PRINTER'S NO. 867
No. 782 Session of 1995
INTRODUCED BY MAYERNIK, FAIRCHILD, TRELLO AND HENNESSEY,
FEBRUARY 14, 1995
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION, FEBRUARY 14, 1995
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of March 10, 1949 (P.L.30, No.14), entitled "An
2 act relating to the public school system, including certain
3 provisions applicable as well to private and parochial
4 schools; amending, revising, consolidating and changing the
5 laws relating thereto," further providing for nonresident
6 child placed in home of resident, for liability for tuition
7 and enforcement of payment, for cost of tuition and for
8 payments on account of tuition; and making editorial changes.
9 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
10 hereby enacts as follows:
11 Section 1. Section 1305 of the act of March 10, 1949
12 (P.L.30, No.14), known as the Public School Code of 1949,
13 amended February 17, 1956 (1955 P.L.1065, No.342) and January
14 14, 1970 (1969 P.L.468, No.192), is amended to read:
15 Section 1305. Non-resident Child Placed in Home of
16 Resident.--(a) When a non-resident child is placed in the home
17 of a resident of any school district by order of court or by
18 arrangement with an association, agency, or institution having
19 the care of neglected and dependent children, such resident
20 being compensated for keeping the child, any child of school age
1 so placed shall be entitled to all free school privileges
2 accorded to resident school children of the district, including
3 the right to attend the public high school maintained in such
4 district or in other districts in the same manner as though such
5 child were in fact a resident school child of the district.
6 (b) [Any resident of any school district, before accepting
7 custody of a non-resident child of school age for compensation
8 by order of court or by arrangement with an association, agency,
9 or institution having the care of dependent or neglected
10 children, must secure, from the superintendent of schools or
11 school board in that district, a statement in writing that the
12 child can be accommodated in the schools of the district or that
13 the child can not be accommodated and the reasons therefor. If
14 such statements are not furnished within two weeks after a
15 request in writing has been made to the board's secretary, the
16 superintendent of schools, the board's assent shall be assumed,
17 and the child shall be admitted to the schools of the district
18 as a pupil. If such statement sets forth conditions such as to
19 exempt the district under this section from accepting the child
20 as a pupil, and if such exemption is not disapproved on appeal
21 by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and if other
22 arrangement for the child's schooling satisfactory to the
23 district superintendent is not made, the child may not be placed
24 in the district.
25 Appeal from the claim of any school district for exemption,
26 as provided in this section, may be taken to the Superintendent
27 of Public Instruction, and his decision thereon after
28 investigation shall be final.]
29 If a charge is made by any school district for tuition for a
30 non-resident child pursuant to subsection (a), the
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1 superintendent of the school district receiving such child shall
2 notify the child's school district of residence, by registered
3 mail, that the child has been placed pursuant to subsection (a)
4 in the home of a resident of the district. The named district of
5 residence shall have fifteen (15) days from receipt of this
6 notification to acknowledge residence or non-residence of the
7 child. If the district of residence fails to comply within
8 fifteen (15) days following receipt of this notification, the
9 receiving district shall again notify the district of residence,
10 by registered mail, of its failure to comply with the provisions
11 of this act. If the district of residence fails to comply within
12 fifteen (15) days following the second notice, said failure to
13 acknowledge residence or non-residence shall be construed as an
14 acknowledgment of said child's residence.
15 (c) When the receiving district has acknowledgment by the
16 district of residence that the child is a resident, the
17 receiving district may issue a bill for tuition of the child. If
18 the submitted bill remains unpaid for more than sixty (60) days,
19 the district submitting the bill may request that the Secretary
20 of Education transfer the amount billed. Upon receipt of such
21 request, the Secretary of Education shall withhold, from any
22 moneys due, the amounts owed by the district charged under this
23 section and sections 2561 and 2562 and shall pay the amount to
24 the receiving district: Provided, however, That if an appeal is
25 made by the district of residence to the Secretary of Education,
26 any amounts payable to the receiving district shall be made
27 within five (5) days of the secretary's decision on the appeal
28 or within sixty (60) days of the original billing, whichever is
29 earlier. This action of the Secretary of Education shall be
30 final.
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1 (d) The provisions of other sections notwithstanding, if a
2 child attending a school district under subsection (a) is an
3 exceptional child, the district in which the institution is
4 located may charge the district of residence, and the district
5 of residence shall pay a special education charge in addition to
6 the applicable tuition charge. This special education charge,
7 when added to the generally applicable tuition charge, shall
8 equal the actual cost of educating such children.
9 Section 2. Sections 1308 and 1309 of the act, amended June
10 7, 1993 (P.L.49, No.16), are amended to read:
11 Section 1308. Liability for Tuition and Enforcement of
12 Payment.--(a) In all cases not covered by the preceding section
13 if a charge is made by any school district for tuition for the
14 inmates of any such institution, the officers of the institution
15 shall submit to the board of school directors a sworn statement,
16 setting forth the names, ages, and school districts liable for
17 tuition of all children who are inmates thereof, and desire to
18 attend public school in the district. The district in which the
19 institution is located shall obtain a blank acknowledging or
20 disclaiming residence, signed by the secretary of the school
21 district in which the institution declares the legal residence
22 of the child to be. If said district shall fail to file said
23 blank within fifteen (15) days from the date it is sent to the
24 district by registered mail, the district in which the
25 institution is located shall again notify the district of its
26 failure to comply with the provisions of this act. If the
27 district shall fail to comply within fifteen (15) days following
28 the second notice, said failures to return the blank shall be
29 construed as an acknowledgement of said child's residence. The
30 tuition of such inmates as are included in the sworn statement
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1 to the board of school directors shall be paid by the district
2 of residence of the inmates upon receipt of a bill from the
3 district in which the institution is located setting forth the
4 names, ages and tuition charges of the inmates. The district so
5 charged with tuition may file an appeal with the Secretary of
6 Education, in which it shall be the complainant and the district
7 in which the institution is located the respondent. The decision
8 of the Secretary of Education, as to which of said parties is
9 responsible for tuition, shall be final.
10 (b) If a bill submitted under subsection (a) remains unpaid
11 for more than sixty (60) days, the district submitting the bill
12 may request that the Secretary of Education transfer the amount
13 billed. Upon receipt of such request, the Secretary of Education
14 shall withhold, from any moneys due, the amounts owed by the
15 district charged under subsection (a) and shall pay that amount
16 to the requesting district. If, however, an appeal is filed in
17 accordance with subsection (a), any amounts payable shall be
18 made within five (5) days of the secretary's decision on the
19 appeal or within sixty (60) days of the original billing,
20 whichever is earlier. Such action of the Secretary of Education
21 shall be final.
22 (c) If any inmates have been received from outside of
23 Pennsylvania, or if the institution cannot certify as to their
24 residence, their tuition shall be paid by the institution having
25 the care or custody of said children, except in the case of
26 medically indigent children hospitalized in exclusively
27 charitable children's hospitals exempt under section 501(c)(3)
28 of the Internal Revenue Code which make no charges to any of its
29 patients nor accepts any third-party payments for services
30 provided to any of its patients. In such cases their tuition
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1 shall be paid by the Commonwealth out of moneys appropriated by
2 the General Assembly for the purposes of this act. Enrollment of
3 any out-of-state student in a school district or intermediate
4 unit program shall be conditioned upon a guarantee, or actual
5 advance receipt, of tuition and transportation payment from the
6 institution, from the student's home state or out-of-state
7 school district, or from the out-of-state party or agency which
8 placed the student in the institution, except in the case of
9 medically indigent children hospitalized in exclusively
10 charitable children's hospitals exempt under section 501(c)(3)
11 of the Internal Revenue Code which make no charges to any of its
12 patients nor accepts any third-party payments for services
13 provided to any of its patients where the Commonwealth is paying
14 the tuition as otherwise provided for in this paragraph. If the
15 Secretary of Education decides that the legal residence of any
16 of said inmates is in Pennsylvania, but cannot be fixed in a
17 particular district, the Commonwealth shall pay the tuition of
18 such inmate out of moneys appropriated to the Department of
19 Education by the General Assembly for the maintenance and
20 support of the public schools of the Commonwealth.
21 Section 1309. Cost of Tuition; How Fixed.--(a) The cost of
22 tuition in such cases shall be fixed as is now provided by law
23 for tuition costs in other cases, except in the following
24 circumstances:
25 (1) Where, for the accommodation of such children, it shall
26 be necessary to provide a separate school or to erect additional
27 school buildings, the charge for tuition for such children may
28 include a proportionate cost of the operating expenses, rental,
29 and interest on any investment required to be made in erecting
30 such new school buildings.
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1 (2) When a child who is an inmate of an institution is an
2 exceptional child, the district in which the institution is
3 located may charge the district of residence, and the district
4 of residence shall pay a special education charge in addition to
5 the applicable tuition charge. [Such special education charge
6 shall not exceed an additional fifty percent (50%) of the
7 applicable tuition charge.] This special education charge, when
8 added to the generally applicable tuition charge, shall equal
9 the actual cost of educating such children.
10 (b) The tuition herein provided for shall be paid annually
11 by the Secretary of Education, the district of residence or the
12 institution as the case may be.
13 Section 3. Section 2503(c) of the act, amended February 17,
14 1956 (1955 P.L.1048, No.337), is amended to read:
15 Section 2503. Payments on Account of Tuition.--* * *
16 (c) Each school district, regardless of classification,
17 which accepts any non-resident child in its school under the
18 provisions of section one thousand three hundred five or section
19 one thousand three hundred six of the act to which this is an
20 amendment, shall be paid by the Commonwealth an amount equal to
21 the tuition charge per elementary pupil or the tuition charge
22 per high school pupil, as the case may be, as defined in section
23 two thousand five hundred sixty-one of the act to which this is
24 an amendment, for each pupil so accepted. In the case of pupils
25 attending the district's public schools for less than a full
26 school term, the tuition charges shall be prorated by reference
27 to the period of time over which such pupil actually attended
28 the district's schools. When the non-resident child is an
29 exceptional child the Commonwealth shall pay a special education
30 charge in addition to the applicable tuition charge. This
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1 special education charge, when added to the generally applicable
2 tuition charge, shall equal the actual cost of educating these
3 children.
4 * * *
5 Section 4. The amendment of sections 1305, 1308 and 1309 of
6 the act shall apply retroactively to July 1, 1994.
7 Section 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
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