BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1014| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1014 Author: Thurmond (D), et al. Amended: 8/15/16 in Senate Vote: 21 PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/29/16 AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan, Vidak SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/11/16 AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza NO VOTE RECORDED: Nielsen SUBJECT: Education finance: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success Program SOURCE: Author DIGEST: 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. ANALYSIS: AB 1014 Page 2 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.) 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) 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 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. AB 1014 Page 3 c) How the activities support the LEA's goals for 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 about the CDE's plans for overall evaluation of the program considering the objectives in #13. This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the executive director of the State Board of Education, for purposes of facilitating program evaluation, to identify a set of measures and associated data sources that are deemed valid and reliable for measuring student and school outcomes and assessing the benefits of the program. 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 LEA. d) Any challenges the LEA experiences in building capacity for fulfilling the purposes of this bill. AB 1014 Page 4 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 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. This bill requires these activities to complement or enhance the actions and services identified to meet the LEA's goals as identified in its 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 agencies. AB 1014 Page 5 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. f) Adding or increasing staff within a LEA whose primary purpose is to address ongoing chronic attendance problems, including but not limited to, conducting outreach to families and children currently, or at risk of becoming, chronically truant. Priority for funding 10)Authorizes the CDE, in selecting grant recipients, to give priority to a 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 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 period. AB 1014 Page 6 b) Use the grant funds to increase or improve services that the LEA currently provides 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. This bill requires technical assistance provided pursuant to this bill to be consistent with the technical assistance provided to a LEA by the county superintendent of schools or the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the development of the LCAP. 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 14)Authorizes 5% of the funds to be used for the administrative AB 1014 Page 7 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 (Liu). Comments Package deal. This bill is the result of an agreement on a framework between both Houses of the Legislature, in collaboration with the CDE, Department of Justice, Department of Finance, and stakeholders. This bill implements the framework, along with SB 527 (Liu), which is identical to this bill. FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.:YesLocal: No According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: AB 1014 Page 8 The implementation of this bill is contingent upon funds appropriated in the budget act or another statute. The Budget Act of 2016 includes a total of $27.9 million for this purpose. Specifically, the budget includes $9.4 million of estimated Proposition 47 savings, with an additional $18 million in one-time Proposition 98 to be spent over three years, and $493,000 General Fund for CDE state operations. The CDE anticipates costs of almost $720,000 in the first year for start-up and program administration costs, including contracting with consultants to provide technical assistance, conducting stakeholder meetings and program monitoring, and funding for CDE support staff. This translates to an additional need of $227,000 over the amount provided in the budget act. Second year costs (2017-18) are anticipated to be $763,000. SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16) None received OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16) None received Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105 8/16/16 8:58:12 **** END ****