19 Tex. Admin. Code § 61.1020 - Excess Funds for Video Surveillance of Special Education Settings
(a) General provisions. This section
implements the Texas Education Code (TEC), §48.265 (Excess Funds for Video
Surveillance of Special Education Settings). If the commissioner of education
determines that appropriated funds are highly likely to exceed expenditures
under the Foundation School Program (FSP) for the biennium after accounting for
all critical FSP data required to make accurate expenditure estimates and there
is sufficient funding remaining to provide for a grant program under the TEC, §
48.265, the
commissioner shall make a grant application available to apply for funds to
cover the cost of purchasing video equipment for use in implementing the TEC, §
29.022, and announce
the amount of funds available.
(b)
Eligibility. School districts and charter schools that have purchased or that
intend to purchase video equipment for the purpose of implementing the TEC, §
29.022, may apply for
funds necessary to reimburse the cost of such equipment. Purchases made after
September 1, 2015, that have not been previously reimbursed under this grant
program or through gifts, grants, or donations under the TEC, §
29.022(f),
are eligible to apply.
(c)
Application process. School districts and charter schools must submit a
separate application request in each year that excess funds are made available.
The application shall contain, at a minimum, the following:
(1) a description of the type of equipment to
be purchased or that has been purchased using funds provided under this
section;
(2) a description of the
intended use of the equipment to be funded using funds provided under this
section; and
(3) an itemized
account of the cost of the equipment to be funded using funds provided under
this section.
(d)
Finality of award. Awards of assistance under this section will be made based
on the information available to the Texas Education Agency as of the deadline
for receipt of applications for that application cycle.
(e) Data sources. The maintenance and
operations tax rate and the interest and sinking tax rate will be based on data
from the comptroller of public accounts property tax assistance division for
the current school year. Maintenance and operations tax collections and the
count of students in weighted average daily attendance (WADA) will come from
the most recently published summary of finance for the most recent school year
that is in Final or Near Final status.
(f) Definitions. The following terms have the
following meanings when used in this section.
(1) State maximum compressed tax rate--The
state compression percentage as defined by TEC, §
48.255.
(2) Maintenance and operations tax
collections per WADA--The maintenance and operations tax collections net of
payments into a tax increment fund and net of payments for an Instructional
Facilities Allotment lease purchase arrangement as reported in the most
recently available school year that is in Final or Near Final status divided by
the count of students in weighted average daily attendance as reported in the
same summary of finance.
(3) Video
equipment--Video equipment as described in §
103.1301(b)(8)
of this title (relating to Video Surveillance of Certain Special Education
Settings).
(4) Eligible
requests--An eligible request for funds is a request for video equipment that
is necessary to comply with the provisions of the TEC, §
29.022, and that has
not received funds under this section in a prior application cycle or through a
gift, grant, or donation under the TEC, §
29.022(f).
(g) Deadlines. The commissioner
will announce a deadline in conjunction with making a determination that excess
funds are available for the purpose of implementing the TEC, §
48.265. All
applications received by the announced deadline will be reviewed. Successful
applications will be ranked according to the criteria in subsection (h) of this
section.
(h) Priority status. Upon
close of the application cycle, all eligible applications will be awarded
priority status in accordance with the criteria outlined in paragraphs (1)-(4)
of this subsection. All applications within Priority 1 will be fully funded
before funds are allocated to Priority 2 and Priority 3. Funds not used for
Priority 1 will be allocated to Priority 2 and Priority 3 in proportion to the
total funds requested by school districts in those categories. If Priority 2
and Priority 3 applications are fully funded, remaining funds will be allocated
to Priority 4.
(1) Priority 1. Applications
from school districts that have current-year adopted tax rates for maintenance
and operations at $0.17 above their maximum compressed tax rates. If
insufficient funds remain to fully fund all Priority 1 applications, funds will
be awarded in proportion to the amount of eligible requests for each applicant
compared to total available funds.
(2) Priority 2. Applications from school
districts with maintenance and operations tax rates at least equal to the state
maximum compressed tax rate. Priority 2 applications will be sorted by
maintenance and operations tax collections per WADA and Priority 2 funds shall
be awarded beginning with the school district with the lowest collections per
WADA.
(3) Priority 3. Applications
from school districts with interest and sinking fund tax rates of at least
$0.40 per $100 of valuation. Priority 3 applications will be sorted by interest
and sinking tax rates, and Priority 3 funds shall be awarded beginning with the
school district with the highest interest and sinking tax rate. If insufficient
funds remain to fully fund all Priority 3 school districts at a given interest
and sinking tax rate, remaining funds will be awarded in proportion to the
amount of eligible requests for each applicant compared to total available
funds.
(4) Priority 4. All other
applications. Remaining funds available for Priority 4 applications, including
charter schools, shall be awarded in proportion to the amount of eligible
requests compared to total available funds.
(i) Distribution of funds. Funds will be
allocated through the FSP and will appear on the school district or charter
school summary of finance and be delivered as soon as is practicable after
awards have been made.
Notes
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