{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-7-203","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 70, § 70-7-203","heading":"School Consolidation Assistance Fund","body":"A. There is hereby created in the State Treasury a fund to be\n\ndesignated the \"School Consolidation Assistance Fund\". The fund\n\nshall be a continuing fund, not subject to fiscal year limitations,\n\nand shall consist of any monies the Legislature may appropriate or\n\ntransfer to the fund and any monies contributed for the fund from\n\nany other source, public or private.\n\nB. All monies accruing to the credit of the fund are hereby\n\nappropriated and may be budgeted and expended by the State Board of\n\nEducation for the purposes established by this section, the\n\nLegislature and in accordance with rules promulgated by the State\n\nBoard of Education. The purposes shall be to provide:\n\n1. Voluntarily or mandatorily consolidated school districts or\n\ndistricts who have received part or all of the territory and part or\n\nall of the students of a school district dissolved by voluntary or\n\nmandatory annexation, during the first year of consolidation or\n\nannexation with a single one-year allocation of funds needed for:\n\na. purchase of uniform textbooks in cases where the\n\nseveral districts were not using the same textbooks\n\nprior to consolidation or annexation,\n\nb. employment of certified personnel required to teach\n\ncourses of the district for which personnel from the\n\ndistricts consolidated or annexed are not certified\n\nand available,\n\nc. employment assistance for personnel of the several\n\ndistricts who are not employed by the consolidated or\n\nannexing district. Employment assistance may include\n\nprovision of a severance allowance for administrators,\n\nteachers and support personnel not to exceed eighty\n\npercent (80%) of the individual's salary or wages,\n\nexclusive of fringe benefits, for the school year\n\npreceding the consolidation or annexation. Personnel\n\nreceiving such severance pay may accumulate one (1)\n\nyear of creditable service for retirement purposes.\n\nEmployment assistance may also include the payment of\n\nunemployment compensation benefits. The State Board\n\nof Education shall provide a severance allowance to\n\nemployees dismissed from employment due to annexation\n\nor consolidation of a school district in the year of\n\nthe annexation or consolidation and who were denied a\n\nseverance allowance or unemployment compensation\n\nbenefits and the voluntary consolidation funding of\n\nthe annexing or consolidating district or districts\n\nhas been paid on or after July 1, 2003, at the maximum\n\nallowable amount. Application for a severance\n\nallowance shall be made to the Finance Division of the\n\nState Department of Education by the dismissed\n\nemployee no later than September 1 of the fiscal year\n\nimmediately following the fiscal year in which the\n\nannexation or consolidation occurred,\n\nd. furnishing and equipping classrooms and laboratories,\n\ne. purchase of additional transportation equipment, and\n\nf. when deemed essential by the school district board of\n\neducation to achieve consolidation or combination by\n\nannexation, renovation of existing school buildings\n\nand construction or other acquisition of school\n\nbuildings; and\n\n2. Assistance to school districts which have entered into a\n\nmutual contract with a superintendent as authorized pursuant to\n\nSection 5-106A of this title in paying the salary or wages of the\n\nsuperintendent. The assistance shall equal not more than fifty\n\npercent (50%) of the salary or wages of the superintendent for not\n\nmore than three (3) consecutive years. In no case shall the total\n\namount of assistance paid over the three-year period be more than\n\nOne Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) nor shall any\n\nschool district be eligible to receive assistance pursuant to this\n\nparagraph for more than one three-year time period.\n\nC. The State Board of Education shall only make allocations\n\nfrom the fund to school districts formed from the combination of two\n\nor more of the districts whose boards of education notify the State\nod be more than\n\nOne Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($150,000.00) nor shall any\n\nschool district be eligible to receive assistance pursuant to this\n\nparagraph for more than one three-year time period.\n\nC. The State Board of Education shall only make allocations\n\nfrom the fund to school districts formed from the combination of two\n\nor more of the districts whose boards of education notify the State\n\nBoard of Education on or before June 30 of their intent to annex or\n\nconsolidate and are subsequently combined by such means by January 1\n\nof the second year following the notification of intent. The boards\n\nof education which have entered into a mutual contract with a\n\nsuperintendent shall notify the Board on or before June 30 of the\n\nyear preceding the school year the mutual contract will become\n\neffective.\n\nD. Allocations will be made to school districts formed by\n\nvoluntary or mandatory consolidation on the basis of combined\n\naverage daily membership (ADM) of the school year preceding the\n\nfirst year of operation of the school district resulting from the\n\nconsolidation; provided, not more than two hundred (200) ADM of any\n\none school district shall be counted in determining the combined ADM\n\nof any district formed by consolidation. The ADM of any one school\n\ndistrict shall not be considered more than once for allocations from\n\nthe fund when the school district consolidates with two or more\n\nschool districts. Allocations from the fund pursuant to this\n\nsubsection shall be calculated by multiplying the combined ADM by\n\nTwo Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00).\n\nE. Allocations will be made to school districts which have\n\nreceived part or all of the territory and students of a school\n\ndistrict by voluntary or mandatory annexation on the basis of ADM of\n\nthe annexed school district for the school year preceding the first\n\nyear of operation of the school district resulting from the\n\nannexation; provided, not more than two hundred (200) ADM of the\n\nannexed district shall be counted. Allocations from the fund\n\npursuant to this subsection shall be calculated by multiplying the\n\nallowable ADM by Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00). In no case\n\nshall allocations payable pursuant to this subsection be greater\n\nthan One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00).\n\nF. If monies in the School Consolidation Assistance Fund are\n\ninsufficient to make allocations to all qualified combined\n\ndistricts, allocations shall be made based upon the determination of\n\nthe State Board of Education with preference given to school\n\ndistrict consolidation and annexation.","path":["OK Code","Title 70"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os70.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"4863ee8c37ccca702d5827ac948e31725cb310775a3e0fe5a47c2d9c97621f75","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-7-202","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-70-70-7-203.1"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}