I_SFinance_2019A 09/12/2019 09:05:08 AM Committee Summary

Rebecca Sibilia and Matt Richmond, EdBuild, came to the table to discuss special education funding.  Ms. Sibillia and Mr. Richmond distributed a memo regarding funding for special education students (Attachment A).  Michael Griffith, Education Commission of the States (ECS), and Tracie Rainey, School Finance Project, were also present to discuss speical education funding. Committee discusison ensued.

Mr. Griffith discussed special education funding in other states.

Committee discussion continued and the panel responded to committee questions.

The panel continued to respond to questions from the committee regarding funding for high-needs students. Mr. Griffith discussed the national trends for special needs students. Ms. Rainey answered questions about schools that have high cost students in Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

The committee recessed.

The committee came back to order.

Mr. Richmond and Ms. Sibilia discussed funding for English Language Learners (ELL) and distributed a memorandum regarding funding for ELL students (Attachment B).  Ms. Rainey also discussed ELL funding in the state, and answered questions from the committee. She distributed information about how Colorado districts fund ELL students (Attachment C).

Ms. Sibilia and Mr. Richmond discussed how Colorado funds ELL as related to other states. Three states, Montana, Mississippi and Alabama do not consider ELL when allocating state education funding. The panel answered questions from the committee. Mr. Richmond discussed how Colorado's base at-risk funding for ELL compares to other states. The panel continued to answer committee questions.

Mr. Richmond and Ms. Sibillia discussed Categorical Program funding in the state and distributed a memorandum prepared by EdBuild regarding categorical program funding in Colorado (Attachment D). The major programs are support for small attendance centers; services and instruction for ELL; special education; gifted and talented education; vocational education; and school transportation. Special Education is the highest funded categorical program. The panel discussed categorical program funding in the state and answered questions from the committee.

The panel continued to answer questions from the committee.

The committee recessed.

The committee came back to order.

Christine Muldoon, Sheridan School District, Jon Paul Burden, Weld RE-4 School District, and Moira Hawks, East Central BOCES introduced themselves to the committee. Dr. Marguerite Roza, who participated on the panel remotely, also introduced herself. The panel discussed district and national perspectives on categorical funding. Mr. Burden discussed the portion of special education expenses that are not reimbursed by the state and distributed the Special Education Fiscal Advisory Report for FY 2016-17, which can be accessed here: https://www.cde.state.co.us/cdespedfin/sefac_legislativereport_2016-2017. Ms. Hawks discussed the categorical funding from a BOCES perspective and discussed how BOCES fund different programs. Ms. Hawks answered questions from the committee regarding BOCES services.

The panel answered questions from the committee. Ms. Muldoon discussed how Sheridan School District funds categorical programs. The panel continued to answer committee questions. Dr. Roza discussed categorical program funding. Dr. Muldoon discussed the co-teaching method for teaching ELL students. The panel answered questions.

Dr. Roza discussed the cost of living, at risk, and size factors from a national perspective.

The committee recessed.

Ms. Sibilia and Mr. Richmond returned to the table to wrap-up the discussion on special education, ELL, and categorical program funding. Ms. Sibilia discussed how other states in the country define categorical funding, as opposed to how Colorado defines the term.  Ms. Sibilia answered questions from the committee, and committee discussion ensued.

Brita Darling, Office of Legislative Legal Services, and Anna Gerstle, Legislative Council Staff, came to the table and described the process for requesting bills to be drafted. Currently, the committee is scheduled to request bill drafts on October 21, 2019. The committee's final meeting, where final bills will be voted on, is scheduled on December 10, 2019. The committee discussed the possibility of adding an additional meeting to the committee's schedule, and ways for people to submit public comment.