BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    




                   Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
                           Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair

                                           898 (Ashburn)
          
          Hearing Date:  05/10/2010           Amended: As Introduced 
          Consultant:  Dan Troy           Policy Vote: ED 7-0
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          ____
          BILL SUMMARY:   SB 898 would establish a minimum grant for small  
          schools that provide before or after school programs through the  
          After School Education and Safety Program (ASES).
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          ____
                            Fiscal Impact (in thousands)

           Major Provisions         2010-11      2011-12       2012-13     Fund
                                                                  
          Small school grants                   $464         $464 $464    
          General*

          *Counts toward meeting the Proposition 98 minimum funding  
          guarantee
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          ____

          STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the  
          Suspense File.
          
          Proposition 49 (2002) augmented Proposition 98 funding for  
          before and after school programs and renamed them the After  
          School Education and Safety (ASES) program (ASES).  ASES  
          Programs receive direct grants, where attendance is projected  
          and grants are funded up-front, in three one-year increments.   
          ASES currently has a maximum grant award for programs but no  
          minimum award for small programs.

          Maximum total grants are based on $7.50 per pupil per day of  
          attendance, for a maximum total of $37.50 per pupil per week.   
          Maximum total annual grants are as follows:

                 $112,500 for elementary school programs.
                 $150,000 for middle or junior high school programs.

          Maximum total grants for programs that operate a before school  
          component are based on $5 per pupil per day, with a maximum  










          total grant of $25 per pupil per week. Maximum total annual  
          grants for before school components are as follows:

                 $37,500 for elementary school programs.
                 $49,000 for middle or junior high school programs.

          ASES currently has a maximum grant award for programs but no  
          minimum for small programs.

          This bill would establish minimum grants for small schools, as  
          follows:


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          SB 898 (Ashburn)

          -  $50,000 for schools with a total enrollment of 30 to 74  
          pupils, provided that the program serves no fewer than half of  
          the school's enrollment and no less than 20.

          - $30,000 for schools with a total enrollment of less than 30  
          pupils, provided that the program serves no fewer than  
          two-thirds of the school's enrollment and no less than 10.

          - $16,500 for the for the before school component for schools  
          with a total enrollment of less than 30 pupils, provided that  
          the program serves no fewer than two-thirds of the school's  
          enrollment. 

          According to figures provided by the Department of Education,  
          had these minimum grants been in place for the 2009-10 fiscal  
          year, allocations for the program would be $464,000 higher than  
          under current law.  These funds would otherwise be allocated for  
          other uses.  Annual costs could shift upward or downward based  
          on the number of schools and pupils involved.  

          An early version of SB 1674 (Torlakson, 2008), among other  
          things, would have established minimum grant levels for small  
          ASES Programs.  This measure was ultimately vetoed by the  
          Governor.