BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1719
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 14, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1719 (Weber and Buchanan) - As Amended: May 1, 2014
Policy Committee: EducationVote:5-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires, commencing with the 2017-18 school year,
school districts offering kindergarten to implement a full-day
kindergarten program. Permits a school district to postpone
implementation due to lack of facilities. Specifically, this
bill:
1)Authorizes a school district to postpone implementing a
full-day kindergarten program due to lack of facilities, after
deliberation and vote of its governing board. Requires the
district to notify the California Department of Education
(CDE) within one month of the vote.
2)Defines "full-day kindergarten" as instruction provided for
the same number of minutes per schoolday that is offered to
pupils in first grade.
3)Expresses the intent of the Legislature that the governing
board of a school district develop the implementation plan for
full-day kindergarten pursuant to this bill in consultation
with affected employee representatives and parents.
4)Makes several conforming changes.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Unknown but potentially significant General Fund/Proposition
98 state-mandated costs in the hundreds of millions to school
districts related to instructional materials, staffing needs
and infrastructure.
Most kindergarten teachers currently work a full day,
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splitting their time between two part-day kindergarten
classrooms, assisting other teachers or working on other
district duties. If the part-day teacher is now required to
teach a full-day, the district would incur costs to cover the
duties formerly performed by the part-day teacher. School
districts currently receive the same ADA for kindergarten
pupils whether they attend a part-day or full-day program.
This bill does not increase ADA. Therefore, the district would
incur increased costs without additional funding.
The bill acknowledges facilities challenges and as such
permits a school district to postpone implementation to
address facility needs. It is difficult to know the magnitude
of need. A recent PPIC study found roughly 40% of
kindergarteners are currently attending a full day program.
This means approximately 280,000 children attend part day
programs. Considering these children are in a part day program
already, facility needs are covered for half of these
students. Roughly half of all districts are experiencing
declining enrollment and many districts have space due to
grant funding provided when the state implemented K-3 Class
Size Reduction. On average, portable buildings cost
$150,000. There are 540 elementary schools. For
illustration, assuming 10% of elementary schools need a
portable building, costs would be $8.1 million.
2)Unknown increases to Proposition 98 to the extent families
currently choosing private full day options instead choose to
have their child attend public school, thereby increasing
average daily attendance (ADA).
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Kindergarten students are held to new and more
rigorous academic standards, such as Common Core. According
to the author, a full-time program provides children an
opportunity to strengthen the foundational skills necessary to
succeed in school. This bill requires school districts to
implement full-day kindergarten programs beginning in the
2017-18 school year, unless the school district governing
board determines a lack of facilities.
2)Background . Under existing law, elementary or unified school
district must offer kindergarten classes for all children
eligible to attend. Kindergarten students are provided a
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minimum of 180 minutes of instruction per day, inclusive of
recess but exclusive of lunch, in a half-day program.
Districts are currently authorized, but not required, to offer
full day kindergarten.
Prior to 2005, school districts interested in offering an
extended-day program had to seek a waiver from the State Board
of Education. AB 2407 (Bermudez), Chapter 946, Statutes of
2004, eliminated the requirement to seek a waiver. After the
enactment of AB 2407, a Public Policy Institute of California
(PPIC) report found as sizable increase in full-day programs.
In 2000-01, 11% of kindergarteners attended full-day
kindergarten programs. In 2007-08, 43% of kindergarteners
attended full-day kindergarten, with lower-performing and
economically disadvantaged schools more likely to offer
full-day programs. Still, PPIC noted that California's
enrollment of kindergarteners in full-day programs lagged
behind those of other states. According to PPIC, two-thirds
of all kindergarteners nationally attend full-day programs.
3)Prior legislation . AB 2046 (Coto), held in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee suspense file in 2006, required
kindergarten to be a full-day program, phased in over three
years. The bill defined full-day kindergarten as instruction
provided for a minimum of 230 minutes per schoolday, exclusive
of lunch.
Analysis Prepared by : Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081