Arizona Laws 15-249.11. Rural STEM program fund; definition
A. The rural STEM program fund is established for the purposes of supporting science, technology, engineering and math programs in rural schools. The fund consists of monies appropriated by the legislature and grants, gifts, devises and donations from any public or private source. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated for the purposes of this section. Monies in the fund are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department of education shall administer the fund and may use not more than five percent of the monies deposited in the fund in a fiscal year for administrative purposes under this section. On notice from the department, the state treasurer shall invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies earned from investment shall be credited to the fund. Monies in the fund are subject to state auditing procedures.
Terms Used In Arizona Laws 15-249.11
- Charter school: means a public school established by contract with the state board of education, the state board for charter schools, a university under the jurisdiction of the Arizona board of regents, a community college district or a group of community college districts pursuant to article 8 of this chapter to provide learning that will improve pupil achievement. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Population: means the population according to the most recent United States decennial census. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- Process: means a citation, writ or summons issued in the course of judicial proceedings. See Arizona Laws 1-215
- School district: means a political subdivision of this state with geographic boundaries organized for the purpose of the administration, support and maintenance of the public schools or an accommodation school. See Arizona Laws 15-101
- Student count: means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the fiscal year before the current year, except that for the purpose of budget preparation student count means average daily membership as prescribed in this subsection for the current year. See Arizona Laws 15-901
- Subject: means a division or field of organized knowledge, such as English or mathematics, or a selection from an organized body of knowledge for a course or teaching unit, such as the English novel or elementary algebra. See Arizona Laws 15-101
B. Subject to review and approval by the state board of education, the department of education shall establish a process for rural schools to apply for grants from the rural STEM program fund. A rural school applying for a grant shall demonstrate how the rural school plans to use monies from the fund and what outcomes the rural school plans to achieve with students. A rural school that receives funding must demonstrate that the school’s STEM program meets the academic standards for science, technology, engineering and mathematics as adopted by the state board of education.
C. On or before June 30 of each year, a rural school that receives monies from the rural STEM program fund shall provide the department of education with updates on outcomes achieved with students and how monies from the fund were spent. On or before November 15 of each year, the department of education shall report to the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the governor on the amount of grants made from the rural STEM program fund, outcomes achieved with students statewide and how program monies were expended.
D. For the purposes of this section, "rural school" means a charter school or a school within a school district that has a student count of three hundred or less and that meets either of the following:
1. Is located in a county with a population of less than four hundred thousand persons.
2. Is located in a census county division with less than fifty thousand persons in a county with a population of at least four hundred thousand persons.