BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION Carol Liu, Chair 2013-2014 Regular Session BILL NO: AB 2380 AUTHOR: Weber AMENDED: May 23, 2014 FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 25, 2014 URGENCY: No CONSULTANT:Lenin Del Castillo SUBJECT : Parent advisory committees. SUMMARY This bill adds various requirements for school districts that elect to prepare a single plan for pupil achievement, including the requirement for a school district to ensure in its consolidated application that a schoolsite council has developed and approved a single plan for pupil achievement for schools participating in programs funded through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). BACKGROUND Current law requires the governing board of every school district and county office of education to adopt a local control and accountability plan (LCAP), by July 1, 2014, that must include: a description of the annual goals for all students and each subgroup, to be achieved for each of the state priorities and for any additional local priorities; and a description of the specific actions that will be taken to achieve the goals. Specifically, current law also establishes the following as state priorities: 1) The degree to which teachers are appropriately assigned and fully credentialed, every student has sufficient access to standards-aligned instructional materials, and school facilities are maintained in good repair. 2) Implementation of the academic content and performance standards, including how English learners will be served, as specified. 3) Parental involvement, as specified. AB 2380 Page 2 4) Student achievement, as specified. 5) Student engagement, as specified. 6) School climate, as measured by all of the following, as applicable: student suspension rates, student expulsion rates, and other local measures, including surveys of students, parents, and teachers on the sense of safety and school connectedness. 7) The extent to which students have access to, and are enrolled in, a broad course of study, as specified. 8) Student outcomes, as specified. Current law also establishes the following as state priorities for county offices of education, in addition to the state priorities described above: how the county superintendent will coordinate instruction of students who have been expelled; and how the county superintendent will coordinate services for foster children, as specified. Current law: 1) Authorizes school districts to use a single consolidated application to apply for certain state and federal categorical program funds; 2) Requires school districts to elect to use the consolidated application process to include in that application a single plan for pupil achievement; 3) Requires the single plan for pupil achievement to do the following: a) Be developed and approved by a schoolsite council. b) Be aligned with school goals for improving pupil achievement. AB 2380 Page 3 c) Address how funds provided to the school will be used to improve the academic performance of all pupils to target levels. d) Identify the school's means of evaluating progress toward accomplishing those goals and how state and federal law governing the consolidated programs will be implemented. 1) Requires each school with more than 20 pupils of limited English proficiency to establish a school level advisory committee on which parents and guardians of such pupils constitute membership in at least the same percentage as their children represent of the total number of pupils in the school. 2) Requires the English learner advisory committee to advise the principal and staff in the development of a detailed master plan for bilingual education for the school and the submittal of the plan to the governing board for consideration for inclusion in the district master plan; and to assist in the development of the school needs assessment, language census, and ways to make parents aware of the importance of regular school attendance. ANALYSIS This bill : 1) Requires a school district to ensure in its consolidated application that schoolsite councils have developed and approved a single plan for pupil achievement for schools participating in programs funded through the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). 2) Specifies English learner advisory committees as applicable school advisory committees that may review, certify, and provide advice on a school district's single plan for pupil achievement or consolidated application, as specified. 3) Requires the State Department of Education, if it makes materials or information available to school districts to assist them in the development of their single plan for AB 2380 Page 4 pupil achievement, to ensure that all materials and information emphasize that the plan be consistent with and, to the extent possible, support the goals and outcomes specified in the school district's local control and accountability plan (LCAP). 4) Requires participating school districts to develop their LCAPs and annual updates in consultation with schoolsite level advisory groups and ensure that the LCAP and its specific actions are consistent with, and reflective of, the goals and plans of the schoolsite. 5) Requires single plans for pupil achievement to be aligned with the district's goals for English learners, pupils eligible for free and reduced price meals, and foster youth in specified performance areas. STAFF COMMENTS 1) Need for the bill . According to the author's office, "parent decision making committees-schoolsite councils, district advisory councils, and English learner advisory committees currently have school accountability roles, rights, and responsibilities for developing, monitoring, and updating school site plans for the use of federal and state categorical funds. It makes sense to align these parent input and decision making committees with the new local control accountability plan (LCAP) processes that districts are using to develop comprehensive priorities, goals, and actions for individual schools and the school districts." The bill seeks to integrate the existing parental committee processes, such as school site councils, with the parental input processes required by the newly implemented Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). This would help avoid duplication of effort with the existing federal requirement that a school district's comprehensive school site instructional plan be developed in coordination with parent input. These efforts could help promote greater transparency regarding the expenditure of LCFF funds at the school site level by engaging parents, especially at a time when school districts are transitioning to a new funding formula that affords them significant flexibility. AB 2380 Page 5 2) Consolidated application process . The consolidated application process was intended to give school districts flexibility over the use of funds received for various state and federal categorical programs. A majority of the funding for the state programs that were part of the consolidated application have now been rolled into the LCFF. However, it can still be used for certain a few state programs, such as the Economic Impact Aid program, and federal categorical programs. School districts that choose to utilize the consolidated application process are required to have schoolsite councils and involve them in the development and approval of the single plan for pupil achievement. The requirements of this bill would only apply to those school districts electing to use the consolidated application process. 3) Schoolsite councils . Current law authorizes the School-Based Program Coordination Act, which prior to the implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) in 2013, gave school districts flexibility over the use of specified school-based coordinated categorical program funds in exchange for meeting specified requirements. As part of these requirements, participating school districts were required to establish a schoolsite council. The schoolsite councils were required, among other things, to develop a plan made up of specific criteria including, curricula, instructional strategies, and materials that address the individual needs and learning styles of each pupil, instructional and auxiliary services to meet the special needs of certain pupil populations, a staff development program for teachers, other school personnel, paraprofessionals, and volunteers, and the proposed expenditures of funds available to the school, as specified. 4) Related legislation . AB 2384 (Bradford) would impose new requirements regarding the establishment of schoolsite councils, such as the requirement for school districts to provide training for schoolsite council members. This bill is pending on the Senate Floor. SUPPORT American Civil Liberties Union of California AB 2380 Page 6 Association of California School Administrators California Association for Bilingual Education Californians Together Education Trust-West Families in Schools PICO California Public Advocates (sponsor) OPPOSITION None on file.