Rights of school district to use school funds for accreditation of public schools. May "Chapter 2" funds be used by local school districts in Arkansas to meet minimum standards under Act 445 of 1983? No. Education Consolidation and Improvement Act 6-15-208

STATE OF ARKANSAS OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL JUSTICE BUILDING, LITTLE ROCK 72201 STEVE CLARK ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 85-99 (501) 371-2007 April 8, 1985" Mr. Tommy Venters Director Dept. of Education Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Mr. Venters: This is in response to your opinion request wherein you posed the following inquiry: May Chapter 2 Funds be used by local school districts in Arkansas to meet standards for accreditation pro- mulgated pursuant to Act 445 of 1983? For the following reasons, the answer to your question is no. Section 585 (b), Chapter 2, Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981 is depositive of your inquiry and provides as follows: (b) A State or local educational agency may use and allocate funds received under this chapter only so as to supplement and to the extent practical, increase the level of funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds made available under this chapter, be made avail- able from non-Federal sources, and in no case may such funds be used so as to supplant funds from non-Federal sources. Rules and regulations promulgated by the Department of Education further provide as follows: An SEA or LEA that receives Chapter 2 funds-- (a) May use and allocate those funds only to supple- ment and, to the extent practical, increase the level of funds that would, in the absence of Federal funds made available under Chapter 2, be made available from non~Federal sources; and (b) May not use Chapter 2 funds to supplant funds from non-Federal sources. 34 CFR Part 398 Fed. Reg. Vol. 47, No. 224 (Nov.19, 1982). Mr. Tommy Venters Page 2 April 8, 1985 Of further import are the non-regulatory quidelines of the Department of Education on Chapter 2 funds which observe that: By enacting the supplement, not supplant provision contained in Section 585{b) of Chapter 2 (Appendix A at 9), Congress intended that Chapter 2 funds be used only to supplement the educational programs generally of- fered with State and local funds. To be in compliance with this requirement, therefore, an SEA or LEA may not divert State and local funds from an activity merely because Chapter 2 funds are available. In other words, the use of Chapter 2 funds may not result in a decrease in State and local funds for a particular activity which, in the absence of the Chapter 2 funds, would have been available to conduct the activity. A speci- fic example of such a circumstance is any program that an SEA or LEA is required by law to provide. Because the SEA or LEA would have to use State and local funds to provide particular statutorily-required services in the absence of Chapter 2 funds, the SHA or LEA may not use Chapter 2 funds to replace the State and local funds it would otherwise be required by law to use. With the above limitations in mind, attention must be turned to Arkansas Act 445 of 1983. Act 445, otherwise known as the Quality Education Act of 1983, directed the State Board of Education to develop comprehensive "regula- tions, criteria, and minimum standards to be used by the State Board of Education and the State Department of Educa- tion in the accreditation of school programs in elementary and secondary public schools in this State." (Section 4) Although the standards developed by the Board of Education must not be met by a particular school district until June 1, 1987, Section 2(a) subsection (c) of Section 4 provides as follows: (c) The final action of the Board in adopting regu- lations, criteria, and minimum standards, after holding said hearings, shall be taken on or before March 1, 1984, and copies thereof shall be furnished the chair- man of the school board and superintendent of each school district in this State, and such other persons as the Board shall deem appropriate. Copies thereof shall also be filed with the Secretary of State and with the County clerk of each county as provided by laws applicable to filing Administrative Rules and -Regulations by State agencies in this State. Mr. Tommy Venters Page 3 April 8, 1985 The referenced standards were adopted and promulgated by the March 1, 1984 deadline. School districts have until June 1, 1987 to meet these minimum standards. Whether or not the standards became effective on March 1, 1984 or, at minimum, mandatory on June 1, 1987, it is the opinion of this office that the use of Chapter 2 funds to meet these standards is prolibited by-Section585—(b)-of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. The foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by Assistant Attorney General, C. Randy McNair. Sincerely, jg uu EV Attorn General jsc:CRM:dce