SB 17-296

Senate Bill 17-296, which has been signed into law, increases funding for Colorado public schools by setting a new base amount per student of $6,546.20 for the 2017-18 school year, marking a 2.8% increase from previous years to account for inflation. The bill also allows districts facing significant financial burdens due to new programs or increased enrollment to receive additional funding from a reserve fund, with the condition that they repay it once their actual student numbers are finalized. This change helps ensure schools have adequate resources and updates terminology related to state funding adjustments.

Official Summary

The bill sets the statewide base per pupil funding amount for the 2017-18 budget year at $6,546.20, which is an inflationary increase of 2.8%, and establishes the minimum amount of total program funding for the 2017-18 budget year. The bill requires that the sum of the total program funding for all schools for the 2017-18 budget year is not less than $6,634,600,182. The bill authorizes the state board to approve supplemental assistance from the contingency reserve fund for a district that experiences an unusual financial burden that results from implementing a new program or school or expanding a program in the district that results in a 20% or greater increase in the district's pupil enrollment from the pupil enrollment used to calculate the district's total program funding for the applicable budget year. The district must reimburse the contingency reserve fund at the time funding is adjusted for actual pupil enrollment for the applicable budget year. The bill changes the terminology used in the school finance act to describe the reduction in the state's share of total program funding from the phrase 'negative factor' to 'budget adjustment'. (Note: This summary applies to the reengrossed version of this bill as introduced in the second house.)

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