BILL NUMBER: AB 620 CHAPTERED 10/11/01 CHAPTER 705 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 10, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 14, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 12, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 20, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 3, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 2, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Wayne and Simitian (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Cohn and Alquist) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Chan, Diaz, Nakano, and Reyes) (Coauthor: Senator McPherson) FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to add and repeal Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 51725) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 of the Education Code, relating to high-tech high schools. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 620, Wayne. Education: high-tech high schools. Existing law establishes various programs for enhancement of technology skills of pupils, including, but not limited to, the California Summer Science and Technology Academy, the Education Technology Grant Program Act of 1996, the Archie-Hudson and Cunneen School Technology Revenue Bond Act, the Education Technology Staff Development Program, the California Technology Assistance Project, and the Digital High School Education Technology Grant Act of 1997. This bill would, until January 1, 2003, establish the High-Tech Schools Grant Program to provide grants to eligible school districts or charter schools for the purpose of establishing new high-tech high schools. The grant program would be administered by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education and with the assistance of an advisory board, who would be required to award grants under the program on a competitive basis. The amount of a grant under the program would be $2,000,000 and would require a local match that is at least equal to the amount of the grant. The bill would require that all funds awarded under the program be used to establish high-tech high schools, as defined. The bill would state that funding for the purposes of the grant program would be contingent on an appropriation made in the annual Budget Act, other legislation, or both. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 51725) is added to Chapter 5 of Part 28 of the Education Code, to read: Article 3.5. High-Tech High School Grant Program 51725. (a) The High-Tech High School Grant Program is hereby established to provide 10 one-time grants to eligible school districts or charter schools for purposes of establishing new high-tech high schools. (b) As used in this article, "high-tech high school" means a public comprehensive high school maintained by a school district or charter school that offers a very rigorous college preparation curriculum with an emphasis in science, mathematics, and engineering, and also may include digital arts and media. Technology shall be integrated throughout the curriculum and shall be a fundamental tool for both teaching and learning. Instruction at a high-tech high school shall be consistent with the academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education and the applicable curriculum framework content standards adopted by the State Board of Education. A high-tech high school may not include a school maintained by the California Youth Authority, or operated by a regional occupational center or program, continuation high school, community day school, a State Special School, distance learning school, or independent study school. An adult education program may not be offered at a high-tech high school. Nothing in this section prohibits a comprehensive high school that operates a high-tech high school from having an affiliation with a regional occupational center or program, but the regional occupational center or program shall not be eligible for funding under this article and may not establish a high-tech high school under this article. (c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall administer the application process for the award of grants. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education shall award grants on a competitive basis. The amount of each grant is two million dollars ($2,000,000). The award of a grant requires a local match that is at least equal to the amount of the grant. All funds awarded pursuant to this section shall be used solely for the establishment of high-tech high schools. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall not be required to adopt regulations in order to administer the High-Tech High School Grant Program and allocate program funds. (d) Funding for the purposes of this article is contingent on an appropriation made in the annual Budget Act or other legislation. 51726. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall develop an application for the High-Tech High School Grant Program. (b) A school district or charter school that chooses to participate shall submit an application to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The superintendent, director, or fiscal agent of the school district or charter school shall sign and certify the application. (c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall convene an advisory board to assist in the review of applications. The advisory board shall be comprised of an equal number of members appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction and by the Office of the Secretary for Education. The advisory board shall do all of the following: (1) Review the applications for completeness. (2) Consider the proposed curriculum of the potential grant recipients to ensure minimum requirements are met in providing mathematics, science, and engineering coursework while integrating technology throughout the curriculum. (3) Review information provided by the potential grant recipients regarding commitments from educational, business, and or other partners, including, but not limited to, financial assistance, technical assistance, administrative assistance, and internship and job-training assistance. (4) Verify the local matching requirement. (5) Review other criteria as deemed necessary by the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the advisory board. These criteria shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following: (A) Geographic representation among the funded sites. (B) Consideration for rural schools, urban schools, and other schools that are not located in parts of the state that are typically associated with high technology. (C) Consideration for schools that will serve high-poverty or educationally disadvantaged pupils. (d) The advisory board shall make recommendations to the Superintendent of Public Instruction regarding which applicants should be awarded grants under this article. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, shall select the grant recipients and award the grant funds to the selected school districts and charter schools. At least 40 percent of the applicants recommended by the advisory board and at least 40 percent of the grant recipients selected pursuant to this subdivision shall serve communities where a minimum of 50 percent of the pupils in the elementary schools are eligible for free or reduced price meals through the school lunch program of the United States Department of Agriculture. (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Superintendent of Public Instruction may request the Controller to release funds to grant recipients, as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, any time after the effective date of the act adding this section, in order to quickly expedite the establishment of new high-tech high schools. 51727. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall accept applications and award grants in two phases. (1) Not more than five grants shall be awarded in the first phase. Applications shall be due February 1, 2002. The Superintendent of Instruction shall complete the review of applications pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 51726 and make awards pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 51726 no later than March 31, 2002. The proposed high-tech high school for which a school district or charter school receives funding shall be operational by September 30, 2002. If the Superintendent of Public Instruction does not receive five applications that merit funding pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 51726, some or all of the phase one grants may be delayed until the second phase with the approval of the State Board of Education. (2) The remaining grants shall be awarded in the second phase. Applications shall be submitted by February 1, 2003. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall complete the review of applications pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 51726 and make awards pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 51726 no later than March 31, 2003. The proposed high-tech high school for which a school district or charter school receives funding shall be operational by September 30, 2003. (b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education, may, upon a showing of good cause and if necessary, extend any of the following dates: (1) The deadline for application submission. (2) The date the grant award is to be made. (3) The date by which a high-tech high school is to be operational. (c) If a grant recipient fails to make the high-tech high school operational by the specified date, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education may rescind the grant award and award the grant funds to another eligible grant recipient as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the approval of the State Board of Education. (d) If the grant funds awarded pursuant to this article are not used towards the establishment and implementation of a new high-tech high school, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall withhold an amount equal to the funds the school district or charter school received pursuant to this article from the next monthly principal apportionment payment. Superintendent of Public Instruction shall conduct compliance visits as required to ensure that the funds are used appropriately. 51728. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall require each high-tech high school grant recipient funded under this article to provide an evaluation which details all of the following: (1) The academic achievement of pupils enrolled in the high-tech high schools. (2) The level of support provided by educational, business, and foundation partners. (3) The feasibility for broad-scale development of similar high-tech high school programs. (b) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report this information to the Legislature, Governor, and the Department of Finance. 51729. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2003, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2003, deletes or extends that date. SEC. 2. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall report, by May 1, 2003, to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Assembly Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education on the status of the grant program created by Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 51725) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 of the Education Code.