BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 434
AUTHOR: Block
AMENDED: June 1, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 1, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Before and after school programs: level of local
match.
SUMMARY
This bill temporarily reduces, from 33% to 15%, the local
match requirement for After School Education and Safety
before and after school programs, and establishes that the
costs of the site supervisor are to be included in direct
costs, as specified.
BACKGROUND
1) Proposition 49, passed in 2002, expanded before and
after school opportunities and funding, and renamed
the existing program as the After School Education and
Safety (ASES) program. The ASES program provides
state funding to local before and after school
programs, which are administered through partnerships
between schools and local community resources to
provide literacy, academic enrichment and safe
constructive alternatives for pupils in kindergarten
through ninth grade.
2) Requires ASES before and after school programs to
provide a cash or in-kind local match of at least 33%
of the total grant amount.
3) Limits the use of facilities or space usage for the
fulfillment of the local contribution at 25% of the
required local match.
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4) Requires ASES programs to ensure that at least 85% of
funding is allocated to schoolsites for direct
services to pupils.
The 2009 Budget Act allocates $547 million General Fund
(Prop 98) for the ASES program. Proposition 49 requires
state funding for after school programs to be continuously
appropriated, thereby no longer requiring approval by the
Legislature as part of the annual Budget Act. ASES funding
is not subject to categorical flexibility or associated
funding reductions. The amount of additional funding
pursuant to Proposition 49 is added to the Proposition 98
base in future years.
ANALYSIS
This bill temporarily reduces, from 33% to 15%, the local
match requirement for After School Education and Safety
(ASES) before and after school programs, and establishes
that the costs of the site supervisor is to be included in
direct costs. Specifically, this bill:
1) Reduces, only for the 2009-10 and 2010-11 fiscal
years, the required local match from 33% to 15% of the
total grant amount.
2) Reduces, from 25% to 15% of the total grant amount,
the portion of the local match that may be fulfilled
by the use of facilities or space usage.
3) Provides that the cost of a program site supervisor is
to be included as direct services, provided that at
least 85% of the site supervisor's time is spent at
the program site.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Level of local match . Staff understands that the
California Department of Education (CDE) has been
unofficially notified by some After School Education
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and Safety (ASES) providers that they may close
programs because they can no longer meet the local
match requirements (the poor economy has reportedly
hampered local fundraising efforts).
2) Direct services . Current law requires an ASES
provider to spend 85% of the funds on direct services
to pupils and authorizes no more than 15% of funds on
administrative costs. This bill specifies that the
cost of a program site supervisor shall be considered
direct services as long as at least 85% of the site
supervisor's time is spent at the program site.
According to the California Department of Education
(CDE), "direct services" is not defined. The majority
of the site supervisor's work is typically on managing
the program and the bulk of his/her time is spent at
the program site, which the CDE considers direct
services. The remaining time may be spent at the
district office conducting administrative duties. The
CDE indicates that without clarification, it must
require site supervisors to account for every minute
of their time.
3) Technical amendments needed . This bill temporarily
reduces the required local match but the reduction in
the portion of the local match that may be fulfilled
by the use of facilities or space usage was not made
temporary. The intent is to make both reductions
temporary and specific only to the 2009-10 and 2010-11
fiscal years. Additionally, the section of this bill
affecting before school programs strikes reference to
the current local match of 33%. Language should be
reinstated to provide for the return to a required
local match of 33% beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal
year. Staff recommends amendments to make these
changes.
4) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly
Appropriations Committee analysis, reducing the ASES
program local match could have the effect of serving
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fewer pupils and decreasing program quality. For
example, if the 377 local education agencies that
received funds in 2008-09 were to lower their match to
15% for two fiscal years as proposed by this measure,
there would be $95 million less in matching funds
statewide for ASES programs. Reduced local program
funding will lead to General Fund (Prop 98) cost
pressure to increase the amount allocated for the ASES
program to maintain existing service and/or quality
levels.
5) Related legislation . AB 983 (Skinner) authorizes
providers of After School Education and Safety before
and after school programs to operate on weekends in
addition to weekdays, using existing grant funds. AB
983 is scheduled for hearing in the Committee on July
1, 2009.
SUPPORT
After-School All Stars, Los Angeles
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees
ASPIRE After School Program
A World Fit for Kids
Bancroft Middle School
Boy & Girls Clubs of Carson
Boy & Girls Clubs of East Los Angeles
Boy & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove
Boy & Girls Club of Hollywood
Boy & Girls Clubs of Long Beach
Boy & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor
Boy & Girls Club of Venice
Camp Fire USA Long Beach Area Council
Central Valley Afterschool Foundation
Children's Initiative
City of Fontana, Community Services Department
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Gang Alternatives Program/GAP
Greater San Jose After-School All-Stars
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Hill Classical Middle School
John Muir Academy
LACER Afterschool Programs
LA's BEST
League of California Afterschool Providers
Lodi Unified School District Bridge Program
Long Beach Community Action Partnership
Long Beach WRAP
Madison WRAP
Old Adobe Union School District
Partnerships to Uplift Communities, PUC Schools
Phoenix Accounting Corporation
Project APPLE/REACH BUSD
Rio Hondo Boys and Girls Club
Rogers Middle School
Saddleback Valley Unified School District
San Diego After School Consortium
Stevenson Elementary
Watts/Willowbrook Boys & Girls Club
William Cullen Bryant Elementary School
OPPOSITION
Department of Finance