HF4893

Purpose

This bill updates how Minnesota funds student support personnel and makes related changes to the funding rules. It changes the amounts used to calculate aid, adds new minimum aid levels, sets rules about how funds must be kept and used, and adds an additional funding appropriation in a future year. The goal is to provide more stable and targeted support for districts, charters, and cooperative groups that employ student support personnel.

Main Provisions

• Initial student support personnel aid for independent or special school districts
  • The aid equals the greater of:
  • the student support personnel allowance times the district’s adjusted pupil units for the current year, or
  • $40,000.

• Initial student support personnel aid for charter schools

  • The aid equals the greater of:
  • the student support personnel allowance times the charter school’s adjusted pupil units for the current year, or
  • $20,000.

• Fund balance (new requirement starting in fiscal year 2025)

  • The initial aid must be reserved in a fund balance.
  • Beginning in FY 2025, the fund balance cannot exceed the greater of:
  • the aid entitlement in the prior fiscal year, or
  • the fund balance in the prior fiscal year.

• Cooperative student support personnel aid for districts in cooperative units

  • For independent or special school districts that are members of an intermediate school district or other cooperative unit, aid equals the greater of:
  • the cooperative student support allowance times the district’s adjusted pupil units for the current year, or
  • $40,000.
  • If a district belongs to more than one cooperative unit, the revenue is shared among those units.
  • This aid cannot exceed actual expenditures.

• Definitions and year-by-year funding levels

  • The student support personnel allowance is set at:
  • 17.08 (fiscal year 2025),
  • 30.05 (fiscal years 2026 and 2027),
  • 34.32 (fiscal year 2028 and later).
  • The cooperative student support allowance is set at:
  • 0.85 (fiscal year 2025),
  • 1.60 (fiscal year 2026 and later).

• Appropriation for additional aid

  • In fiscal year 2027, money is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of education for additional student support personnel aid.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Statutory amendment
  • Replaces and updates the current provisions in Minnesota Statutes 2025 Supplement section 124D.901 subdivision 3 governing “student support personnel aid.”
• Funding structure and minimums
  • Establishes new minimum aid levels ($40,000 for districts, $20,000 for charters) and formalizes how these are calculated using adjusted pupil units and the new per-year allowances.
• Fund balance cap
  • Introduces a cap on the fund balance tied to prior-year entitlement or prior-year balance to promote fiscal discipline.
• Cooperative funding mechanism
  • Clarifies how aid is allocated when a district belongs to multiple cooperative units, ensuring funds are distributed among units and not exceeding actual expenditures.
• Yearly increase schedule
  • Sets a staged increase in the student support personnel allowance and the cooperative allowance across specific future fiscal years, with a larger increase in later years.
• Future appropriation
  • Creates an explicit authorization for additional funding in FY 2027, separate from the base aid calculations.

Practical Effects and Context

• Purpose alignment
  • Aims to provide more predictable and potentially higher funding to districts, charters, and cooperative groups that rely on student support personnel.
• Fiscal discipline
  • The fund balance cap links available funds to prior-year levels, encouraging careful budgeting and avoiding large, unchecked surpluses.
• Coordination across entities
  • By addressing independent districts, special districts, charters, and cooperative units, the bill broadens who can receive aid and how it is shared when multiple cooperatives are involved.

Relevant dates to watch - Fiscal year 2025: new per-pupil allowances take effect; fund balance cap begins. - Fiscal years 2026–2027: increased allowances for both the base and cooperative components. - Fiscal year 2027: additional appropriation authorized from the general fund.

Relevant Terms - student support personnel aid - initial aid - independent school district - special school district - charter school - adjusted pupil units - cooperative student support personnel aid - cooperative unit - intermediate school district - fund balance - aid entitlement - student support personnel allowance - cooperative student support allowance - fiscal year - appropriation - general fund - commissioner of education - actual expenditures