FOR AN ACT ENTITLED, An Act to  revise certain provisions relating to the distribution of funds to sparse school districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA:
     Section  1.  That § 13-13-78 be amended to read as follows:
     13-13-78.   Terms used in § 13-13-79 mean:

             (1)      "Sparse school district," a school district that meets each of the following criteria:

             (a)      Has an average daily membership per square mile of 0.50 or less;

             (b)      Has an average daily membership of five hundred or less;

             (c)      Has an area of four hundred square miles or more;

             (d)      Has at least fifteen miles between its secondary attendance center or centers and that of an adjoining district;

             (e)      Operates a secondary attendance center;

             (f)      Levies ad valorem taxes at the maximum rates allowed pursuant to § 10-12-42 or more; and

             (g)      Has a general fund balance percentage of thirty percent or less excluding revenue received from opting out of property tax limitations pursuant to

chapter 10-12;

             (2)      "Sparsity average daily membership for sparse school districts with an adjusted average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(2) of less than one hundred or greater than two hundred seventy-five ," calculated as follows:

             (a)      For sparse school districts with an adjusted average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(2) of less than one hundred or greater than two hundred seventy-five, divide Divide the average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(1) by the area of the school district in square miles;

             (b)      Multiply the quotient obtained in subsection (a) times negative 0.125;

             (c)      Add 0.0625 to the product obtained in subsection (b); and

             (d)      Multiply the sum obtained in subsection (c) times the average daily membership;

             (3)      "Sparsity adjusted average daily membership for sparse school districts with an adjusted average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(2) of greater than or equal to one hundred and less than two hundred seventy-five ," calculated as follows: For any sparse school district with an adjusted average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(2) of no less than one hundred, but no more than two hundred seventy-five, the sparsity adjusted average daily membership is two hundred seventy-five Subtract the school district adjusted average daily membership as defined in subdivision 13-13-10.1(2) from two hundred seventy-five .
     Section  2.  That § 13-13-79 be amended to read as follows:
     13-13-79.   At the same time that foundation program state aid is distributed to school districts pursuant to §§ 13-13-10.1 to 13-13-41, inclusive, the secretary of the Department of

Education shall distribute funds to sparse school districts by multiplying either the sparsity average daily membership calculation or the sparsity adjusted average daily membership calculation in § 13-13-78 the result of the calculation in subdivision (2) or (3) of §  13-13-78 by the per student allocation as defined in § 13-13-10.1. However, no sparse school district may receive a sparsity benefit in any year that exceeds two hundred fifty thousand dollars.