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_ 196 Item Details($) Appropriations($) ITEM 125. First Year Second Year First Year Second Year FY2025 FY2026 FY2025 FY2026 which such funds have already been expended or contractually obligated. The local school board shall be given an opportunity to correct its failure and, if successful in a timely manner, may have some or all of its At-Risk Add-On funds restored at the Board of Education's discretion. 10. Regional Alternative Education Programs a. An additional state payment of $10,680,318$10,682,684 the first year and $11,247,727$10,949,677 the second year from the Lottery Proceeds Fund shall be disbursed for Regional Alternative Education programs. Such programs shall be for the purpose of educating certain expelled students and, as appropriate, students who have received suspensions from public schools and students returned to the community from the Department of Juvenile Justice. b. Each regional program shall have a small student/staff ratio. Such staff shall include, but not be limited to education, mental health, health, and law enforcement professionals, who will collaborate to provide for the academic, psychological, and social needs of the students. Each program shall be designed to ensure that students make the transition back into the "mainstream" within their local school division. c.(i) Regional alternative education programs are funded through this Item based on the state's share of the incremental per pupil cost for providing such programs. This incremental per pupil payment shall be adjusted for the composite index of local ability-to-pay of the school division that counts such students attending such program in its March 31 Average Daily Membership. It is the intent of the General Assembly that this incremental per pupil amount be in addition to the basic aid per pupil funding provided to the affected school division for such students. Therefore, local school divisions are encouraged to provide the appropriate portion of the basic aid per pupil funding to the regional programs for students attending these programs, adjusted for costs incurred by the school division for transportation, administration, and any portion of the school day or school year that the student does not attend such program. (ii) In the event a school division does not use all of the student slots it is allocated under this program, the unused slots may be reallocated or transferred to another school division. (a) A school division must request from the Department of Education the availability and possible use of any unused student slots. If any unused slots are available and if the requesting school division chooses to utilize any of the unused slots, the requesting school division shall only receive the state's share of tuition for the unused slot that was allocated in this Item for the originally designated school division. (b) However, no requesting school division shall receive more tuition funding from the state for any requested unused slot than what would have been the calculated amount for the requesting school division had the unused slot been allocated to the requesting school division in the original budget. Furthermore, the requesting school division shall pay for any remaining tuition payment necessary for using a previously unused slot. (c) The Department of Education shall provide assistance for the state share of the incremental cost of Regional Alternative Education program operations based on the composite index of local ability-to-pay. d. Out of the appropriation included in paragraph C.38. of this item, $549,105$549,281 the first year and $1,113,010$1,115,929 the second year from the Lottery Proceeds Fund is provided for a compensation supplement payment equal to 3.0 percent of base pay on July 1, 2024, and 3.0 percent of base pay on July 1, 2025, for Regional Alternative Education Program instructional and support positions. e. In the second year, the Department of Education shall conduct a biennial application process to determine the slot allocation of the regional alternative education program for the subsequent biennium. Each school division, or the fiscal agent for each regional program, shall apply for the desired number of student slots from the statewide total number of slots funded in the state formula. The approved number of slots shall be set for both years of the biennium. The Department of Education shall prorate initial application requests if the initial application demand for slots exceeds the number of slots available. In each fiscal year, the