Rhode Island General Laws Title 16. Education § 16-7.2-7. Transition plan

(a) The general assembly shall annually determine the appropriation of education aid pursuant to this chapter using a transition plan to begin in fiscal year 2012, not to exceed seven (7) years for LEA's for whom the calculated education aid pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 is more than the education aid the LEA is receiving as of the effective date of the formula, and ten (10) years for LEA's for whom the calculated education aid pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 is less than the education aid the LEA is receiving as of the effective date of the formula.

(b) The local share of funding pursuant to § 16-7.2-5 shall be transitioned proportionately over a period not to exceed five (5) years. The transition shall provide a combination of direct aid to districts, funds for the categorical programs, and district savings through state-assumed costs, as determined by the general assembly on an annual basis. Updates to any components of the permanent foundation education aid formula, such as student data, property values, and/or median family income, that result in an increase or decrease in state education aid that impacts the total state and local contribution by more than three percent (3%) shall be transitioned over a period of time not to exceed three (3) years.

(c) Districts that experience a reduction in enrollment from the prior fiscal year shall receive forty percent (40%) of the amount of state aid pursuant to § 16-7.2-3 associated with that enrollment decline and will receive twenty-five percent (25%) of that amount in the next preceding year.

(d) For districts that are converting from a half-day to a full-day kindergarten program for the 2014--2015 school year and after, as defined by § 16-99-4, the increase in aid provided pursuant to the formula for the increased reference average daily membership due to the conversion of the kindergarten students from 0.5 full-time equivalent to 1.0 full-time equivalent is not subject to the transition plan in subsection (a); instead, the increased kindergarten full-time equivalents will be funded at the fully transitioned value of the formula beginning in FY 2017.