BILL NUMBER: AB 122 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Coto
JANUARY 15, 2009
An act to add and repeal Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section
58530) of Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to small schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 122, as amended, Coto. Small schools.
Existing law grants authority to school districts to establish and
operate public schools within their boundaries.
This bill would authorize a school district to establish a small
school, subject to specified conditions , including, among
others, a requirement to develop a school plan, as specified, and a
requirement to adopt regulations that include the small school as
part of an academic reform strategy focused on the positive outcomes
small schools are intended to produce. The bill would require
the small school to have a governing board, consisting of members
elected by specified groups, and would specify that the small school
have autonomy over specified matters including budget, hiring
decisions, and, subject to negotiated collective
bargaining agreements, working conditions. The bill would require a
school district that establishes a small school to fund the small
school pursuant to specified provisions. The bill would
encourage school districts that establish one or more small schools
pursuant to this authority to apply for new construction grants for
unhoused pupils as a vehicle for establishing small schools on,
adjacent to, or separate from existing campuses ,
; use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools
, ; and establish the small school
pursuant to a dependent charter, as defined, in order to provide the
small school with the flexibility of a charter school while allowing
it to be located within the district. The bill would repeal these
provisions on January 1, 2015.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Research has shown that school size is an important predictor
of pupil success, second only to socioeconomic status. The research
literature clearly states the superiority of
indicates the superiority of high quality small schools as
learning environments. In small schools all of the following occur:
(A) Dropout and truancy rates dramatically decrease and graduation
rates and postsecondary education enrollment rates increase.
(B) Parents and guardians are much more likely to be
involved in the school and to have greater participation in
decisionmaking.
(C) Pupils experience a greater sense of belonging and are more
satisfied with their schools.
(D) Fewer discipline problems occur.
(E) Crime, violence, and gang participation decrease.
(F) Incidences of alcohol and tobacco abuse decrease.
(G) Pupil attendance increases.
(H) Ample evidence exists that well-planned and well-implemented
small schools can result in astonishing growth in pupil achievement
and a significant narrowing of the achievement gap.
(2) A recent study of large and small schools in four states has
shown that smaller schools reduce the damaging effects of poverty and
help pupils narrow the achievement gap between them and pupils from
more affluent communities.
(3) Reducing school size has also been shown to significantly
increase the likelihood of success of school reform efforts. Small
schools are more effective at staff development and in implementing
new curriculum and instructional strategies .
(4) Based upon the research on the benefits of small schools, the
United States Department of Education has created the Smaller
Learning Communities Program and is currently providing a small
number of planning and implementation grants to school districts
across the country to support the development of small schools and
small learning communities.
(5) Other states have recognized the value of small schools and
have developed state policy to encourage small schools development.
In Florida, for example, all schools built after 2003 will be small
schools.
(6) Many parent groups and school districts in the state,
including groups and districts in San Diego, Oakland,
Sacramento, San Jose, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, have initiated
efforts to create small schools. These efforts include the creation
of new small schools on new sites as well as the reconfiguration of
existing schools into small schools and small learning communities.
(7) The trend in California, over the last few decades, has been
to build larger and larger schools. For example, in 2000, more than
73 percent of California high schools had more than 1,000 pupils and
more than 57 percent of middle schools had more than 800 pupils.
(8) The trend to build large schools has been driven by California'
s rapidly growing population and by the assumption that large schools
are more cost effective.
(9) Research, however, has also shown that small schools, due to
lower dropout rates and factors such as reduced school violence
and increased daily school attendance , can be more cost
effective in total per pupil spending than large schools.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to reenact and
revise provisions in state law that have been repealed to create an
incentive for school districts to establish small schools with the
assistance of funding for new construction, modernization, and
reconfiguration of existing schoolsites.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section 58530) is added to
Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.2. SMALL SCHOOLS
58530. A school district may establish a small school pursuant to
this chapter, subject to all of the following conditions:
(a) If the school provides instruction in kindergarten or
any of and grades 1 to 5, inclusive, the number
of pupils enrolled in the school for those grades shall not be fewer
than 80 pupils and not more than 250 pupils. If the school
provides instruction in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive,
the number of pupils enrolled in the school for those grades shall
not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 450 pupils.
If the school provides instruction in any of
grades 6 to 12, inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the
school for those grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not
more than 400 pupils.
(b) The school shall be staffed by school district employees who
volunteer to be assigned to the school.
(c) The facilities that house the pupils enrolled in the school
shall be located in proximity to one another.
(d) Enrollment in the school is shall be
open to all pupils who have at least one parent or
guardian who is a resident in the attendance area of the school
district.
(e) Admission to the school shall not be determined by pupil
achievement. The school shall have a heterogenous pupil population in
terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the
pupils in that school district .
(f) The school shall have a governing board elected by
parents of pupils enrolled in the school.
(g) The school
shall have a significant and agreed upon level of autonomy within the
school district. A school district that consisting of
school staff, parents, guardians, and pupils. Members of those
groups shall be elected to the governing board by their peers.
(g) A school district that establishes a small school shall
allocate funds to the small school in a manner that results in the
small school receiving the amount of funds that each pupil would
generate at the pupil's prior school or the school that the pupil
would otherwise attend. Funds shall be subtracted for contracted or
required school district services as set forth in the school plan or
the memorandum of understanding between the governing board of the
small school and the governing board of the school district. School
staff and the governing board of the small school shall have
flexibility on how funds allocated to the school district are spent.
(h) The small school shall have autonomy over budget, hiring
decisions, curriculum, instructional practices, and, subject to
negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working conditions.
(i) A school district that
establishes one or more small schools pursuant to this chapter shall
develop, with collaboration from representatives of community groups,
bargaining units representing the employees of the school district,
and parents of pupils of the school, a school plan for each small
school that includes all of the following:
(1) Goals for pupil achievement.
(2) Teaching and learning philosophy.
(3) Curricular focus of the school.
(4) Goals for school culture and practices.
(5) Leadership goals.
(6) Tentative budget.
(6)
(7) Decisionmaking process, including the role of the
governing board of the small school.
(8) An evaluation plan based on multiple measures.
(j) A school district that establishes a small school pursuant to
this chapter shall develop a process for interested stakeholders to
submit proposals for the establishment of a small school. The
proposal shall include all of the factors set forth in subdivision
(i).
(h)
(k) A school district that establishes one or more
small schools pursuant to this chapter shall adopt regulations that
include the small school or schools as part of an academic reform
strategy focused on the positive outcomes small schools are intended
to produce. The positive outcomes resulting from the adopted academic
reform strategy shall include, but are not limited to, any of the
following:
(1) A clearly defined mission and goals.
(2) High standards and expectations for pupils and staff.
(3) Personalization.
(4) Individual respect.
(5) Universal involvement in decisionmaking.
(6) Integrated learning.
(7) Multiple measures of pupil achievement.
(8) Antiracist and relevant curriculum.
(9) Differentiated instruction.
(10) Project-oriented learning.
(11) Heterogeneous pupil grouping.
(12) Pupil-centered classrooms.
(13) Connectedness with stakeholders.
(14) Diversity.
(15) A safe environment.
(16) A high-quality learning environment.
(17) Alignment of resources with goals.
(18) Maximizing community resources and partnerships.
(19) Lifelong professional development.
(20) A plan for continuous improvement, including data analysis.
(i)
(l) A small school may be located within an existing
elementary, middle, or comprehensive high school and may be newly
constructed, located on a single site, or located with other small
schools or learning communities. The total enrollment of a small
school site shall not exceed the recommendation of the department.
58531. A school district that establishes one or more small
schools pursuant to this chapter is encouraged to do any or all of
the following:
(a) Apply for new construction grants for unhoused pupils as a
vehicle for establishing small schools on, adjacent to, or separate
from existing campuses.
(b) Use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools.
(c) (1) Establish the school pursuant to a dependent charter in
order to provide the small school with the flexibility of a charter
school while allowing it to be located within the district.
(2) A small school established under a dependent charter as
described in this subdivision shall not claim reimbursement for state
mandates, except for costs related to the administration of the high
school exit examination.
(3) For purposes of this subdivision, "dependent charter" means a
charter granted pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 47605)
of Part 26.8 in which the chartering authority retains all
governance powers regarding the operation of the charter school.
58532. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.