BILL NUMBER: AB 684	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 31, 2011

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Block

                        FEBRUARY 17, 2011

    An act to amend Section 66010.4 of the Education Code,
relating to postsecondary education.   An act to add
Section 72036 to the Education Code, relating to community colleges.




	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 684, as amended, Block.  Postsecondary education.
  Community college districts: trustee elections. 

   Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, which
are administered by the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges. The board of governors provides general
supervision over each community college district and performs
specified functions. Each community college district is under the
control of a board of trustees.  
   Existing law provides various procedures for the nomination and
election of the governing boards of community college districts.
Existing law specifies the number of members on the board, residency
requirements, length of terms, and the drawing of trustee boundaries.
 
   This bill would, upon the board of trustees adopting a resolution
in support of electing the trustees pursuant to ths act, establish a
procedure for the election of members, and the reapportionment of
trustee areas of the governing board.  
   The bill would provide that candidates for election to the board
be nominated by trustee area, as defined, at a primary election held
on the date of the statewide direct primary election. The 2
candidates receiving the highest number of votes would be the
nominees for the general election for that trustee area. The
candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast in the general
election would be elected to represent that district, and would hold
office for a 4-year term, as specified. Members of the board holding
office on the effective date of this act would continue to hold
office, as specified.  
   The bill would provide that the governing board be composed of 5
to 9 members, as determined by the board. The board would be required
to establish, abolish, or adjust trustee areas and terms of office,
as specified.  
   This bill would require the board to set the boundaries of each
trustee area before March 1, 2012, to reflect the 2010 decennial
census. If the board fails to so set the boundaries, the county
committee on school district organization would be required to set
them before April 30, 2012. The boundaries would be set so that the
population of each area is in proportion to the other districts.
Thereafter the boundaries may be adjusted, abolished, or rearranged
as specified.  
   Existing law, known as the Donahoe Higher Education Act, specifies
that public higher education consists of the California Community
Colleges, the California State University, and the University of
California, and sets forth, among other things, the missions and
functions of California's public and independent segments of higher
education.  
   This bill would make nonsubstantive, technical changes to those
provisions. 
   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 72036 is added to the 
 Education Code   , to read:  
   72036.  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the number of
members, the election of members, and the reapportionment of trustee
areas of the governing board of a community college district shall,
upon the board of trustees adopting a resolution in support of
electing the trustees pursuant to the act that enacted this section
at the 2011-12 Regular Session of the Legislature, be provided for
pursuant to this section.
   (a) (1) Candidates for election as a member of a governing board
of a district shall be nominated by trustee area at a district
primary election held on the date of the statewide direct primary
election. At the district primary election, the two candidates
receiving the highest number of votes within the trustee area shall
be nominees for the district general election for that trustee area,
and the nominee who receives a majority of the votes cast by the
voters of the trustee area in the district general election shall be
elected to represent that trustee area. The district general election
shall be held on the same date as the statewide general election.
   (2) Candidates for election as members of a governing board shall
file a declaration of candidacy as provided in this code. Each member
of a governing board elected at a district general election shall
hold office for a term of four years commencing on the first Friday
in December next succeeding his or her election.
   (3) The members of the governing board in office on the effective
date of the act that enacted this section at the 2011-12 Regular
Session of the Legislature shall hold office until the first Friday
in December of the year in which their respective terms of office
would otherwise have terminated, or until a successor qualifies
therefor.
   (b) The territory of a district shall be divided into trustee
areas and one member of the governing board shall be elected from
each trustee area. A candidate for election as a member of the
governing board shall reside in, and be registered to vote in, the
trustee area he or she seeks to represent.
   (c) The governing board of a district shall be composed of not
less than five members and not more than nine, as determined by the
governing board. Sections 5019 to 5030, inclusive, do not apply to
the governing board's determination of the number of members pursuant
to this subdivision. If the number of members of a governing board
is increased or decreased, a governing board shall establish new
trustee areas, abolish trustee areas, or adjust the boundaries of
trustee areas so that the number of trustee areas is equal to the
number of governing board members. If the number of members of a
governing board is increased, the additional members of the governing
board shall be elected at the next regular general district election
of board members occurring at least 123 days after the governing
board approved the increased number of board members. Prior to the
next district general election, the governing board shall divide by
lot the additional trustee area positions that are created so that
the term of one-half of the board members elected to those positions
shall expire on the first Friday in December following the next
district general election. The term of the other board members
elected to fill the remainder of the additional positions shall
expire on the first Friday in December following the second district
general election succeeding their election.
   (d) The governing board shall set the boundaries of each trustee
area before March 1, 2012, to reflect the population enumerated in
the 2010 decennial federal census. If the governing board fails to
set the boundaries before March 1, 2012, the county committee on
school district organization shall do so before April 30, 2012. The
boundaries of each trustee area shall be set so that the population
of each area is, as nearly as may be, the same proportion of the
total population of the district as each of the other areas.
Thereafter, the boundaries of trustee areas shall be adjusted
pursuant to Section 5019.5 and may be abolished or rearranged as
otherwise provided in this code.  
  SECTION 1.    Section 66010.4 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
   66010.4.  The missions and functions of California's public and
independent segments, and their respective institutions of higher
education, shall be differentiated as follows:
   (a) (1) The California Community Colleges, as a primary mission,
shall offer academic and vocational instruction at the lower division
level for both younger and older students, including those persons
returning to school. Public community colleges shall offer
instruction through but not beyond the second year of college. These
institutions may grant the associate in arts and the associate in
science degree.
   (2) In addition to the primary mission of academic and vocational
instruction, the community colleges shall offer instruction and
courses to achieve all of the following:
   (A) The provision of remedial instruction for those in need of it
and, in conjunction with the school districts, instruction in English
as a second language, adult noncredit instruction, and support
services that help students succeed at the postsecondary level are
reaffirmed and supported as essential and important functions of the
community colleges.
   (B) The provision of adult noncredit education curricula in areas
defined as being in the state's interest is an essential and
important function of the community colleges.
   (C) The provision of community services courses and programs is an
authorized function of the community colleges if their provision is
compatible with an institution's ability to meet its obligations in
its primary missions.
   (3) A primary mission of the California Community Colleges is to
advance California's economic growth and global competitiveness
through education, training, and services that contribute to
continuous work force improvement.
   (4) The community colleges may conduct to the extent that state
funding is provided, institutional research concerning student
learning and retention as is needed to facilitate their educational
missions.
   (b) The primary mission of the California State University is
undergraduate and graduate instruction through the masters degree.
The university shall offer undergraduate and graduate instruction
through the masters degree in the liberal arts and sciences and
professional education, including teacher education. Presently
established two-year programs in agriculture are authorized, but
other two-year programs shall be permitted only when mutually agreed
upon by the Trustees of the California State University and the Board
of Governors of the California Community Colleges. The university
may award the doctoral degree jointly with the University of
California, as provided in subdivision (c) and pursuant to Section
66904. Theuniversity may also award the doctoral degree jointly with
one or more independent institutions of higher education, provided
that the proposed doctoral program is approved by the California
Postsecondary Education Commission. Research, scholarship, and
creative activity in support of its undergraduate and graduate
instructional mission is authorized in the California State
University and shall be supported by the state.
   (c) The University of California may provide undergraduate and
graduate instruction in the liberal arts and sciences and in the
professions, including the teaching professions. It shall have
exclusive jurisdiction in public higher education over instruction in
the profession of law and over graduate instruction in the
professions of medicine, dentistry, and veterinary medicine. It has
the sole authority in public higher education to award the doctoral
degree in all fields of learning, except that it may agree with the
California State University to award joint doctoral degrees in
selected fields. The University of California shall be the primary
state-supported academic agency for research.
   (d) The independent institutions of higher education shall provide
undergraduate and graduate instruction and research in accordance
with their respective missions.