AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A PUBLIC EDUCATION SCHOOL LIBRARY FUND.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE :
Section 1. This Act creates a Public Education School Library Fund to be administered by the Department of Education.
Section 2. No later than August 15, 2001, any funds appropriated in the Annual Appropriations Act and/or the Bond and Capital Improvement Act to the Department of Education for the implementation of a Public Education School Library Fund shall be apportioned equally among all the State’s public schools and charter schools.
Section 3. Funds allocated for this initiative are intended to supplement the existing level of State and local expenditures in support of library books and materials. In order to qualify for these funds, each reorganized school district must agree to maintain their current level of spending on library books and materials during Fiscal Year 2002. Districts shall satisfy this requirement by demonstrating to the Department of Education that their combined expenditure of Division II All-Other Costs, Local Current Operating Expense funds, and other discretionary state sources are at least equal to 97 percent of the average annual expenditure made by the district during fiscal years 1999, 2000 and 2001 on such items from such sources combined. The Budget Director and the Controller General may grant a waiver for a specific amount if it is determined that a district’s three-year average is overstated by an extraordinary one-time expenditure. However, a waiver may not be granted if its primary purpose is to mitigate a district’s local financial position.