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S 2373Funding & Budget

Education - The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act

This bill grants regional school districts a permanent 2% state funding bonus, replacing the current temporary, decreasing bonus system.

Held for study
Population
Affected
35
Email Legislator
Introduced Jan 30, 2026Committee Senate Finance

Plain-English Summary

This legislation amends the "Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" regarding how the state funds regional school districts. Currently, when school districts regionalize, they receive a financial bonus that decreases over time and eventually stops. Under this bill, starting July 1, 2026, regional school districts will receive a permanent annual bonus equal to 2% of the state's share of their foundation education aid. This change replaces the temporary, phasing-out bonus structure with a consistent, ongoing funding supplement for these districts.

For younger readers

Sometimes, schools from different towns join together to become one big group called a regional district. Right now, when they do this, the state gives them extra money as a prize, but that money gets smaller every year until it is gone. This new rule changes that. Starting in the year 2026, these joined-up schools will keep getting the extra money every single year, and the amount won't go down. This helps these schools know they will have that extra help for a long time to pay for things students need.

Who & Where It Applies

Impacted groups
Regional School DistrictsPublic School StudentsProperty TaxpayersSchool CommitteesDepartment of Elementary and Secondary Education
Impacted communities
Charlestown, Richmond, Hopkinton, Bristol, Warren, Exeter, West Greenwich, Foster, Glocester

Constitutional & Fiscal Check

None Likely

Estimated cost
Amount unknown
Estimated revenue
None

Bill Analysis

Both viewpoints
For Progressives
  • Ensures consistent, long-term funding streams for regional public school districts, allowing for better budget planning and resource allocation for students rather than facing funding cliffs.
  • Encourages the consolidation of school districts, which can lead to more equitable distribution of resources and services among students in different towns.
  • Strengthens the public education system by preventing the loss of state aid that previously occurred when regionalization bonuses expired, protecting educational programs from cuts.
  • Allocates state funds based on administrative structure (regionalization) rather than specific student need or poverty levels, potentially diverting resources from struggling non-regionalized urban districts.
  • Could incentivize consolidation primarily for financial gain rather than educational benefit, potentially leading to larger, more impersonal school environments that may not serve all students well.
  • Does not address the underlying adequacy of the core foundation formula, merely adding a percentage bonus that may not keep pace with actual inflation or cost of living increases.
For Conservatives
  • Incentivizes school districts to merge and regionalize, which can reduce administrative overhead and duplicative bureaucracy, leading to more efficient use of taxpayer dollars.
  • Provides a predictable funding mechanism that allows local school boards to manage their budgets without relying on temporary government incentives that disappear, fostering fiscal stability.
  • Supports local control by strengthening regional districts, potentially reducing the need for state intervention in financially struggling individual towns.
  • Increases long-term state spending by making a temporary bonus permanent, adding to the burden on state taxpayers indefinitely rather than letting the subsidy expire.
  • Creates a permanent entitlement program for specific school districts, removing the original incentive to become self-sufficient after the initial transition period.
  • Interferes with the free market of local governance by using state funds to artificially prop up specific administrative structures regardless of their actual performance.

Votes

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Full Bill Text

Changes to existing Rhode Island law · 3 additions · 5 deletions

SECTION 1. Section 16-7.2-6 of the General Laws in Chapter 16-7.2 entitled "The Education Equity and Property Tax Relief Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 16-7.2-6. Categorical programs, state funded expenses. In addition to the foundation education aid provided pursuant to § 16-7.2-3, the permanent foundation education-aid program shall provide direct state funding for:

(a) Excess costs associated with special education students. Excess costs are defined when an individual special education student’s cost shall be deemed to be “extraordinary.” Extraordinary costs are those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above four times the core foundation amount (total of core instruction amount plus student success amount). The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year; and the department of elementary and secondary education shall also collect data on those educational costs that exceed the state-approved threshold based on an amount above two (2), three (3), and five (5) times the core foundation amount;

(b) Career and technical education costs to help meet initial investment requirements needed to transform existing, or create new, comprehensive, career and technical education programs and career pathways in critical and emerging industries and to help offset the higher- than-average costs associated with facilities, equipment maintenance and repair, and supplies necessary for maintaining the quality of highly specialized programs that are a priority for the state. The department shall develop criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all career and technical education funds as may be determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year;

(c) Programs to increase access to voluntary, free, high-quality pre-kindergarten programs. The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all early childhood program funds as may be determined by the general assembly;

(d) Central Falls, Davies, and the Met Center Stabilization Fund is established to ensure that appropriate funding is available to support their students. Additional support for Central Falls is needed due to concerns regarding the city’s capacity to meet the local share of education costs. This fund requires that education aid calculated pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 and funding for costs outside the permanent foundation education-aid formula, including, but not limited to, transportation, facility maintenance, and retiree health benefits shall be shared between the state and the city of Central Falls. The fund shall be annually reviewed to determine the amount of the state and city appropriation. The state’s share of this fund may be supported through a reallocation of current state appropriations to the Central Falls school district. At the end of the transition period defined in § 16-7.2-7, the municipality will continue its contribution pursuant to § 16-7-24. Additional support for the Davies and the Met Center is needed due to the costs associated with running a stand-alone high school offering both academic and career and technical coursework. The department shall recommend criteria for the purpose of allocating any and all stabilization funds as may be determined by the general assembly;

(e) Excess costs associated with transporting students to out-of-district non-public schools. This fund will provide state funding for the costs associated with transporting students to out-of- district non-public schools, pursuant to chapter 21.1 of this title. The state will assume the costs of non-public out-of-district transportation for those districts participating in the statewide system. The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year;

(f) Excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts. This fund will provide direct state funding for the excess costs associated with transporting students within regional school districts, established pursuant to chapter 3 of this title. This fund requires that the state and regional school district share equally the student transportation costs net any federal sources of revenue for these expenditures. The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible school districts if the total approved costs for which school districts are seeking reimbursement exceed the amount of funding available in any fiscal year;

(g) Public school districts that are regionalized shall be eligible for a regionalization bonus as set forth below:

(1) As used herein, the term “regionalized” shall be deemed to refer to a regional school district established under the provisions of chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional School district;

(2) For those districts that are regionalized as of July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus shall commence in FY 2012. For those districts that regionalize after July 1, 2010, the regionalization bonus shall commence in the first fiscal year following the establishment of a regionalized school district as set forth in chapter 3 of this title, including the Chariho Regional School District;

(3) The regionalization bonus in the first fiscal year for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter shall be two percent (2.0%) of the state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to §§ 16-7.2-3 and 16- 7.2-4 in that fiscal year;

(4) The regionalization bonus in the second fiscal year shall be one percent (1.0%) of the state’s share of the foundation education aid for the regionalized district as calculated pursuant to §§ 16-7.2-3 and 16-7.2-4 in that fiscal year;

(5) The regionalization bonus shall cease in the third fiscal year;

(6) The regionalization bonus for the Chariho regional school district shall be applied to the state share of the permanent foundation education aid for the member towns; and

(7) The department of elementary and secondary education shall prorate the funds available for distribution among those eligible regionalized school districts if the total, approved costs for which regionalized school districts are seeking a regionalization bonus exceed the amount of funding appropriated in any fiscal year;

(h) [Deleted by P.L. 2024, ch. 117, art. 8, § 1.]

(i) State support for school resource officers. For purposes of this subsection, a school resource officer (SRO) shall be defined as a career law enforcement officer with sworn authority who is deployed by an employing police department or agency in a community-oriented policing assignment to work in collaboration with one or more schools. School resource officers should have completed at least forty (40) hours of specialized training in school policing, administered by an accredited agency, before being assigned. Beginning in FY 2019, for a period of three (3) years, school districts or municipalities that choose to employ school resource officers shall receive direct state support for costs associated with employing such officers at public middle and high schools. Districts or municipalities shall be reimbursed an amount equal to one-half (½) of the cost of salaries and benefits for the qualifying positions. Funding will be provided for school resource officer positions established on or after July 1, 2018, provided that:

(1) Each school resource officer shall be assigned to one school:

(i) Schools with enrollments below one thousand two hundred (1,200) students shall require one school resource officer;

(ii) Schools with enrollments of one thousand two hundred (1,200) or more students shall require two school resource officers;

(2) School resource officers hired in excess of the requirement noted above shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and

(3) Schools that eliminate existing school resource officer positions and create new positions under this provision shall not be eligible for reimbursement; and

(j) Categorical programs defined in subsections (a) through (g) shall be funded pursuant to the transition plan in § 16-7.2-7.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2026.