Relates to the appropriation to the Public Schools Educational Support Program's Division of Operations for fiscal year 2021.

This is the FY 2021 original appropriation bill for the Division of Operations of the Public Schools Educational Support Program. It appropriates $685,591,900 from the General Fund and $60,586,400 in dedicated funds. This division includes pupil transportation, salaries and benefits for classified staff, technology, innovation schools funding, and discretionary funds that can be used for any educational support services or general operations. This budget includes $3,150,900 for a 2% base salary increase for classified staff. Also included is $16,017,300fornondiscretionaryadjustmentsandofthatamount,$7,705,300isneededfortheincreaseinpupil transportation, $6,268,000 is to meet the demands of student growth in discretionary funding, and $2,044,000 is for support unit growth for salaries and benefits. Line item 1 increases discretionary funding to $28,887 per support unit, which is a 1.7% increase over the current year, and may be used for health insurance. The amount is the result of several calculations and analyses of health insurance costs, rate increases, and staffing levels. The $28,887 is further divided into two distributions: $16,226 per support unit is to be used at the discretion of the school district or charter school and $12,661 per support unit is to be used to offset the employer costs of health, vision, and dental insurance offered to its employees. If the distribution provided for health, vision, and dental insurance is in excess of the individual school district's or charter school's actual costs, the excess funds may then be used at the school district's or charter school's discretion. This is an increase of 3.8% from the General Fund and 3.7% from all funds.