BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1014
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|Author: |Thurmond |
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|Version: |June 23, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 29, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Education finance: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund: Learning Communities for School Success Program
NOTE: This bill has been amended to replace its contents and
this is the first time the bill is being heard in its current
form.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes the Learning Communities for School
Success Program, which requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to administer grants for local educational
agencies to implement programs and services that further the
purpose of Proposition 47 to improve outcomes for students by
reducing truancy and supporting students who are at risk of
dropping out of school or are victims of crime.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Establishes the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,
pursuant to Proposition 47, which reduces the penalties for
specified drug and property crimes. Savings resulting from
reduced inmate population are required to be used for
mental health and substance use services, truancy and
dropout prevention, and victim services. (Government Code
§ 7599, et seq.)
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2) Requires school districts and county offices of
education to adopt and annually update a local control and
accountability plan, which must include a description of
annual goals to meet eight state priorities for all
students and for all numerically significant subgroups,
including ethnic subgroups, socioeconomically disadvantaged
students, English learners, students with disabilities, and
foster youth. (Education Code § 52060 and § 52066)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires the California Department of Education to
administer grants for local educational agencies to implement
programs and services that further the purpose of Proposition 47
to improve outcomes for students by reducing truancy and
supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of school or
are victims of crime. Specifically, this bill:
1) Establishes the Learning Communities for School Success
Program to implement the K-12 education portion of the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47).
2) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
administer a grant program and coordinate assistance to
local educational agencies (LEAs) in identifying and
implementing evidence-based, non-punitive programs and
practices that are aligned with the goals for students
contained in each LEA's local control and accountability
plan (LCAP).
Application
3) Requires a LEA that chooses to apply for funding to submit
an application to the CDE, in a format and by a date
determined by the CDE. This bill requires the application
to include, at a minimum, all of the following:
a) Information about the student and school needs
within the LEA.
b) The activities the LEA will undertake with the
grant funding.
c) How the activities support the LEA's goals for
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students contained in its LCAP.
d) How the LEA will measure outcomes associated with
the proposed activities and metrics reported in the
LEA's LCAP.
4) Requires the CDE to issue application guidelines that
include, at a minimum, information on the outcome metrics
the CDE will use to evaluate the program. This bill
requires CDE, when determining outcome metrics, to consider
metrics currently being collected and used by existing
federal, state, or local programs. This bill requires the
CDE, consistent with the objective of the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act to reduce crime, including
truancy and dropout prevention, to consider using metrics
for student truancy and school dropout, among others.
5) Requires CDE to consult with stakeholders, including but
not limited to, representatives of LEAs, teachers and other
school personnel, parents, advocacy organizations with
experience working with target vulnerable populations, and
parent- and youth-serving community-based organizations.
This bill states legislative intent that stakeholders
provide input to the CDE on the design of the application
and review process, including the size of the grant awards,
but not in determining who will be awarded grants.
Grant awards
6) Requires the CDE to determine eligibility for grants and
the distribution of grant funding based on all of the
following factors:
a) Student and school needs the LEA will address
with the grant funds.
b) Number of students to be served with the grant
funds.
c) Number, size, and type of participating schools
within the local educational agencies (LEA).
d) Any challenges the LEA experiences in building
capacity for fulfilling the purposes of this bill.
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e) The unique characteristics of small school
districts, given their challenges with economies of
scale and access to services in rural locations.
7) Requires the California Department of Education (CDE),
before the initial application deadline, to conduct
targeted outreach to LEAs that are likely to be given
priority for funding and offer the LEAs technical
assistance as they develop their grant applications. This
bill authorizes the CDE to provide technical assistance
with application development, which may include assistance
from external entities the CDE may contract with to provide
training and technical assistance.
8) Provides that an application is to be for three years of
funding and authorizes the CDE to establish requirements
for grantees to meet at the end of the first and second
years of funding in order to receive funding for the
remaining grant period.
Use of grant funds
9) Requires a LEA that receives a grant to use the grant funds
for planning, implementation, and evaluation of activities
in support of evidence-based, non-punitive programs and
practices to keep the state's most vulnerable students in
school, consistent with the LEA's goals for the student
engagement and school climate state priorities identified
in its local control and accountability plan (LCAP). This
bill authorizes these activities to include but not be
limited to, all of the following:
a) Establishing a community school, as defined.
b) Implementing activities or programs to improve
attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, including
but not limited to, early warning systems or early
intervention programs.
c) Implementing restorative practices, restorative
justice models, or other programs to improve retention
rates, reduce suspensions and other school removals,
and reduce the referral of students to law enforcement
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agencies.
d) Implementing activities that advance
social-emotional learning, positive behavior
interventions and supports, culturally responsive
practices, and trauma-informed strategies.
e) Establishing partnerships with community-based
organizations or other relevant entities to support
the implementation of evidence-based, non-punitive
approaches to further the goals of the program.
Priority for funding
10) Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE), in
selecting grant recipients, to give priority to a local
educational agencies (LEA) that meets any of the following
criteria:
a) Has a high rate of chronic absenteeism,
out-of-school suspension, or school dropout for the
general student population or for a numerically
significant student subgroup, as identified in the
local control and accountability plan (LCAP). This
bill defines "high rate" as a rate that exceeds the
state average.
b) Is located in a community with a high crime rate.
c) Has a significant representation of foster youth
among its student enrollment.
Other requirements
11) Requires a LEA that receives a grant to comply with the
following:
a) Provide a local contribution of matching
expenditures equal to at least 20% of the total grant
award. This bill authorizes the local contribution to
be from cash expenditures or in-kind contributions,
and encourages a LEA to exceed the 20% match
requirement to enable the LEA to sustain the
activities or programs beyond the three-year grant
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period.
b) Use the grant funds to supplement and not
supplant existing resources the LEA currently
allocates for purposes specified in this bill.
c) Not use grant funds to pay for law enforcement
activities, including personnel or equipment.
Training and technical assistance
12) Requires CDE to establish a structure to deliver training
and technical assistance to grantees using regional
workshops and technical assistance providers that have
expertise on student engagement, school climate, truancy
reduction, and supporting students who are at risk of
dropping out of school or who are victims of crime. This
bill authorizes CDE to contract with those providers to
assist the grantees as well as to serve as a resource for
other LEAs that may use their own funding sources to engage
in this community of practice.
Evaluation and report
13) Requires a LEA that receives grant funding to evaluate and
report to the governing board of the school district, the
county board of education, or its chartering authority, and
the CDE the results of the activities it undertakes with
the grant funds. This bill requires CDE to compile
information from grantee reports as part of an overall
evaluation of the grant program implementation, assess the
benefits of participation in the program, and identify the
student and school outcomes associated with the strategies
and programs implemented by grantees. This bill requires
CDE to submit an interim report of preliminary evaluation
findings to the Legislature by January 31, 2019, and a
final evaluation report to the Legislature by January 31,
2020.
Miscellaneous
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14) Authorizes 5% of the funds to be used for the
administrative costs of implementing this bill, including
but not limited to, administering grant awards,
coordinating the training and technical assistance
structure, and completing the evaluation.
15) Establishes the following definitions:
a) "Community school" means a public school that
participates in a community-based effort to coordinate
and integrate educational, developmental, family,
health, and other comprehensive services through
community-based organizations and public and private
partnerships with one or more community partners for
the delivery of community services that may be
provided at a school site to students, families, and
community members.
b) "Local educational agency" means a school
district, county office of education, or charter
school.
16) Prohibits the provisions of this bill from becoming
operative unless funds are appropriated in the annual
Budget Act or another statute to the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Fund in accordance with the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Act for the purposes specified in this bill.
17) Provides that this bill is contingent upon the passage of
SB 527 (see comment #2).
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. In November 2014, voters approved
Proposition 47, establishing the Safe Neighborhoods and
Schools Act. The Proposition reduced penalties for
specified non-violent drug and property crimes, resulting
in a reduced prison population and thereby reduced state
costs. The Proposition requires the Department of Finance
to, on or before July 31st of each fiscal year, beginning
with July 31, 2016, to calculate the savings derived by the
Proposition during the preceding fiscal year. The savings
are required to be allocated for specified purposes,
including 25% to the California Department of Education to
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administer a grant program to public agencies aimed at
improving outcomes for public school students in
kindergarten through grade 12 by reducing truancy and
supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of
school or are victims of crime. Proposition 47 provided no
guidance for the structure or details of the grant program.
This bill provides those details.
2) Package deal. This bill is the result of an agreement on a
framework between both Houses of the Legislature, in
collaboration with the California Department of Education,
Department of Justice, Department of Finance, and
stakeholders. This bill implements the framework, along
with SB 527 (Liu), which is identical to this bill. While
this Committee does not typically pass two bills on the
same topic, these bills represent an agreement between both
Houses and enactment of both bills is contingent upon the
passage of both bills.
3) Fiscal impact. The 2016 Budget Act includes $9.9 million
of estimated Proposition 47 savings, with an additional $18
million in one-time Proposition 98 funds provided for this
purpose.
4) Related legislation. SB 527 (Liu, 2016) is nearly
identical to this bill. SB 527 is pending in the Assembly
Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
OPPOSITION
None on the current version of the bill.
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