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Staff outline new special‑education weights, small‑school and sparsity grants and related fiscal unknowns
Summary
Analysts briefed senators on changes in H.454 to pupil weights, special‑education funding, and supports for small and sparse districts, and on data and staffing work still required to convert the state's special‑education census block grant into a weighted foundation model.
Committee analysts described how H.454 would change the pupil weighting system that determines district funding under the proposed foundation model, and how supports for small and sparsely populated districts would be phased into the new structure.
Weights and how they would be used
Under the draft, the base per‑pupil amount (the statute shows $15,033 in the draft language) would be multiplied by a district's long‑term weighted membership to calculate each district's Education Opportunity Payment (EOP). The bill replaces the current tax‑capacity weights with additive foundation weights. The proposed weights include tiered English‑learner levels (several proficiency levels with different weights), an economically disadvantaged weight, and a set of special‑education weights organized into…
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