Section 37-151-203 - [Calculation of base student cost - Annual adjustment based on inflation and other factors](1) In fiscal year 2025, the student base amount shall be Six Thousand Six Hundred Ninety-five Dollars and Thirty-four Cents ($6,695.34) per student. In fiscal years 2026, 2027 and 2028, the inflationary adjustment described in this section shall be applied to derive the total funding formula. In fiscal year 2029, and every fourth fiscal year thereafter, the State Board of Education, on or before August 1, with an adjusted estimate no later than January 2, shall submit to the Legislative Budget Office, the Chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations and Education Committees, respectively, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House a new proposed student base amount calculation using the following formula: (a) Instructional cost. To determine the instructional cost, the department shall first calculate the state's student to teacher ratio. Such ratio shall be determined by dividing the net enrollment for public schools and charter schools in the state by the total number of teachers in such schools, as determined by the department, in months two (2) and three (3) of the school year preceding the year funds are to be appropriated. The student to teacher ratio shall be rounded up to the nearest whole number. After determining the student to teacher ratio, the average teacher salary shall be divided by the student-teacher ratio, and the resulting amount shall be considered the instructional cost. The average teacher salary shall be calculated by the department and include district local supplements as provided in Section 37-151-87, but shall not include the highest five percent (5%) and lowest five percent (5%) of district local supplements.(b) Administrative cost; which shall be twenty percent (20%) of the instructional cost.(c) Ancillary personnel and expenses; which shall be thirty percent (30%) of the instructional cost.(d) Operation and maintenance of plant. For the plant and maintenance cost component, the State Department of Education shall select districts that have a ratio of plant and maintenance expenditures per one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of building space and a ratio of maintenance workers per one hundred thousand (100,000) square feet of building space that are both between one (1) standard deviation above the mean and two (2) standard deviations below the mean of the statewide average. The plant and maintenance cost component shall be calculated by dividing the latest available months one (1) through nine (9) average daily attendance of the selected districts into the plant and maintenance expenditures of these selected districts. For the purpose of this calculation, the Department of Education shall use the following funds, functions and objects: Fund 1120 Functions 2600-2699, Objects 100-699 and Objects 800-999; Fund 2711 Functions 2600-2699, Objects 100-699 and Objects 800-999; Fund 2430 Functions 2600-2699, Objects 100-699 and Objects 800-999. Net enrollment means the percentage change from the prior year of each year of each school district's months two (2) and three (3) average of net enrollment for the three (3) immediately preceding school years of the year for which funds are being appropriated.(2) For purposes of these calculations, the State Department of Education shall utilize financial data from the second preceding year of the year for which funds are being appropriated.(3) For each of the fiscal years between the recalculation of the base student cost, the base student cost shall be increased by an amount equal to twenty-five percent (25%) of the base student cost for the previous fiscal year, multiplied by the twenty year average annual change in the rate of inflation rounded up to the nearest tenth of a percent for the State of Mississippi as determined by the State Economist, plus any adjustments for additional state requirements including, but not limited to, teacher pay raises and health insurance premium increases. The calculation shall be performed annually by the Department of Education, and the resulting amount shall replace base student cost from the previous year.(4) In years when the total revenue of the state does not increase, the Legislature may retain the base student cost from the previous year. If the total revenue increases the following year, the formula shall be recalculated or increased according to inflation as provided in this act.(5) Base student cost shall not be lower than the previous year; provided, however, the base student cost may be lowered when the State Fiscal Officer provides notice to the Legislative Budget Office of a revenue shortfall in accordance with Section 27-104-13.(6) By November 1, 2024, the department shall submit to the Legislative Budget Office, the Chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives Appropriations and Education Committees, respectively, the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House, a report on the department's plan for implementation of the funding formula as specified under the provisions of this act, and to recommend any technical amendments necessary for its effective administration before the commencement of the 2025 Regular Session of the Legislature.(7) The annual amount of funding for the operation of each school district and charter school under the total funding formula as provided under this act is determined by multiplying the student base amount, as determined under Section 37-151-203, by the final weighted enrollment of the school district or charter school, as determined under Section 37-151-205.Added by Laws, 2024, ch. 484, HB 4130,§ 3, eff. 7/1/2024.