BILL ANALYSIS
SB 1116
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 4, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
SB 1116 (Huff) - As Amended: August 2, 2010
Policy Committee: Education Vote:8-0
Urgency: Yes State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill, beginning January 1, 2011, establishes a statewide
process for operating a heritage school. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Defines "heritage school" as a school that serves children who
are at least four years and nine months of age and no older
than 18 years of age who attend a public or private full-time
day school that does all of the following: (a) offers
education and/or academic tutoring in a foreign language or on
the culture/traditions of a foreign country; (b) offers
culturally enriching activities (e.g., art, dance, and song);
(c) complies with relevant government regulations; and (d)
does not operate out of a residential home.
2)Requires every person, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation offering or conducting heritage school instruction
to file an electronic registration form with the
Superintendent of Instruction (SPI) in January of each year,
as specified.
3)Requires the electronic registration form to contain specified
information, including the name of the entity responsible for
offering the instruction, address, and school enrollment.
This measure also requires certain records be maintained by
the entity (similar to public schools), including criminal
history information.
4)Specifies that filing the electronic form does not grant a
heritage school a right to receive state funding.
5)Requires heritage school employees, if they have contact with
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pupils, to abide by criminal background checks conducted by
the Department of Justice (DOJ), as specified. This measure
provides an exception for employees with limited contact with
pupils, as determined by the heritage school.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF administrative costs, likely between $125,000 and
$175,000, to the State Department of Education (SDE) to
develop an electronic registration form and a database to
maintain heritage school information. SDE will incur ongoing
costs, likely less than $75,000, to maintain administrative
procedures related to heritage schools.
This measure establishes the Heritage Enrichment Resource Fund
(HERF) and requires each potential heritage school to pay a
fee, determined by SDE, to cover the costs of implementing
this act. The fee is required to be deposited in the Heritage
Enrichment Resource Fund (HERF). The number of heritage
schools operating in the state is unknown. To the extent
there are not many heritage schools filing a form and paying
the fee, GF monies would be used to offset the lack of fee
revenue.
2)GF administrative costs, likely in excess of $250,000, to DOJ
to process background checks on heritage school employees, as
specified. These costs will be covered by fees charged to the
individuals required to complete the background check.
SUMMARY CONTINUED
6)Establishes a process to ensure the safety of children for a
heritage school that contracts with an entity for the
construction or repair of a school facility, as specified.
7)Requires a director of a heritage school to undergo at least
15 hours of health and safety training, as specified.
8)Requires pupils attending heritage schools to have access to
working sinks, toilets, and drinking water.
9)Requires the heritage school, upon a pupil's enrollment, to
provide a notice to the pupil's parent/guardian that the
school does not hold a child care license and that attendance
at a heritage school does not satisfy the state's compulsory
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education statute.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Heritage schools vary in size and location
throughout the state. Traditionally, many have been referred
to as Chinese, Greek, or Japanese Schools because they provide
enrichment for children by ensuring that they maintain their
cultural heritage. Those types of schools have expanded fairly
recently to include many other cultures. The intent of these
schools is to maintain cultural heritages throughout
generations. It is not known how many of these schools exist
in California and what form they take. Some provide education
only to children, while others mix adult and child students.
According to the author, "Heritage schools play an integral
role in our communities, as they are a major source of
language and heritage instruction at the K-12 level. They help
prepare students for courses in advanced language and
literature at colleges and universities at no taxpayer
expense. Some public schools even grant credit to students for
classes taken at these heritage schools.
Since heritage schools are not defined in state code as
educational entities, the Department of Social Services (DSS)
sometimes designates heritage schools as childcare centers,
threatening their continued existence. Without the proper
licensing requirements, DSS will oftentimes force these
schools to close, denying future generations of students the
rich cultural opportunity these schools provide.
2)Existing law requires private schools to file an affidavit
with the SPI and comply with statute relating to criminal
background check requirements for public school employees.
Current law also prohibits private schools from employing a
person who has been convicted of a violent or serious felony
or a person who cannot be employed by a public school district
due to his or her conviction of a crime, as specified. This
bill requires heritage schools to comply with similar statute
regarding its employees and criminal history.
Statute requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age to
attend public, full-time day school and requires his or her
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parent or guardian to send them unless legally exempt. This
bill requires pupils attending heritage schools to have access
to working sinks, toilets, and drinking water. It also
requires a notice be provided to the parent/guardian of a
pupil attending a heritage school stating attendance at this
school does not satisfy the compulsory education requirement.
Current law also requires the DSS to issue license childcare
centers for health and safety reasons. This bill requires a
notice be provided to the parent/guardian of a pupil attending
a heritage school stating that the school does not hold a
child care license.
3)Previous related legislation .
a) SB 129 (Huff) was similar to this measure and was held
on the Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file in
May 2009.
b) AB 1888 (Huff) exempted heritage schools from DSS
licensing requirements. This bill was held on this
committee's suspense file in August 2008.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081