BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        AB 331|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 331
          Author:   Levine (D)
          Amended:  4/7/15 in Assembly
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  8-0, 6/10/15
           AYES:  Liu, Runner, Block, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Hancock

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  6-0, 6/22/15
           AYES:  Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Nielsen

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  77-0, 4/30/15 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   School district governing boards:  reduction of  
                     membership


          SOURCE:    Sonoma County Office of Education

          DIGEST:  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.  

          ANALYSIS: 
          
          Existing law:

          1)Requires any elementary school district having a governing  








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            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

             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)Provides 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.

          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.

          2)Makes other nonsubstantive changes.

          Comments
          
          Need for the bill.  According to the author's office, 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  







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          problem of recruiting board members, existing 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.  

          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.  A county  
          committee on school district organization is authorized to  
          increase and decrease a school district's board membership from  
          five to seven and from seven to five.  The county committee can  
          also increase a board from three to five members when ADA  
          increases.  However, state law does not allow for the county  
          committee to reduce a five member board if ADA declines.

          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, potential,  
          likely minor, reimbursable state mandated costs for county  
          committees to review proposals to decrease the size of a school  
          district governing board if the Commission on State Mandates  
          determines this bill imposes a higher level of service.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified6/23/15)




          Sonoma County Office of Education (source)




          Santa Clara County Office of Education 










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          School Employers Association of California




          OPPOSITION:   (Verified6/23/15)


          None received

          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  77-0, 4/30/15
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau,  
            Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd,  
            Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia,  
            Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove,  
            Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low,  
            Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Campos, Chávez, Gomez

          Prepared by:Lenin Del Castillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          6/23/15 10:40:49


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