Determination of Enrollment by Institutional Program; Determination of Funds to Be Appropriated

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Education
  4. Elementary and Secondary Education
  5. Quality Basic Education
  6. Financing
  7. Determination of Enrollment by Institutional Program; Determination of Funds to Be Appropriated

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  1. The State Board of Education shall designate the specific dates upon which two counts of students enrolled in each instructional program authorized under this article shall be made each school year and by which the counts shall be reported to the Department of Education. The initial enrollment count shall be made after October 1 but prior to November 17 and the final enrollment count after March 1 but prior to May 1. The report shall indicate the student's specific assigned program for each one-sixth segment of the school day on the designated reporting date. No program shall be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day that the student is assigned to a study hall; a noncredit course; a course recognized under this article or by state board policy as an enrichment course, except a driver education course; a course which requires participation in an extracurricular activity for which enrollment is on a competitive basis; a course in which the student serves as a student assistant to a teacher, in a school office, or in the media center, except when such placement is an approved work site of a recognized career, technical, and agricultural education laboratory program; an individual study course for which no outline of course objectives is prepared in writing prior to the beginning of the course; or any other course or activity so designated by the state board. For the purpose of this Code section, the term "enrichment course" means a course which does not dedicate a major portion of the class time toward the development and enhancement of one or more content standards as adopted by the state board under Code Section 20-2-140. A program shall not be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day for which the student is not enrolled in an instructional program or has not attended a class or classes within the preceding ten days; nor shall a program be indicated for a student for any one-sixth segment of the school day for which the student is charged tuition or fees or is required to provide materials or equipment beyond those authorized pursuant to Code Section 20-2-133. A student who is enrolled in a dual credit course pursuant to Code Section 20-2-161.3 shall be counted for the high school program or other appropriate program for each segment in which the student is attending such dual credit course. The state board shall adopt such regulations and criteria as necessary to ensure objective and true counts of students in state approved instructional programs. The state board shall also establish criteria by which students shall be counted as resident or nonresident students, including specific circumstances which may include, but not be limited to, students attending another local school system under court order or under the terms of a contract between two local school systems. If a local school system has a justifiable reason, it may seek authority from the state board to shift full-time equivalent program counts from the designated date to a requested alternate date.
  2. The full-time equivalent (FTE) program count for each local school system shall be obtained in the following manner:
    1. Count the number of one-sixth segments of the school day for which each student is enrolled in each program authorized under Code Section 20-2-161; and
    2. Divide the total number of segments counted for each program by six. The result is the full-time equivalent program count for each respective state recognized program.
  3. For the purpose of initially determining the amount of funds to be appropriated to finance each respective program for the ensuing fiscal year, a projection of the second full-time equivalent program count shall be calculated as follows:
    1. Divide the first total full-time equivalent count for the current fiscal year by the first total full-time equivalent count for the immediately preceding fiscal year;
    2. Multiply the quotient obtained in paragraph (1) of this subsection by the second total full-time equivalent count for the immediately preceding fiscal year. The result shall be the projected second total full-time equivalent count for the current fiscal year;
    3. Divide the average of the local school system's two most recent full-time equivalent program counts by the average of the two most recent total full-time equivalent counts; and
    4. Multiply the quotient obtained in paragraph (3) of this subsection by the product obtained in paragraph (2) of this subsection. The result shall be the projected second full-time equivalent program count for the current fiscal year.
  4. The average of the first full-time equivalent program count, weighted two parts, and the projected second full-time equivalent program count, weighted one part, shall be used to initially determine the funds needed to finance the program for the ensuing fiscal year.
  5. For purposes of calculating allotments for a new or revised instructional program for which the full-time equivalent program counts provided for in subsections (a) through (d) of this Code section do not exist, the most recent full-time equivalent program count shall be used until such time as the full-time equivalent program counts provided for in subsections (a) through (d) of this Code section do exist.
  6. The allotments for the alternative education program shall be calculated as provided in subsection (h) of Code Section 20-2-154.1.

(Code 1981, §20-2-160, enacted by Ga. L. 1985, p. 1657, § 1; Ga. L. 1987, p. 1169, § 1; Ga. L. 1988, p. 1991, § 1; Ga. L. 1990, p. 1354, § 2; Ga. L. 1992, p. 462, § 1; Ga. L. 1992, p. 1335, § 1; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1693, § 1; Ga. L. 1996, p. 494, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 618, § 20; Ga. L. 2001, p. 148, § 4; Ga. L. 2005, p. 795, § 1/SB 33; Ga. L. 2006, p. 743, § 2/SB 515; Ga. L. 2011, p. 635, § 6/HB 186; Ga. L. 2012, p. 893, § 2/SB 289; Ga. L. 2013, p. 1061, § 8/HB 283; Ga. L. 2015, p. 120, § 4/SB 132; Ga. L. 2015, p. 1376, § 12/HB 502.)

The 2015 amendments. The first 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Code Section 20-2-161.3" for "Code Section 20-2-159.5" near the end of the seventh sentence in subsection (a). The second 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted "content standards" for "student competencies" near the middle of the fifth sentence in subsection (a).

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2000, p. 618, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'A Plus Education Reform Act of 2000.'"

Ga. L. 2011, p. 635, § 1/HB 186, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly finds that:

"(1) Our state's long-term prosperity depends on supporting an education system that is designed to prepare our students for a global economy;

"(2) High school students and parents must understand that they have options for career pathway programs of study that join a college-ready academic core with quality career, technical, and agricultural education studies that result in a high school diploma and preparation for success in advanced training, an associate's degree, a baccalaureate degree, and a career;

"(3) Local school systems must provide every student with choices that are academically rigorous and aligned to opportunities in high-demand, high-skill, high-wage career fields and to postsecondary career and technical pathways leading to advanced credentials or degrees;

"(4) The State Board of Education, the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, and the Board of Technical and Adult Education must work together so that academic courses that are embedded within career, technical, and agricultural education courses (CTAE) are given appropriate academic credit at the high school level and recognized at the postsecondary level;

"(5) Teachers should be provided with professional development opportunities that enforce the academically rigorous standards in relevant, project based coursework;

"(6) High school students should clearly understand the options for dual high school and postsecondary credit, and the state should properly fund these options;

"(7) Every state education agency, postsecondary institution, and local school system should provide all high school students with opportunities for accelerated learning through dual credit coursework leading to at least six postsecondary credits and have as a collective goal to graduate every student with postsecondary credit;

"(8) Georgia's strategic industries must be partners in our public education system (secondary and postsecondary) so that they are assured that our high school graduates are prepared for success in the workforce;

"(9) Georgia's public education system must incorporate many different types of assessments and certificates into their programs so that a student's skill level is assessed and that it also has meaning to them for postsecondary and career success; and

"(10) Georgia's students must understand that a high school diploma and some form of postsecondary credential are key to success in the workforce and earning a family living wage."

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Funding enrichment courses.

- Local school systems may offer driver's education and other enrichment courses during regular school hours and may utilize state funds for the provision of these courses, so long as the requirements of the Quality Basic Education Act are met, even though the enrichment courses will not count in the calculation of the amount of state funds which a local school system may receive. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85-35.

RESEARCH REFERENCES

Am. Jur. 2d.

- 68 Am. Jur. 2d, Schools, §§ 127, 128.

ALR.

- Validity of public school funding systems, 110 A.L.R.5th 293.


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