<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
<section article="ged" article_name="Education" number="5-222" title_number="5" title_name="Financing" subtitle_number="2" subtitle_name="Aid to Education">
  <level label="a">
    <level label="1">
      <text>In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <level label="i">
        <text>“Compensatory education enrollment” means:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>Except as provided in subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph, for fiscal years 2017 through 2028, the greater of:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="A">
          <text>The number of students eligible for free or reduced price meals for the prior fiscal year;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="B">
          <text>For county boards that participate, in whole or in part, in the United States Department of Agriculture community eligibility provision, the number of students equal to the greater of:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="I">
          <text>The sum of the number of students in participating schools identified by direct certification for the prior fiscal year, plus the number of students identified by the income information provided by the family to the school system on an alternative form developed by the Department for the prior fiscal year, plus the number of students eligible for free and reduced price meals from any schools not participating in the community eligibility provision for the prior fiscal year; or</text>
          <text>II.    Subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, the number of students eligible for free and reduced price meals at schools not participating in the community eligibility provision for the prior fiscal year, plus the product of the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced price meals at participating schools for the fiscal year prior to opting into the community eligibility provision multiplied by the prior fiscal year enrollment; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="C">
          <text>The number of students directly certified and who are enrolled in a public school in the county in the prior fiscal year; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>For fiscal year 2029 and each fiscal year thereafter, the greater of:</text>
        </level>
        <level label="A">
          <text>The number of students eligible for free or reduced price meals using the United States Department of Agriculture count or the alternative State form for the prior fiscal year; or</text>
        </level>
        <level label="B">
          <text>The number of direct certification students who are enrolled in a public school in the county in the prior fiscal year.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>For the purpose of the calculation under subparagraph (i)1BII of this paragraph, the schools participating in the community eligibility provision during the pilot year may use the percentage of students identified for free and reduced price meals during the pilot year.</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>For the purpose of the calculation under subparagraph (i)1 of this paragraph, direct certification multiplied by the multiplier may be used only for schools that did not exist prior to the year the school system opted into the United States Department of Agriculture community eligibility provision.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <level label="i">
        <text>For fiscal years 2022 through 2025, “compensatory education per pupil amount” means the following proportions of the target per pupil foundation amount:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>For fiscal year 2022, 91%;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>For fiscal year 2023, 89%;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>For fiscal year 2024, 87%; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="4">
          <text>For fiscal year 2025, 86%.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Beginning in fiscal year 2026, “compensatory education per pupil amount” means:</text>
        <level label="1">
          <text>For fiscal year 2026, $7,842;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="2">
          <text>For fiscal year 2027, $7,786;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="3">
          <text>For fiscal year 2028, $7,908;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="4">
          <text>For fiscal year 2029, $8,029;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="5">
          <text>For fiscal year 2030, $8,363;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="6">
          <text>For fiscal year 2031, $8,582;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="7">
          <text>For fiscal year 2032, $8,448;</text>
        </level>
        <level label="8">
          <text>For fiscal year 2033, $9,026; and</text>
        </level>
        <level label="9">
          <text>For subsequent fiscal years, the compensatory education per pupil amount for the prior fiscal year increased by the inflation adjustment rounded to the nearest whole dollar.</text>
        </level>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="4">
      <text>“Direct certification” means the certification of the income eligibility of a child under the following programs:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Temporary Assistance for Needy Families;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Foster care;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iv">
        <text>Head Start;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="v">
        <text>Even Start;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vi">
        <text>Migrant students;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="vii">
        <text>Homeless students; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="viii">
        <text>Medicaid and the Maryland Children’s Health Program, up to 189% of the federal poverty level.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="5">
      <text>“Eligible for free or reduced price meals” means eligible for free or reduced price meals based on eligibility requirements established by the United States Department of Agriculture.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="b">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Each fiscal year, the State shall distribute the State share for compensatory education to each county board.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>Each fiscal year, the county board shall distribute to each school the minimum school funding amount for compensatory education calculated under § 5–234 of this subtitle.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
  <level label="c">
    <level label="1">
      <text>Subject to paragraph (3) of this subsection, the State alternative income eligibility form shall be collected by each school that is participating in the United States Department of Agriculture community eligibility provision and may be collected by all other schools.</text>
    </level>
    <level label="2">
      <text>The State alternative income eligibility form shall:</text>
      <level label="i">
        <text>Be developed by the Department;</text>
      </level>
      <level label="ii">
        <text>Include a statement indicating that the income information requested on the form is used to determine local and State funding for education; and</text>
      </level>
      <level label="iii">
        <text>Be available in an electronic format and allow a family to opt out of returning the form to the collecting school.</text>
      </level>
    </level>
    <level label="3">
      <text>A school under paragraph (1) of this subsection may not be required to collect the State alternative income eligibility form until the school year after the form has been adopted by the Department after a period of comment from local school systems.</text>
    </level>
  </level>
</section>
