LB598 Summary — Nebraska Legislature, 109th Legislature, 1st Session (Introduced Jan 22, 2025)
Purpose and intent
- LB598 seeks to provide targeted funding and policy changes to support districts facing higher costs in key areas of education. Specifically, it:
- Adds a reimbursement mechanism through the Education Future Fund for extraordinary increases in limited English proficiency (LEP) expenditures within a school year.
- Encourages teacher planning time by incentivizing districts to provide 60 minutes of planning time per school day.
- Provides reimbursement related to compliance costs associated with students covered under a 504 plan.
- Updates the elementary site allowance provisions under the Tax Equity and Educational Opportunities Support Act (TEOSA) and adjusts related certification and funding rules.
- Adjusts eligible uses of the Education Future Fund.
- The bill is framed as harmonizing provisions and contains an emergency clause, with operative dates to be determined in the final version.
Key provisions ( substantive changes)
1) Education Future Fund reimbursements for LEP expenditures
- Districts may apply for payment from the Education Future Fund to cover extraordinary LEP expenditures in a school fiscal year.
- Eligibility:
- The district’s LEP expenditures must be at least either (a) the district’s annual LEP expenditure equals or exceeds 50,000 dollars, or (b) surpasses one-half percent of the district’s annual budget, whichever is greater.
- Applications must be submitted by January 15 of the fiscal year.
- Applications must include LEP expenditures for the immediately preceding December 31.
- Calculation:
- The department divides the prior-year LEP expenditures by the district’s current-year LEP expenditures, multiplies by 107%, and computes the payment as the difference between current-year expenditures and that adjusted base amount.
- Payments are issued by January 31 in the year of the application for the amount determined, subject to available funds in the Education Future Fund. If total requested payments exceed the fund balance, payments are reduced proportionally so total equals the available balance.
2) Elementary site allowance and related TEOSA changes
- The bill updates TEOSA provisions governing the elementary site allowance:
- Repeats/adjusts requirements for calculating allowances for districts with multiple elementary sites, very small-site grades, and specific site configurations.
- Introduces or clarifies a provision that districts with at least one qualifying elementary site and meeting criteria can receive an allowance based on a formula tied to statewide average general fund operating expenditures per formula student, adjusted by fall membership and site grade counts.
- A 60-minute daily planning time at an elementary site can yield an enhanced allowance (100% of the statewide average divided by eight), subject to site-specific constraints (e.g., number of grades at the site).
- Definitions and terms:
- Clarifies what constitutes a qualifying elementary attendance site, the primary site, fall membership, and the calculation methodology for the site allowances.
3) Reimbursement for 504 plan-related costs
- Expands or clarifies reimbursement provisions related to expenses attributable to students with a 504 plan, aligning with 504 compliance costs.
4) Education Future Fund uses and misc. updates
- Adjusts the eligible uses of the Education Future Fund to reflect the new reimbursements and planning-time incentives.
- Harmonizes related provisions and provides operative dates and repeal/reenactment language as needed.
Who is affected
- Nebraska school districts, especially:
- Districts with notable LEP expenditures experiencing extraordinary increases.
- Districts operating multiple elementary sites or with small, specialized elementary sites.
- Districts seeking to provide 60 minutes of teacher planning time and wanting to access related funding under TEOSA.
- Districts with students on 504 plans incurring related costs.
Procedural and timeline aspects
- Introduced: January 22, 2025.
- Hearing: Notice of hearing scheduled for February 11, 2025 (Committee on Education, Chair: Senator Dave Murman).
- Key dates in the LEP funding provisions: applications due January 15; payments issued by January 31 in the fiscal year of the application, subject to Education Future Fund balance.
- The bill includes an emergency clause and repeals/re-enacts certain statutory sections (79-1007.15, 79-1021, 79-1142, 79-1022, 79-1023, 79-1027, 79-1031.01) to implement changes.
Notes
- As a notice of hearing bill, provisions may be refined during committee consideration. The summary reflects the main thrust and specific mechanics described in the introduced text.
