1. A. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a fund to be designated the "School Consolidation Assistance Fund". The fund shall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations, and shall consist of any monies the Legislature may appropriate or transfer to the fund and any monies contributed for the fund from any other source, public or private.

2. B. All monies accruing to the credit of said fund are hereby appropriated and may be budgeted and expended by the State Board of Education for the purposes established by this section, the Legislature and in accordance with rules promulgated by the State Board of Education. The purposes shall be to provide voluntarily consolidated school districts or districts who have received part or all of the territory and part or all of the students of a school district dissolved by voluntary annexation, during the first year of consolidation or annexation, except as provided for in subsection G of this section, with a single one-year allocation of funds needed for:

   1. 1. Purchase of uniform textbooks in cases where the several districts were not using the same textbooks prior to consolidation or annexation;
   2. 2. Employment of certified personnel required to teach courses of the district for which personnel from the districts consolidated or annexed are not certified and available;
   3. 3. Employment assistance for personnel of the several districts who are not employed by the consolidated or annexing district. Employment assistance may include provision of a severance allowance for administrators, teachers and support personnel not to exceed eighty percent (80%) of the individual's salary or wages, exclusive of fringe benefits, for the school year preceding the consolidation or annexation. Personnel receiving such severance pay may accumulate one (1) year of creditable service for retirement purposes. Employment assistance may also include the payment of unemployment compensation benefits. The State Board of Education shall provide a severance allowance to employees dismissed from employment due to annexation or consolidation of a school district in the year of the annexation or consolidation and who were denied a severance allowance or unemployment compensation benefits and the voluntary consolidation funding of the annexing or consolidating district or districts has been paid on or after July 1, 2003, at the maximum allowable amount. Application for a severance allowance shall be made to the Finance Division of the State Department of Education by the dismissed employee no later than September 1 of the fiscal year immediately following the fiscal year in which the annexation or consolidation occurred;
   4. 4. Furnishing and equipping classrooms and laboratories;
   5. 5. Purchase of additional transportation equipment; and
   6. 6. When deemed essential by the school district board of education to achieve consolidation or combination by annexation, renovation of existing school buildings and construction or other acquisition of school buildings.
3. C. The State Board of Education shall only make allocations from the fund to school districts formed from the combination of two or more of the districts whose boards of education notify the State Board of Education on or before June 30 of their intent to annex or consolidate and are subsequently combined by such means by January 1 of the second year following the notification of intent.
4. D. Allocations will be made to school districts formed by consolidation or which have received part or all of the territory and students of a school district by annexation on the basis of combined average daily membership (ADM) of the second school year preceding the first year of operation of the school district resulting from the consolidation or annexation; provided, not more than one thousand (1,000) ADM of any one school district shall be counted in determining the combined ADM of any district formed by consolidation or which has received part or all of the territory and students of a school district by annexation. The ADM of any one school district shall not be considered more than once for allocations from the fund when the school district annexes to or consolidates with two or more school districts.

5. E. To calculate combined ADM in cases where a school district annexes to two or more school districts, allocations from the fund shall be based on the lesser of:

   1. 1. The annexing school district's ADM as limited by this section plus the number of students from the annexed school district that the annexing school district will gain; or
   2. 2. The ADM as limited by this section that the annexing school district is gaining from the annexed school district plus the annexing school district's ADM as multiplied by the percentage of students the annexing school district is receiving from the annexed school district of all annexing school districts; provided the annexing school district's ADM thus calculated shall not exceed one thousand (1,000).

6. F. Allocations from the fund shall be calculated by multiplying the combined ADM by:

   1. 1. One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) when two districts are combined;
   2. 2. One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200.00) when three districts are combined;
   3. 3. One Thousand Four Hundred Dollars ($1,400.00) when four districts are combined; and

   4. 4. One Thousand Six Hundred Dollars ($1,600.00) when five or more districts are combined.

      If monies in the School Consolidation Assistance Fund are insufficient to make allocations to all qualified combined districts, allocations shall be made based upon earliest date of application.

7. G. Any school district which was consolidated or which participated in an annexation in 2004 shall be eligible to receive funds from the School Consolidation Assistance Fund as provided in subsection F of this section.

Added by Laws 1989, SB 74, c. 323, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 1989; Amended by Laws 1989, 1st Extr. Sess., HB 1017, c. 2, § 10, emerg. eff. July 1, 1990; Amended by Laws 1990, HB 1883, c. 257, § 9, emerg. eff. May 23, 1990; Amended by Laws 1991, HB 1236, c. 280, § 59, emerg. eff. July 1, 1991; Amended by Laws 1992, SB 741, c. 111, § 1, emerg. eff. April 21, 1992; Amended by Laws 1993, HB 1383, c. 361, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 1993; Amended by Laws 2003, HB 1153, c. 296, § 3, emerg. eff. July 1, 2003 (superseded document available); Amended by Laws 2006, SB 1493, c. 278, § 4, emerg. eff. July 1, 2006 (superseded document available).