out special education enrollment. 5. Requiring the full implementation of these changes by fiscal year 2024, with the ability to increase the rates at higher rates if revenue projections significantly exceed the current fiscal year's available revenues. 6. Establishing a Data Advisory Commission to improve the use of state, district, and school-level data to inform effective resource allocations. 7. Requiring the Commissioner of Education to conduct a study on the low-income and English learner components of the foundation budget calculation.

https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/H4730