BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2443
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Date of Hearing: April 27, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
AB
2443 (Baker) - As Amended April 21, 2016
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill adds student access to school psychologists or
counselors to the indicators used to assess school climate for
the purposes the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP).
Specifically, this bill requires local education agencies (LEAs)
to assess student access to counselors that can address issues
such as mental health concerns, conflict resolution and
bullying.
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FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Unknown Proposition 98/GF state mandated costs to for LEAs to
measure the accessibility of school psychologists and school
counselors. This bill does not specify how LEAs will determine
whether a counselor or school psychologist is accessible to
students to address issues such as mental health concerns,
conflict resolution or bullying. Many districts conduct annual
school climate surveys and could incorporate this issue into
an existing survey. Other schools may need to develop a new
tool for evaluation of this component of school climate.
Actual costs will depend upon how LEAs chose to measure this
component of school climate and the types of claims districts
submit to the Commission on State Mandates to implement this
measure.
2)Significant Proposition 98/GF cost pressures, in the millions
of dollars, for the state to provide funding to support the
hiring of additional school counselors and school
psychologists. The ratio of students per counselor in this
state averages 945: 1, compared to the national average of
477: 1, ranking California last in the nation. The current
student per psychologist ratio is even larger at 1,321: 1. On
average, counselors are paid $130,000 to $150,000 per year.
Adding even one additional counselor could be a significant
cost to a school district.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) was
enacted to provide a more equitable distribution of education
dollars-especially among districts with populations of low
income pupils, English learners, and pupils in foster care-and
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to provide more local discretion over the use of those
dollars. Accountability for the use of those dollars is
achieved though the requirement to adopt and annually revise
LCAPs. Each LCAP must address eight state priorities that
include a mix of inputs (such as appropriate teacher
assignment and level of parental involvement) and outputs
(such as performance on academic assessments or English
learner reclassification rates).
2)Purpose. One of the eight state priorities to be addressed by
each LCAP is school climate, as measured by suspension rates;
expulsion rates; and other measures, including surveys of
pupils, parents, and teachers on the sense of safety and
school connectedness. This bill expands the school climate
priority under the LCAP to include access to school
psychologists and counselors that address issues such as
mental health concerns, conflict resolution, and bullying.
According to the author, school counselors can fill a vital
role in helping identify and address mental health issues.
Mental health issues among students include depression,
bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorder, anxiety
disorder, eating disorders, and alcohol/drug abuse. Measuring
not only the number of available counselors and psychologists,
but their ability to address these mental health issues, can
be a key indicator of school climate.
3)Comments. School psychologists are only one of the many pupil
support service personnel who work in schools to support the
students' social, emotional, mental, behavioral, and physical
needs. The availability of an array of support personnel is
an indication of a school's capacity to meet a wide range of
student needs. Research shows that when students have greater
access to supportive personnel, they are likely to have better
school performance.
4)Opposition. The California School Boards Association opposes
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this bill. They state that while it is important that schools
consider the mental health and school climate needs of
students, including this component in the LCAP is premature.
The State Board of Education is currently developing the
rubrics that school districts will use under the eight state
priorities, including the rubrics to determine school climate.
It would be more appropriate to wait for the SBE to finish its
work before adding additional components that may, or may not,
conflict with the actions that school districts need to
include in their LCAPS.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081