BILL NUMBER: AB 1476 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 16, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cook
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Section 52324 17070.51
of the Education Code, relating to career technical
education school facilities .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1476, as amended, Cook. Regional occupational centers
and programs: attendance computation. School
facilities: repayment of penalties assessed against school district
for submission of application with material inaccuracies.
Existing law, the Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998
establishes a program by which the State Allocation Board allocates
state per-pupil funding to school districts for new construction and
modernization of school facilities. Existing law requires the board
to apportion funds only upon compliance with prescribed standards and
requirements.
Existing law requires the State Allocation Board to impose certain
penalties, to be deposited into the continuously appropriated 1998
State School Facilities Fund, and conditions upon school districts
that submit applications with material inaccuracies. A school
district against which penalties have been imposed is required to
repay to the State Allocation Board, in accordance with a repayment
schedule approved by the board, an amount proportionate to the
additional amount received as a result of the material inaccuracy,
including interest, as specified.
This bill would require the State Allocation Board, upon a finding
by the Superintendent that the approved repayment has caused, or
will cause, the school district an extreme financial hardship, to
extend the repayment period by an additional period of up to 5 years,
based on a school district repayment plan approved by the
Superintendent.
Existing law authorizes the county superintendent of schools of
each county, with the consent of the State Board of Education, to
establish and maintain, or with one or more counties to establish and
maintain, a regional occupational center, or regional occupational
program, in the county to provide education and training in career
technical courses. Existing law also authorizes the governing board
of any school district maintaining high schools in the county, with
the consent of the state board and the county superintendent of
schools, to cooperate in the establishment and maintenance of a
regional occupational center or program, except as specified. For
purposes of funding apportionments, existing law specifies the
computation for determining units of average daily attendance in the
regional occupational centers or regional occupational programs of a
county for a fiscal year.
This bill would make technical, nonsubstantive changes to that
provision regarding the attendance computation.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no
yes . State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 17070.51 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
17070.51. (a) If any certified eligibility or funding application
related information is found to have been falsely certified by
school districts, architects or design professionals, hereinafter
referred to as a material inaccuracy, the Office of Public School
Construction shall notify the board.
(b) The board shall impose the following penalties if an
apportionment and fund release has been made based upon information
in the project application or related materials that constitutes a
material inaccuracy.
(1) Pursuant to a repayment schedule approved by the board of no
more than five years, the school district shall repay to the board,
for deposit into the 1998 State School Facilities Fund, the 2002
State School Facilities Fund, or the 2004 State School Facilities
Fund, as the case may be, an amount proportionate to the additional
funding received as a result of the material inaccuracy ,
including interest at the rate paid on moneys in the Pooled Money
Investment Account or at the highest rate of interest for the most
recent issue of state general obligation bonds as established
pursuant to the Chapter 4 (commencing with Section
16720) , of Part 3 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code, whichever is greater.
(2) The board shall prohibit the school district from
self-certifying certain project information for any subsequent
applications for project funding for a period of up to five years
following the date of the finding of a material inaccuracy or until
the district's repayment of the entire amount owed under paragraph
(1). Although a school district that is subject to this paragraph may
not self-certify, the school district shall not be prohibited from
applying for state funding under this chapter. The board shall
establish an alternative method for state or independent
certification of compliance that shall be applicable in these cases.
The process shall include, but shall not be limited to, procedures
for payment by the school district of any increased costs associated
with the alternative certification process.
(3) Upon a finding by the Superintendent that the repayment
approved pursuant to paragraph (1) has caused, or will cause, the
school district an extreme financial hardship, the board shall extend
the repayment period by an additional period of up to five years,
based on a school district repayment plan approved by the
Superintendent.
(c) For school districts found to have provided material
inaccuracies when a funding apportionment has occurred, but no fund
release has been made, the board shall direct its staff to reduce the
apportionment as necessary to reflect the actual nature of the
project and to disregard the inaccurate information or material, and
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall apply.
(d) For those school districts found to have provided material
inaccuracies when no funding apportionment or fund release has been
made, the inaccurate information or materials shall not be
considered, and paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) shall apply. The
project may continue if the application, minus the inaccurate
materials, is still complete.
SECTION 1. Section 52324 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
52324. (a) Units of average daily attendance in the regional
occupational centers or regional occupational programs of a county
for a fiscal year are the quotient arising from dividing the total
number of days of pupil attendance in the centers, or programs,
during the fiscal year by 175.
(b) Attendance in regional occupational centers, or regional
occupational programs, operated pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 52305 shall be considered pupil attendance for purposes of
this section, but attendance in regional occupational centers, or
regional occupational programs, pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 52305 shall not be considered.
(c) As used in this section, "school district" includes each of
those school districts which are cooperating in the maintenance of
the center or program, with the approval of the county superintendent
of schools, pursuant to Section 52301. Units of average daily
attendance of pupils residing in the school district shall be
credited to the school district.