2017 Arizona Revised Statutes
Title 15 - Education
§ 15-249.08 Results-based funding fund; distributions; requirements

15-249.08. Results-based funding fund; distributions; requirements

A. The results-based funding fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations. The department of education shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated.

B. The department of education shall distribute monies from the results-based funding fund to school districts and charter schools as follows:

1. Beginning in fiscal year 2017-2018:

(a) Each school operated by a school district or charter holder shall receive two hundred twenty-five dollars from the fund per student count if the school meets both of the following criteria:

(i) At the time the test prescribed in item (ii) of this subdivision is administered, fewer than sixty percent of the pupils who are enrolled in the school meet the eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785) for free or reduced-price lunches, or an equivalent measure recognized for participating in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program and other school programs dependent on a poverty measure, including the community eligibility provision for which free and reduced-price lunch data is not available.

(ii) In results achieved during the spring of 2016, the school performed in the top ten percent of all schools statewide as demonstrated by the average percentage of pupils who obtained a passing score on the mathematics portions of the statewide assessment and the percent of pupils who passed the language arts portions of the statewide assessment.

(b) Each school operated by a school district or charter holder shall receive four hundred dollars from the fund per student count if the school meets both of the following criteria:

(i) At the time that the test prescribed in item (ii) of this subdivision is administered, sixty percent or more of the pupils who are enrolled in the school meet the eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785) for free or reduced-price lunches, or an equivalent measure recognized for participating in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program and other school programs dependent on a poverty measure, including the community eligibility provision for which free and reduced-price lunch data is not available.

(ii) In results achieved during the spring of 2016, the school performed in the top ten percent of schools pursuant to item (i) of this subdivision, as demonstrated by the average percentage of those pupils who obtained a passing score on the mathematics portions of the statewide assessment and the percent of pupils who passed the language arts portions of the statewide assessment.

(c) Each alternative high school that is subject to a specialized rating system and that in 2014 was assigned the equivalent of a letter grade designation of A pursuant to section 15-241 shall receive four hundred dollars from the fund per student count.

2. Beginning in fiscal year 2018-2019:

(a) Each school operated by a school district or charter holder shall receive two hundred twenty-five dollars from the fund per student count if the school has a letter grade designation of A pursuant to section 15-241 from the prior fiscal year and fewer than sixty percent of the pupils who are enrolled in the school meet the eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785) for free or reduced-price lunches, or an equivalent measure recognized for participating in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program and other school programs dependent on a poverty measure, including the community eligibility provision in which free and reduced-price lunch data is not available.

(b) Each school operated by a school district or charter holder shall receive four hundred dollars from the fund per student count if the school has a letter grade designation of A pursuant to section 15-241 from the prior fiscal year and sixty percent or more of the pupils who are enrolled in the school meet the eligibility requirements established under the national school lunch and child nutrition acts (42 United States Code sections 1751 through 1785) for free or reduced-price lunches, or an equivalent measure recognized for participating in the federal free and reduced-price lunch program and other school programs dependent on a poverty measure, including the community eligibility provision in which free and reduced-price lunch data is not available.

C. Any monies received from the results-based funding fund by a school district or charter holder shall be separately accounted for in the school district's or charter holder's annual financial report. Except as provided in this subsection, the monies shall be allocated directly to enhance, expand or replicate the school site that generated the results-based funding and shall not supplant monies budgeted or received from any other source that are generally provided to that school. The majority of the monies received from the fund by a school district or charter holder shall be used for teacher salaries, to hire teachers and to provide for teacher professional development. A portion of the monies received from the fund by a school district or charter holder may be used for the expansion and replication of that school site as a quality school model. The monies shall be used to sustain and replicate results, to serve more students on a waiting list at a school with a letter grade designation of A or B and to increase salaries for teachers, other classroom staff and school leaders closing the achievement gap in high-poverty schools. For the purposes of this subsection, " replication" means:

1. Adding seats and serving more students at the awarded school site.

2. Using resources at a different location to improve that school or to sustain or accelerate academic growth.

3. Mentoring other schools and school leaders to replicate the model or to provide other types of school improvement supports.

4. Physically expanding at another location.

D. Schools receiving funding pursuant to subsection C, paragraph 2, 3 or 4 of this section must show steady improvement after three years to remain eligible for funding.