Regulations of the State Board of Education pertaining to the annual apportionment of the RAISE (Renewing Alabama’s Investment in Student Excellence) Act funds effective October 1, 2025. The cost of the RAISE Act shall be determined and the allotments made in accordance with the provisions of Ala. Acts 2025-257, 2025-270, and as hereinafter provided:

1. (1) Cost of the RAISE Act. The cost of the RAISE Act shall be computed in five student categories for each local board of education. The five categories are students in poverty, special education students, English language learners, charter school students, and gifted students. The weighted allocation of each category shall be a percentage of the Base Funding Factor. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) will receive weighted allocations for each qualifying student in each student group. The total of the cost in the five categories as defined herein is the cost of the RAISE Act program. The RAISE Act funds are in addition to the Foundation Program funding.

   1. (a) Base Funding Factor. Calculated by dividing the total state and local cost of the Foundation Program by the average daily membership (ADM) for the immediately preceding fiscal year, using the Foundation Program State Allocation report. The Base Funding Factor for FY 2026 is $7,547 per student.
   2. (b) Poverty. Students identified as direct certification in the official Fall attendance collection. The weighted allocation is 2.25% for each identified student.

   3. (c) Special Education. For FY 2026, the allocation will be calculated using the October 2024 Child Count. Beginning with FY 2027, the allocation will be calculated using the official Fall attendance collection. Students identified for special education services shall generate a weight based on the identified exceptionality . Three tiers shall be established in the annual Education Trust Fund Appropriations Act based on the additional resources required to support students in each special education tier.

      1. 1. Tier I students include exceptionalities of specific learning disability, speech/language impairment, and other health impairment. The weighted allocation is 2% for each student.
      2. 2. Tier II students include exceptionalities of autism spectrum disorder, intellectual disability, developmental disability, and multiple disabilities. The weighted allocation is 10% for each student.
      3. 3. Tier III students include exceptionalities of emotional disturbance or disability, hearing impairment, orthopedic impairment, visual impairment, deaf-blindness, and traumatic brain injury. The weighted allocation is 75% for each student.

   4. (d) English Language Learner (ELL). Students identified in the official Fall attendance collection shall generate a weighted allocation of 7% for each student, unless the LEA has a concentrated ELL student population.

      1. 1. Concentrated ELL – LEAs with an ELL student population over 9% of ADM shall generate a higher weighted allocation of 10% for each student.
   5. (e) Charter School Student. Students at public charter schools shall generate a weighted allocation of 2% for each student in the official Fall attendance collection for the charter school.
   6. (f) Gifted Students. The number of gifted students in an LEA shall be calculated as 5% of ADM in the official Fall attendance collection. The calculated number of gifted students shall generate a weighted allocation of 4.5%.
      
      (g) For FY 2026, if any LEA has a poverty, ELL, or gifted student group whose calculated weighted allocation consolidated into the RAISE Fund is less than the FY 2025 allocation for Local Boards At-Risk, ELL Grant, Gifted Students Program then the LEA shall receive the same amount of funding as they did in Fiscal Year 2025.
   7. (h) Total Local Board RAISE Act Funds. The sum of the calculated weighted allocation for each category (1) (b-f) for a local board is the total RAISE Act funds for the local board in FY 2026.
2. (2) Allotment of the RAISE Act Cost. The local board RAISE Act funds from (1)(h) above shall be allocated to local boards on a monthly basis in 12 installments.

3. (3) Requirements to Receive RAISE Act Funds. In order to receive RAISE Act funds, local boards of education are required to furnish information and file reports and records required by the State Board.

   1. (a) Local boards of education are required to provide attendance data, student data, and other information necessary to calculate the cost of the RAISE Act funds and other state funds. The State Superintendent shall establish procedures for collecting this information.
   2. (b) The LEA ensures that all funds received from the RAISE Fund are used to serve the student groups that generated the funds under Ala. Code § 16-13-364 (1975).
   3. (c) LEAs with conversion charter schools shall allocate to the conversion charter school operator all weighted allocations generated by the students at the conversion charter school.
4. (4) Flexibility. For FY 2026, local boards of education may exercise flexibility between student groups up to 10% of the weighted allocation for the student category. Flexibility greater than 10% will require approval by the State Superintendent of Education.

Author: Eric G. Mackey

Statutory Authority: Ala. Code §§ 16-3-13, 16-13-364, and 36-6A-1, et seq., (1975); Acts 2025-257, 2025-270.

History: New Rule: Filed September 13, 1996; effective October 18, 1996. Amended: Filed December 17, 1997; effective January 21, 1998. Repealed: Filed September 10, 1998; effective October 15, 1998. New Rule: Published August 29, 2025; effective December 15, 2025.