BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Alan Lowenthal, Chair
2011-12 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 614
AUTHOR: Kehoe
AMENDED: April 6, 2011
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 13, 2011
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Beth Graybill
SUBJECT : After School Education and Safety Program:
Self-defense training.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes After School Education and Safety
Programs to offer age- and gender-appropriate self-defense
and safety awareness training.
BACKGROUND
Existing law, the After School Education and Safety Program
Act of 2002, enacted by Proposition 49, establishes the After
School Education and Safety (ASES) Program to serve pupils in
kindergarten and grades 1 to 9, inclusive, at participating
public elementary, middle, junior high, and charter schools.
Funds for this program are continuously appropriated from the
General Fund to the California Department of Education (CDE)
and are allocated to grant recipients who operate local
programs at participating school sites. As a condition of
receiving funding, applicants must certify their programs
will include certain components, including opportunities for
physical activity. ASES Programs receive direct grants,
where attendance is projected and grants are funded up-front,
in three one-year increments. (Education Code § 8482 et.
seq.)
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.
(EC § 8483.7)
Maximum total grants for programs that operate a before
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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.
(EC § 8483.75)
ASES programs operating at large schools have maximum total
grants that exceed the amounts listed above. ASES programs
that operate in excess of 180 regular schooldays or during
any combination of summer, intersession, or vacation periods
may be eligible for a supplemental grant. (EC § 8483.7 and
8483.75)
Existing law requires the State Board of Education (SBE) and
the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials
Commission to include self-defense and safety instruction in
the next revision of the physical education framework for
pupils in grades 7-12. (EC § 51223.3)
The process for reviewing frameworks and adopting
instructional materials has been suspended since July 2009,
pursuant to AB 2 of the Fourth Extraordinary Session (Chapter
2, July 2009), which among other things, prohibited the SBE
from reviewing frameworks and adopting instructional
materials until the 2013-14 school year. AB 2 also extended
to the 2012-13 fiscal year the suspension of the requirement
to purchase instructional materials within any specific
period of time following adoption of those materials by the
SBE. (EC § 60200.7 and § 60422.1)
SB 70 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 7,
March 24, 2011) extended the suspension of the framework and
instructional materials process by two years until the
2015-16 school year.
ANALYSIS
This bill :
1) Specifies that opportunities for physical activity
provided by an ASES program may include age- and
gender-appropriate self-defense and safety awareness
training.
2) Provides that up to 5 percent of the annual grant amount
for each grant recipient may be used for training
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program staff to provide age- and gender-appropriate
self-defense and safety awareness training.
3) Declares that the Legislature finds that the amendments
to the After School Education and Safety Program Act of
2002 proposed by this measure further the purpose of the
existing act and thus may be accomplished by majority
vote.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author's office,
the increasing number of students who are becoming
victims of violent crime at younger and younger ages
suggests that schools can and should have a role in
educating students about personal safety. SB 1290
(Kehoe, Chapter 703, 2010) addressed this in part, by
requiring the SBE and the Curriculum and Supplemental
Materials Commission to include content relating to the
self-defense instruction and safety awareness in the
next update of the physical education (P.E.) curriculum
framework. As it will be a few years before the SBE can
accomplish these revisions to the P.E. framework, SB 614
would enable students to more quickly get this training
by specifying that the physical activity component of an
ASES program may include age and gender appropriate
self-defense and safety instruction.
2) Generous training budget . This bill proposes up to 5%
of a program's annual grant funds may be used to train
program staff to provide self-defense and safety
training. Given that the average annual grant award is
$112,000, this would allow ASES programs up to $5,600
each year, on average, for this special type of staff
training. Once a staff person is trained to provide
self-defense or safety instruction, does he or she need
to go through training on an annual basis?
Alternatively, the need for this staff development
training could be eliminated if programs contracted with
an outside entity to provide the self-defense and safety
training to students enrolled in ASES programs. Given
that not all programs will choose to include
self-defense and safety instruction in the physical
activity component of their programs, could those that
do incorporate the staff training into the three days of
staff development a program is already authorized to
provide? According to the CDE, because ASES grantees
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already have broad flexibility to use their funds, an
argument can be made that programs already have the
flexibility to use their funds to train staff to provide
self-defense and safety training to pupils enrolled in
their programs. Finally, since the set-aside for staff
training is money that could otherwise be used for
direct services for students, could this bill result in
fewer "slots" available for who need after school care
for their children? Staff recommends amending the bill
to delete the language in the bill that provides for
training staff to provide age and gender-appropriate
self-defense and safety awareness training.
3) Related and prior legislation .
SB 429 (DeSaulnier) This bill allows after school programs
to offer a 6-hour program using existing supplemental
grant funds.
SB 1290 (Kehoe, Chapter 703, 2010) requires the State Board
of Education and the Curriculum Development Commission
and Supplemental Materials Commission to include
self-defense and safety instruction in the next revision
of the physical education framework. This measure was
passed by this Committee on an 8-0 vote.
AB 434 (Block, Chapter 229, 2010) authorizes the cost of a
ASES program site supervisor to be included as direct
services, provided that at least 85% of the site
supervisor's time is spent at the program site.
AB 2075 (Hall, 2010) would have established specific time
and content requirements for physical activity in an
ASES program. This measure was held by the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
AB 2843 (Karnette, 2008) would have authorized foreign
language instruction in an ASES program. This measure
was vetoed.
SB 707 (Kehoe, Chapter 553, 2005) specified funding
authority for ASES program administration. This measure
was passed by this Committee on a 9-0 vote.
AB 1949 (Hancock, 2004) would have authorized staff
development days for ASES programs. This measure was
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held by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
None received.
OPPOSITION
None received.