Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

2004 Summary of Major Education Legislation

(Compiled by the South Dakota Dept. of Education)

The following is a summary of major education bills adopted by the 2003 South Dakota Legislature. New South Dakota laws are effective July 1, 2004, unless a particular bill specifies otherwise.

General House Bills

HB 1001 - Provides for a basic high school program and a recommended high school program and to require most students to complete the recommended one. This bill establishes a two track curriculum in high school and proposes every student take the recommended curriculum unless excused with parental and counselor input.  The excused students take a "basic" program. Both programs will include a rigorous high school curriculum, and the recommended high school program will be more academically challenging in the areas of mathematics and science than the basic high school program.  Requirements for both curriculums will be created by the Board of Education. 

HB 1003 - Allows two or more school districts to include a proposed excess tax levy in their consolidation plan. This bill removed the barrier for school districts intending to reorganize by allowing them to place an opt-out proposal within their reorganization plan.  The benefit of the bill is that it allows school districts one vote toward reorganization rather than two.

HB 1133 - Changes in requirements for open enrollment for special education students. This bill allows students in need of special education to open enroll without a joint individual education program team meeting when all parties agree that the previous IEP is adequate.  Additionally, two or more children from a family residing in the same household may open enroll only if the nonresident district can provide an appropriate instructional program and facilities, including transportation, for the child in need of special education or special education and related services. 

HB 1217 - Expands the provisions related to education benefits for the children of persons who died in military service.  Currently, any student under the age of 25 whose parent has died as the result of military service is entitled to free tuition and entitled to attend and pursue any course or courses of study in any state educational institution.  This bill broadens that to include the technical institutes as well as for those children of parents that serve in the National Guard.

HB 1221 - Requires certain publishers to provide electronic versions of textbooks suitable for conversion into Braille. Currently, textbooks for Braille students are often not ready for visually impaired students on the first day of school due to the labor intensive nature of the production of the text.  Braille books often arrive in piecemeal form to school districts.  This bill requires publishers to provide electronic files of adopted textbooks to the South Dakota State Library in order to facilitate the expedient production of Braille texts for students in K-12.

General Senate bills

SB 50 - Revises the amount of time graduating seniors may be released prior to the end of school.  Rather than specifying 3 days, it allows local school districts to make the determination once they have met the minimum hourly requirements.

SB 117 - Establishes a task force to for the purpose of improving the quality and availability of child care and early learning opportunities. The task force is to examine the current child care and early learning system for children in South Dakota and provide recommendations for improvement in a report to the next legislative session.

SB 173 - Specifies alternative certifications options for school administrators who are not properly certified. Current CEO’s and building managers have until July 2005 to make decisions of whether they will take a “test”, put together a professional development plan that will lead to full certification, or go before a special board to request a waiver.

Fiscal House Bills

HB1081 - Effort Factor in the Special Education Formula.  Currently, to receive full funding from State Aid to special Education, a district must levy at $1.30.  HB1081 lowers that effort factor to $1.25.  The max sped levy still remains at $1.40.

HB1087 - School District General Fund Levy.  This bill revises the maximum general fund levies for a district such that the state maintains its percentage share of the total funding of k-12 education (commonly referred to as the "Cutler/Gabriel" Amendment).  The levies for pay 2005 will be:   Ag  -  $3.32  Ag-Z -  $4.32  OO -  $5.34  Com  - $11.45

Fiscal Senate Bills

SB48 - Revises the per student allocation for Special Education.  The new allocations are based on the 3 year average expenditures in each of the 6 disability levels.  Level 1 disability, which is based off of a percentage (8.9% currently) of the total enrollment of a district was revised to 10.13% and the per student allocation becomes $3533.13 for FY05.  The other allocations are as follows:

• Level 2 $8,277.21

• Level 3 $12,580.73

• Level 4 $12,001.80

• Level 5 $15,882.21

• Level 6 $8,122.23

SB49 - Consolidation Incentives for certain school districts.

• Sisseton School District = $148,972

• Britton-Hecla School District = $97,498

• Agar-Blunt-Onida School District = $62,948

• Total  = $309,418

SB150 - Appropriates funds from earnings off of the Ed Enhancement Trust Fund that are available in the current fiscal year.  Several programs were funded, including $1,845,271 that will go to schools on an ADM basis to compensate for less than anticipated revenue from School and Public Lands.

SB195 - General Appropriations Act.  This bill is the appropriation for the budget of state government for the 2004-2005 fiscal year.  There are several items of interest to education, but highlights include:

• $500,000 for Education Service Agencies from Education Enhancement funds
• $500,000 for Career and Technical Education from General Funds
• $8.6 million increase in State Aid to General Education
• $1.5 million increase in State Aid to Special Education
• $8.2 million in general funds to continue to provide technology services to school district FREE of charge

SB205 - Distributes any left-over State Aid to school districts.  This bill is the one-time $7,307,896 that will be distributed to school districts on an unadjusted ADM basis.  This equates to approximately $58.88 per ADM.

SB206 - Revises the per student allocations to account for declining enrollment dollars. The bill increases the per student allocations by $87.29 to account for the 2.2% inflation factor currently in statute, and then adds another $31.39 which is derived from the decline in the number of students from one year to the next.  By having approximately 1000 fewer students in k-12 public schools, the total obligation in the formula is less than what it would have been with no decline.  The increase in the per student allocation is to hold that total obligation to the amount it would have been if the state did not lose any students.

Failed Bills

SB213 -  Removes the fund balance penalties on school district general fund.  The Governor’s position was to remove all fund balance caps. This bill was amended several times and the Senate failed to concur with these amendments.  The bill was lost.  Fund balance penalties remain unchanged.

To access the full text of bills in their final form, go to the 78th Legislative Session website at http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2004/index.htm. Type in the bill number (do not use SB or HB, just enter the number) and click "Get Bill". Then scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on "Enrolled" under "Bill Text Versions"