Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Education Reorganization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate education committee advances draft to reconfigure supervisory unions, fund merger grants and raise foundation base
Summary
The Senate Education Committee reviewed a draft bill that would create and align supervisory unions, set startup and merger-support grants (including $250,000 transition facilitation grants and a $2.75 million initial appropriation), raise the foundation formula base to $16,780 and add a new high-school weight. Members flagged discretionary language and asked for AOE reports and further study of CTE and implementation costs.
The Senate Education Committee on March 12 reviewed a comprehensive draft to reorganize supervisory unions and update education finance provisions in follow-up to prior acts on school governance.
Legislative Counsel walked the committee through the draft, saying the Secretary of Education "shall from the education fund pay each transitional board a supervisory union transition facilitation grant in the amount of $250,000" to help newly formed supervisory unions cover start-up costs such as salaries, consultants and initial administrative staffing. The draft pairs that grant with smaller study-committee reimbursements of up to $10,000 per participating district and a merger-support cap that would pay the lesser of a statutory formula or $300,000 after voter approval.
The committee was shown a set of placeholder appropriations: $2.75 million to cover initial supervisory-union facilitation grants, $50,000 for study committee grants in fiscal year 2027 and an estimate for merger-support grants intended to cover no more than two completed mergers in FY27. Counsel described those figures as "guesses" to be refined after testimony and AOE estimates.
Members discussed whether some draft language that uses "may" should instead require ("shall") funding in identified cases. They also pressed for clarity about eligibility—draft language ties some grants to average daily membership thresholds and a requirement that early transitional boards hold an organizational meeting within 15 days—and asked for the Agency of Education to provide annual reporting on active study committees, anticipated new union districts, enrollment estimates and proposed appropriation amounts beginning Dec. 1, 2026.
The bill also proposes changes to the foundation formula. The draft raises the base amount from $15,033 (Act 73) to $16,780 and shifts how the base is inflated forward; committee members were told the increase is intended to align the base with current cost levels so the multiplier does not reduce the dollars available to districts. The text also inserts a new weight for grades 9–12 to reflect higher average secondary costs; counsel noted the weight is intended to reflect an estimated 12.5% higher cost but the draft uses a rounded figure and that a formal study (including CTE costs) will follow.
Several members asked counsel to double-check cross-references, the interaction of these provisions with existing law (Acts 46 and 73 were cited), and a missing repeal related to tuition language that counsel agreed to correct in the next draft. The committee did not take final action on the full bill; members agreed to circulate an updated draft with highlighted changes and reconvene to consider floor timing and any amendments.
The committee adopted a narrow amendment to S.313 earlier in the meeting (a minor wording insertion described by counsel) and then moved to consider S.313 as amended; that separate item was recorded as approved by the committee. The broader reorganization and funding package will return for additional drafting and testimony before a committee vote.
