Finance committee approves amendments to school land trust rule; committee debate centers on charter procedures, carryover and cell‑phone storage

The finance committee approved R277‑477 — the rule governing distribution of funds from the trust distribution account and administration of the School Land Trust program — on first reading and voted to forward the rule to the full board for final approval. The approval passed with one member recorded as opposed.

Why it matters: The amendments reorganize the School Land Trust rule, incorporate changes required by recent legislation, clarify how charter schools participate in the program, set firm dates for calculations and distributions, and add a new prohibition on using trust money to store students’ personal property such as cell phones. The committee also received the program’s annual compliance report, which staff said showed most schools are using funds appropriately but highlighted carryover and plan‑writing problems that triggered corrective actions.

The committee heard a detailed presentation from Paula Plant, School Children’s Trust director, who described the rule edits as primarily organizational and responsive to two legislative changes. “This rule looks a bit complicated and it's actually, doesn't make as many changes as it looks like because there's a lot of cross out and underline,” Plant said, then summarized two statute‑driven changes: moving the local approval role to the LEA budget/business…