BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 803
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 803
(Hadley) - As Amended April 22, 2015
SUBJECT: School districts: reorganization: formation of new
school districts
SUMMARY: Establishes procedures for an action to form a new
district within the boundaries of a single school district
within a single county. Specifically, this bill:
1)Specifies that the following provisions apply to an action to
form a new district within the boundaries of a single school
district within a single county:
a) The action may be initiated by either of the following:
i) A petition signed by at least 10 percent of the
number of qualified electors who voted in the last
gubernatorial election and who reside within the
boundaries of the proposed district. The petition shall
identify persons who will represent the proposed district
in public hearings.
ii) A resolution of a local agency approved by a
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majority of its members. The local agency shall also
appoint persons to represent the proposed school district
in public hearings by a resolution.
b) Upon receipt of the petition, the county board of
education shall hold a public hearing on the petition at a
regular or special meeting. Following the hearing, the
county board of education shall grant or deny the petition.
c) Upon receipt of the resolution, the county board of
education and the local agency that initiated the transfer
proposal shall jointly hold a public hearing on the
transfer proposal at a regular or special meeting.
Following the hearing, the county board of education and
the local agency that initiated the transfer proposal shall
jointly grant or deny the transfer proposal by a majority
vote of all members.
d) If a petition or proposal is granted, the county
superintendent of schools shall call an election of
registered voters within the boundaries of the proposed
school district to be conducted at the next election.
2)Defines "local agency" to mean a city council, county board of
supervisors, governing body of a special district, or local
agency formation commission that has jurisdiction over all or
a portion of the proposed school district.
3)Provides that, if the new district includes within its
boundaries a chartered city, the county committee on school
district reorganization may stipulate that the governing board
of the school district may be governed by the charter of the
city and not exclusively by general law.
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4)Requires the county committee on school district
reorganization, at least 10 days prior to the public hearing,
to make the following information available to the public:
a) The rights of the employees in the affected district to
continued employment;
b) Whether the districts involved will be governed, in
part, by provision of a city charter and, if so, in what
way;
c) Whether the governing boards of any proposed new
district will have five or seven members;
d) A description of the territory or districts in which the
election will be held;
e) Whether the governing board of any new district will
have trustee areas and, if so, whether the trustees will be
elected by only the voters of that trustee area or by the
voters of the entire district;
f) A description of how the property, obligations, and
bonded indebtedness of existing districts will be divided;
and
g) A description of when the first governing board of any
new district will be elected and how the terms of office
for each new trustee will be determined.
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EXISTING LAW: Prescribes procedures for school district
reorganization, depending on the type of reorganization
(transfer of territory, unification, etc.) and the method by
which the proposal to reorganize was initiated (petition, school
board resolution, etc.).
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Background. In 1983, an unincorporated area of Los
Angeles known as Eastview was annexed into the city of Rancho
Palos Verdes. Prior to annexation, the territory of Eastview
and its two schools-Dodson Middle School and Crestwood
Elementary School-were part of the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD). They remained part of LAUSD after annexation.
In 1991, the governing board of the Rancho Palos Verdes School
District (RPVSD) passed a resolution to initiate a process to
transfer the Eastview territory from LAUSD to RPVSD. The
initiative was approved by the voters of the RPVSD, but was
overturned by the courts, because the vote did not include
voters in the LAUSD, as required by the law.
In 1998, the Legislature enacted legislation, SB 1681
(Karnette), Chapter 868, Statutes of 1998, which designated the
area of Eastview as optional attendance area. Accordingly,
residents of Eastview may choose to send their children to
either the LAUSD or the RPVUSD.
Purpose of this bill. Eastview would qualify for the
reorganization process established by this bill, because its
territory is within a single unified school district within a
single county. Under this new process, Eastview could become
its own school district and then, at a later point in time,
unify with RPVUSD.
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The new process established by this bill differs in several ways
from existing law:
The process to initiate a petition. In the case of
inhabited territory, existing law requires a petition to be
signed by 25% of the registered voters of the territory.
This bill requires 10% of the registered voters who voted
in the last gubernatorial election-a much smaller number.
Alternatively, existing law permits an action to reorganize
a district to be initiated by a majority vote of the
members of all affected school districts. This bill
permits an action to be initiated by a vote of a local
agency, as defined.
The role of the State Board of Education (SBE).
Existing law requires the SBE to approve proposals for
district reorganization, except in limited circumstances.
In making its determination, the SBE must consider 10
statutory requirements, such as the equitable division or
property and facilities, the impact on the racial/ethnic
balance of the districts, the impact on educational
programs, and the fiscal impact. The process created by
this bill does not require SBE consideration or approval.
However, the author's office indicates it is their intent
to require approval by the SBE before a vote is held.
Final determination. Once a petition has been approved
by the SBE, there are two procedures for getting final
approval. First, if the territory proposal to be
reorganized accounts for less than 10% of the assessed
value of the whole district, then it can be approved by a
majority vote of all governing boards. Otherwise, it must
be approved by a majority vote of the voters of all
affected districts. This bill provides for a vote by only
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the Eastview voters of the LAUSD, and not all of the voters
of LAUSD.
Effects of school district reorganization. School district
reorganization has many effects on a wide range of concerns,
including the following:
The status, seniority, salaries and benefits of
employees in the affected territory;
Contractual obligations regarding the schools in the
affected territory;
Ownership (or transfer of ownership) of property and
facilities;
The allocation of the proceeds of the sale of bonds;
The allocation of bonded indebtedness and debt service;
and
The disposition of student body property, funds, and
obligations.
Some of these concerns, especially the allocation of debt
service on existing bonded indebtedness, affect all of the
residents of the district involved, not just those that would be
permitted to vote on the question under this bill. Because this
bill establishes a process that may be used statewide, the
committee may wish to consider the precedent that would be set
by allowing only a subset of voters who are affected by an issue
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to vote on that issue.
Correction needed. Should the committee vote to pass this bill,
staff recommends it be amended to reference the county committee
on school district reorganization instead of the county board of
education.
Arguments in opposition. Opponents express concerns about the
"extremely low threshold" to initiate a petition that this bill
establishes, and argue that it ignores the community affected
and denies the existing school district a voice in the matter.
They also argue that this is a local matter that should be
resolved locally.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None received
Opposition
Los Angeles Unified School District
Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087
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