§18-9A-15. Allowance for increased enrollment; extraordinary sustained increased enrollment impact supplement.

(a) To provide for the support of increased net enrollments in the counties and public charter schools in a school year over the net enrollments used in the computation of total state aid for that year, there shall be appropriated for that purpose from the General Revenue Fund an amount to be determined as follows:

(1) The state board shall promulgate a rule pursuant to §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code that establishes an objective method for projecting the increase in net enrollment for each school district, exclusive of the net enrollment of public charter schools physically locate in the district. The state superintendent shall use the method prescribed by the rule to project the increase in net enrollment for each school district.

(2) The state superintendent shall multiply the average total state aid per net pupil by the sum of the projected increases in net enrollment for all school districts and report this amount to the Governor for inclusion in his or her proposed budget to the Legislature. The Legislature shall appropriate to the West Virginia Department of Education the amount calculated by the state superintendent and proposed by the Governor.

(3) The state superintendent shall calculate each school district’s share of the appropriation by multiplying the increase in net enrollment for the school district by the average total state aid per net pupil and shall distribute each school district’s share to the school district on or before December 31, of each year.

Nothing in this subsection prohibits, however, the state superintendent, at the request of a school district, before the actual increase in net enrollment is available, from advancing a partial distribution to the school district of up to 60 percent of its estimated share based on its projected increased enrollment, subject to the following:

(A) If the amount of the advanced partial distribution to a school district is greater than the total amount to which a district is entitled to receive for the year, the district shall refund the difference to the Department of Education prior to June 30 of the fiscal year in which the excess distribution is made; and

(B) The Department of Education shall notify the Joint Committee on Government and Finance and the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability whenever an advanced partial distribution is made.

(4) If the amount of the appropriation for increased enrollment is not sufficient to provide payment in full for the total of these allocations, each county allocation shall be reduced to an amount which is proportionate to the appropriation compared to the total of the allocations and the allocations as thus adjusted shall be distributed to the counties as provided in this section: Provided, That the Governor shall request a supplemental appropriation at the next legislative session for the reduced amount.

(b) To help offset the budgetary impact of extraordinary and sustained increases in net enrollment in a county, there shall be included in the basic state aid of any county whose most recent three-year average growth in second month net enrollment is two percent or more, an amount equal to one fourth of the state average per pupil state aid multiplied by the increase in the county’s second month net enrollment in the latest year.

(c) No provision of this section shall be construed to in any way affect the allocation of moneys for educational purposes to a county under other provisions of law.

(d) The state board shall promulgate a rule pursuant to §29A-3B-1 et seq. of this code that establishes an objective method for calculating the increase in net enrollment for each public charter school based on the school’s net enrollment for the current year compared to the prior year. Increased enrollment funding calculated for a public charter school shall be paid directly to the school by the Department of Education no later than December 31st.