BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 41| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: SB 41 Author: Wright (D) Amended: As introduced Vote: 27 - Urgency SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 2/27/13 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Monning SUBJECT : School district reorganization: base revenue limit: Wiseburn Unified School District SOURCE : Wiseburn School District DIGEST : This bill strikes the provision of law that allows for the creation of a blended revenue limit arising from the creation of the Wiseburn Unified School District by unifying (reorganizing) the Wiseburn School District (grades K-8) and the Centinela Valley Union High School District, as specified. ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for a county committee on school district organization in each county (county committee) to consider locally developed reorganization petitions to transfer territory among districts; unify, merge or create new districts or revise the boundaries of trustee areas. Proposals for transfer of territory may be decided by the county committee in a public hearing, although such decisions to transfer more than 10% of a district's territory must be ratified by a vote of the people in the affected districts. The decisions of the CONTINUED SB 41 Page 2 county committee may be appealed to the State Board of Education (SBE) for specified reasons. When the reorganization proposal involves more than a transfer of territory, the county committee holds a public hearing and forwards the proposal, along with the committee's recommendation, to the SBE. Existing law provides that if the SBE approves a proposal for reorganization then the proposal is returned to the County for approval of a vote of the people in the territory being reorganized. Existing law defines school district reorganization as any of the following: 1.Dissolving two or more existing school districts of the same kind and forming one or more new school districts of that same kind from the entire territory of the original districts. 2.Forming one or more new school districts of the same kind from all or parts of one or more existing school districts of that same kind. 3.Unifying school districts, including the consolidation of all or part of one or more high school districts with all or part of one or more component school districts into one or more new unified school districts. 4.De-unifying a school district, including the conversion of all or part of a unified school district into one or more new high school districts, each with two or more new component districts. Existing law provides that the Department of Education use information provided by the county superintendent of schools in each county that has a school district affected by an action to unify to compute the base revenue limit for a newly organized school district, as specified. This bill strikes the provision of law that allows for the creation of a blended revenue limit arising from the creation of the Wiseburn Unified School District by unifying (reorganizing) the Wiseburn School District (grades K-8) and the Centinela Valley Union High School District, as specified. SB 41 Page 3 Comments Wiseburn Unification Status The school district is working with the SBE to schedule a unification hearing at the SBE. The goal is to have the SBE approval at the May 2013 SBE meeting and an election at the scheduled local November 2013 election. This enables the district to start operation as a unified school district on July 1, 2014. Revenue Limit The revenue limit is the general purpose money school districts receive for each student. Established in law in 1972, the per student average daily attendance (ADA) revenue limit varies slightly between districts by size and type of district (for example, there are three types of school districts: elementary, unified, and high school, with three revenue limit bands that takes into account the size of the district). The district revenue limit income is a combination of local property taxes and state general fund support. Any increase in local property taxes is offset by a reduction in state funds (except for basic aid districts). In 2011, the estimated average "undeficited" revenue limit was $6,247/ADA for an elementary school district, $7,504/ADA for a high school district, and $6,536/ADA for a unified school district. ADA is the workload standard for California public education. One ADA is based on one student attending school for a minimum number of minutes for 180 school days. The minute requirement varies for specific types of students, generally: kindergarten, 180 minutes, grades 1 through 3, 230 minutes, and grades 4 through 12, 240 minutes of instruction. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 2/28/13) Wiseburn School District ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this bill is needed to immediately address the issue raised in SB 41 Page 4 Governor Brown's signing message for SB 477 (Wright), Chapter 730, Statutes of 2012. The issue was that SB 477 created a special revenue limit calculation for the unification of the Wiseburn School District. The governor signed the legislation with the understanding that the special revenue limit section would be repealed and the Wiseburn School District unification calculated revenue limit would be done in the same manner as all other school district unifications. The urgency of the bill is to meet the May 2013, SBE action time frame. PQ:nl 2/28/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END ****