BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 986
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Date of Hearing: April 21, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 986
(Gipson) - As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Community Colleges: Compton Community College
District: report
SUMMARY: Requires the special trustee of the Compton Community
College District (CCD) to provide a report to the Legislature.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the special trustee of the Compton CCD to report to
the Legislature concerning the priorities identified in each
Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team (FCMAT) report
and provide a response on how the special trustee intends to
resolve issues identified in the FCMAT report in a timely
manner, not to exceed 150 days from receipt of the report.
2)Provides that in any instance that there is a decline in
performance, the special trustee shall specifically identify
strategies for ensuring progress in its response to that
report.
3)Provides for reimbursement if the Commission on State Mandates
determines the provisions of this bill contain mandated local
costs.
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EXISTING LAW:
1)In 2004, AB 61 (Dymally) authorized the California Community
College (CCC) Board of Governors to authorize the CCC
Chancellor to suspend the authority of the Compton CCD Board
of Trustees and appoint a special trustee, at expense to
Compton CCD, to manage operations. The law establishes that
the special trustee remains in place until the Chancellor,
FCMAT, the Director of Finance, and the Governor concur with
the special trustee that the Compton CCD has, for two
consecutive years, met the requirements of the assessment and
recovery plan. (Education Code Section 71093)
2)In 2005, AB 318 (Dymally) provided an emergency appropriation
of $30,000,000 from the General Fund to the CCC Board of
Governors for apportionment to the Compton CCD to facilitate
the establishment of a partnership with another CCC district
to continue educational programs at the Compton CCD campus,
following the loss of Compton CCD's accreditation. (EDC
Sections 41329.58 and 74292-74296)
3)AB 318 also required FCMAT to conduct an audit by October 30,
2006, of alleged fraud, misappropriation of funds, and illegal
fiscal practices at Compton CCD and report to the CCC Board of
Governors and the Department of Finance. FCMAT was required
to, by January 31, 2007, conduct a comprehensive audit and
prepare a recovery plan. Finally, FCMAT was required to file
regular written status reports to the Legislature and
Governor, among others, regarding Compton CCD's progress
toward addressing deficiencies identified by FCMAT and the
Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
(ACCJC). (EDC Section 41329.59)
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4)In 2014, following the potential loss of accreditation and the
appointment of a special trustee at San Francisco Community
College District, AB 2087 (Ammiano) was enacted to require the
CCC BOG to ensure regulations governing the appointment of a
special trustee to manage a community college district include
specific benchmarks to indicate the presence of local capacity
to resume management of the district and clear standards that
require meaningful consultation by a special trustee with the
district prior to decision making. (EDC Section 84040)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: Background. On May 21, 2004, the CCC Chancellor
issued Executive Order No. 2004-01, to initiate state
intervention to resolve long-standing fiscal problems at Compton
CCD. A full-time special trustee was appointed and undertook a
number of activities in an attempt to resolve the Compton CCD's
fiscal problems. On January 31, 2005, the Accrediting
Commission of Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) announced it
had placed Compton CCD on "show cause" status and required the
district to correct a series of deficiencies related to fiscal
management and stability. On June 17, 2005, ACCJC announced it
had reviewed Compton CCDs "show cause report" and determined the
district had not adequately addressed deficiencies and
terminated accreditation effective August 19, 2005.
Federal and state laws provide that the termination of
accreditation results in the immediate loss of all state and
federal funds, including general funds and categorical
apportionment revenues, financial aid, and maintenance funds.
In order to ensure instructional services could continue at the
Compton CCD campus, on August 21, 2006, the El Camino Community
College District (ECCCD) approved a partnership agreement to
establish the Compton Center. The agreement for the Compton
Center includes operations under the direct management of El
Camino CCD through a vice president on the Compton Center site.
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The vice president reports to the superintendent/president of El
Camino CCD for the operational aspects of the Compton Center,
including its instructional programs and student services.
Business services, facilities, personnel, governance components
and other programs and services are managed by the Compton CCD's
chief executive officer (CEO). The CEO reports to the state
special trustee for the Compton CCD. The Compton CCD
five-member elected Board of Trustees remains in place, but its
role is limited to an advisory capacity.
Purpose of this bill. According to the author, in order for the
Compton CCD Board of Trustees to be able to fully govern
autonomously, they must be provided every opportunity to be a
direct stakeholder and hold similar capacity to what they will
be expected to assume once they are accredited. The author
notes that this bill is intended to make progress toward the
long-term goal of returning governing authority to the Compton
CCD Board of Trustees.
FCMAT progress report. The initial FCMAT comprehensive review
of Compton CCD took place in April 2007, and assessed the
Compton CCD using 335 professional and legal standards in five
areas of district operations. The standards were aligned to the
four standards of the ACCJC to develop specific recommendations
for operational improvements that would help prepare the
district to return to fiscal solvency and local governance and
enhance its readiness to re-establish accreditation.
In October of 2014, FCMAT released its 8th progress report on
Compton CCD, as is required under the provisions of AB 318.
According to FCMAT, the process for the Compton CCD requires
much time and improvement and will likely proceed incrementally.
FCMAT anticipates that the Compton CCD will continue to make the
progress necessary for an eventual return to local governance.
However, at the time of the 2014 report, the required criteria
had not been met and governance authority could not be returned
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to the local Board of Trustees. FCMAT noted that the return of
legal powers and duties to the elected board is contingent on
meeting specified requirements.
ACCJC progress. ECCCD and Compton CCD are working together to
obtain independent accreditation for the El Camino Compton
Center. In January of 2015, the Compton Center submitted an
eligibility application to ACCJC. This application is the first
step toward obtaining independent accreditation of the Compton
Center. Once independent accreditation is obtained and Compton
CCD has met all state requirements for returning local control,
both processes may take several more years, the ECCCD and
Compton CCD could seek to apply for a substantive change from
ACCJC to reflect the change in governance.
Suggested amendments.
1)As previously outlined, the special trustee is appointed by
the CCC Board of Governors and reports to the CCC Chancellor.
Therefore, committee staff recommends this bill be amended to
establish that the report required to be completed pursuant to
this bill be compiled and submitted by the CCC Chancellor
rather than the special trustee.
2)A clarifying amendment is necessary to require the report to
be submitted to the Legislature within 150 days following the
issuance of each FCMAT report.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
AB 986
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None on File
Opposition
None on File
Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960