BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 331
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|Author: |Levine |
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|Version: |April 7, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: June 10, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo |
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Subject: School district governing boards: reduction of
membership
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a county committee on school district
organization to decrease the membership of a school district's
governing board from five to three if the district's average
daily attendance (ADA) during the preceding year was less than
300.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1)Requires any elementary school district having a governing
board of three members and whose ADA for the preceding fiscal
year was 300 or more do one of the following:
a) By its own action determine that the number of members
of its governing board shall be increased to five, in which
case two additional members shall be elected at an upcoming
established election date; or
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b) Request the county superintendent of schools to submit
the question of whether the board should be increased to
five members to the voters of the district at an upcoming
established election date.
2)Requires that a proposal to change the membership of a school
district or community college district governing board may be
initiated by the county committee on school district
organization or made to the committee by a petition signed by
a specified number of qualified registered voters residing in
the district.
3)Requires the county committee on school district organization
to call and conduct at least one hearing in the district on a
proposal to change the membership of the district's governing
board and to approve or disapprove the proposal at the
conclusion of the hearing.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Authorizes the county committee on school district
organization to reduce the members of a school district
from five to three, if the district's ADA during the
preceding year was less than 300, or adopt one of the
alternative methods of electing governing board members in
accordance with procedural requirements in existing law.
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2) Makes other nonsubstantive changes.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author's office,
when average daily attendance (ADA) increases, some boards
increase to five members. However, if ADA drops, there is
no provision for going back to three board members,
proportional to the student population. Elementary school
districts that already have three-member boards and that
continue to enroll fewer than 300 ADA can maintain their
three-member boards. If the ADA increases to 300 or more,
then the district must either increase its board membership
to five by its own action or request the question to be put
to a vote of the district's electorate. Voters could
decide to either retain the three-member board or increase
the membership to five. The author's office indicates that
the ability for board membership to expand or contract in
proportion to enrollment becomes increasingly important in
rural and very small districts, which may have a difficult
time finding five community members able to serve on the
board. Compounding the problem of recruiting board
members, current law requires an election to be held for
vacant seats if no one is appointed. The author's office
maintains that the cost of an election is burdensome and
sometimes prohibitive for a very small school district.
2) County committees on school district organization.
County committees on school district organization are the
local initiator, coordinator, analyst, facilitator, and
arbitrator for the reorganization of school districts.
Roughly half of county committees are comprised of members
of the county board of education while the remaining are
independent of the board, although workload often falls to
county board staff.
Current law authorizes a county committee to increase and
decrease board membership from five to seven and from seven
to five. The county committee can also increase a board
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from three to five members when ADA increases. However,
existing law does not allow for the county committee to
reduce a five member board if ADA declines.
SUPPORT
Santa Clara County Office of Education
School Employers Association of California
Sonoma County Office of Education (sponsor)
OPPOSITION
None received.
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