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An Act To Provide Public Charter Schools with Access to State Funds for Capital Expenses
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 20-A MRSA §2413-A, sub-§2, ¶A, as enacted by PL 2015, c. 54, §5, is amended to read:
 
A. For each public charter school, the total allocation must be determined as follows.
 
(1) The total allocation must be calculated pursuant to section 15683-B, based on the student's grade level and adjusted as appropriate for economically disadvantaged students and limited English proficiency students pursuant to section 15675, subsections 1 and 2. Debt service and capital outlays may not be included in the calculation of these allocations. The department shall adopt rules governing how to calculate per-pupil allocations, including those for targeted funds for assessment, technology and kindergarten to grade 2 programs. The rules must allow for an inclusion in the per-pupil allocation of an amount for capital expenses that allows a public charter school to qualify for federal charter school program grants under 20 United States Code, Section 7221b.
 
(2) For students attending public charter schools, the payments for public charter schools must be made pursuant to section 15683-B, subsection 6.
 
(3) For transportation expenses, the transportation operating allocation must be the statewide per-pupil essential programs and services transportation operating allocation multiplied by pupil counts determined under section 15683-B, subsection 2, paragraph A multiplied by the percentage established by the commission for the public charter school based on the cost of transportation services provided by the public charter school to the student, but not to exceed 100%.
 
(4) The department shall pay to the public charter school any additional allocation assigned to the public charter school for gifted and talented students pursuant to section 15681-A, subsection 5 in the year in which the allocation is assigned.
 
SUMMARY
This bill allows a per-pupil allocation for capital expenses to be added to the essential programs and services funding formula for public charter schools that do not have access to capital funds from the State or from a school administrative district.