BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 2615
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|Author: |Wood |
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|Version: |April 25, 2016 Hearing |
| |Date: June 8, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: After school programs
SUMMARY
This bill makes numerous revisions to the 21st Century High
School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens program, the
After School Education and Safety program, and the 21st Century
Community Learning Centers (CCLC) program.
BACKGROUND
1) Establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES)
program consisting of before and after school components,
serving students in grades K-9, each of which must include
an educational and literacy element and an educational
enrichment element. (Education Code § 8482)
2) Establishes the federally funded 21st Century Community
Learning Centers (21st Century) contained within the
federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 to complement the
ASES program. Existing law specifies that the requirements
of the ASES program apply to the 21st CCLC program with
specified exceptions. (EC § 8484.7)
3) Establishes the federally funded 21st Century High
School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens
(ASSETs) Program to create incentives for establishing
locally driven after school enrichment programs between
schools and local community organizations serving students
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from grades 9 through 12. (EC § 8421)
ANALYSIS
ASES
1) Modifies the existing authority of the California
Department of Education (CDE) to terminate grant
allocations by adding noncompliance with audit resolutions
as criteria by which grants may be terminated, and modifies
the existing authority of the CDE to withhold grant
allocations to mirror the criteria by which grants may be
terminated.
2) Modifies the existing authority for a grantee to request
approval from the CDE to transfer program services to
another schoolsite if there is a significant barrier to
student participation in a program at the school of
attendance as follows:
a) Adds the requirement that the schoolsite to
which the program will be transferred to satisfy
either of the following requirements:
i. The schoolsite shall receive
students from, and have been awarded a grant of
the same type as the transferring school.
ii. The schoolsite shall not have a
10-percent lower percentage of students eligible
for free or reduced-price meals than the
transferring school. If the proposed schoolsite
is not yet open, feeder school free or
reduced-price meal data, as determined by the
California Department of Education (CDE), shall
be considered in evaluating the proposed
transfer.
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b) Prohibits the schoolsite from increasing the
funding at the proposed schoolsite above the maximum
after school grant amount.
c) Modifies the definition of "significant
barrier to student participation" by adding "A local
educational agency opens a new schoolsite and either
merges the program of an existing schoolsite with the
new schoolsite or splits the program of the existing
schoolsite with the new schoolsite so that the
existing schoolsite is subject to a grant reduction."
3) Modifies the existing authority for the CDE to approve a
request by the grantee, if a program is temporarily
prevented from operating its entire program due to natural
disaster, civil unrest, or imminent danger to students or
staff, for students attendance credit equal to the average
annual attendance that the grantee would have received if
it had been able to operate its entire program during that
time period (rather than allowing the CDE to recommend and
the State Board of Education (SBE) approve).
4) Deletes the existing requirement that the CDE, to the
extent possible, to award grants in an equitable
distribution of applicants in northern, southern, and
central California, and in urban, suburban, and rural areas
of California.
5) Authorizes the fiscal agent to be changed upon approval
of the CDE if the new fiscal agent is a local educational
agency or public agency partner.
6) Authorizes the grades to be served by the program at
participating schools to be determined by local needs.
21st Century
7) Regarding the requirement for at least 40% of the total
awarded to be for programs serving students in elementary
and middle school, and at least 50% total awarded to be
fore high schools:
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a) Requires the CDE to allocate funds to each
geographic region by the regional percentage of
statewide students who are eligible for free or
reduced-price meals reported to the California
Department of Education (CDE) for the immediately
preceding fiscal year.
b) Requires each region's percentage to be
determined by dividing the region's number of students
eligible for free or reduced-price meals by the
statewide number of students eligible for free or
reduced-price meals.
8) Requires the CDE, to the extent possible, to award
grants in an equitable distribution to applicants in
northern, southern, and central California, and in urban
and rural areas of the state.
ASSETs
9) Authorizes the CDE to withhold or terminate grant
allocation of any site or program that does not comply with
audit resolutions, fiscal reporting, attendance reporting,
or outcomes reporting requirements required by the CDE.
10) Authorizes the CDE to approve a request by the grantee
for student attendance credits equal to the average annual
attendance that the grantee would have received if it had
been able to operate its entire program during that time
period, if a program grantee is temporarily prevented from
operating its entire program due to natural disaster, civil
unrest, or imminent danger to students or staff.
11) Authorizes a grantee to request approval from the CDE to
transfer program services to another schoolsite within the
same local educational agency if there is a significant
barrier to student participation in a program at the school
of attendance. This bill requires the schoolsite to which
the program will be transferred to satisfy either of the
following requirements:
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a) The schoolsite shall receive students from,
and have been awarded a grant of the same type as the
transferring school.
b) The schoolsite shall not have a 10-percent
lower percentage of students eligible for free or
reduced-price meals than the transferring school. If
the proposed schoolsite is not yet open, feeder school
free or reduced-price meal data, as determined by the
CDE, shall be considered in evaluating the proposed
transfer.
1) Prohibits the schoolsite from increasing the funding at
the proposed schoolsite above the maximum after school
grant amount.
2) Requires an applicant that requests approval to transfer
program services to describe the manner in which the
applicant intends to provide safe, supervised
transportation; ensure communication among teachers in the
regular school program, staff in the before school and
after school components of the program, and parents of
students; and coordinate the educational and literacy
component of the before and after school components of the
program with the regular school programs of participating
students.
3) Defines a "significant barrier to student participation"
in the before or after school component of a program to
mean any of the following:
a) Fewer than 20 students participating in the
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component of the program.
b) Extreme transportation constraints, including,
but not limited to, desegregation bussing, bussing for
magnet or open enrollment schools, or student
dependence on public transportation.
1) A local educational agency opens a new schoolsite and
either merges the program of an existing schoolsite with
the new schoolsite or splits the program of the existing
schoolsite with the new schoolsite so that the existing
schoolsite is subject to a grant reduction.
2) Provides that every student attending a school operating
a program is eligible to participate in the program,
subject to program capacity.
3) Deletes reference to "suburban" with regard to the
equitable geographic distribution of funds.
ASES and ASSETs
4) Authorizes a grantee who receives funds as part of a
partnership or consortium to restructure the partnership or
consortium if all of the following conditions are met:
a) All partners or consortium members agree to
the restructure.
b) The new consortia or partnership structure, or
structures, complies with specified existing
administrative and application requirements.
c) There is no change in the school, or schools,
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served by the restructured partnership or consortium.
d) The California Department of Education (CDE)
agrees to the restructure.
e) For the ASES program, authorizes the
restructure to occur only at the time of grant
renewal.
5) Modifies provisions regarding family fees to
specifically authorize a program to charge family fees, and
require a program to waive or reduce the cost of the fees
for students who are eligible for free or reduced-price
meals (existing law specifies that programs are not
required to charge family fees or to conduct individual
eligibility determinations based on need or income).
ASSETs and 21st Century
6) Establishes the following definitions:
a) "Central California" means California County
Superintendents Educational Services Association
(CCSESA) regions five to eight.
b) "Northern California" means CCSESA regions one
to four.
c) "Southern California" means CCSESA regions 9
to 11.
d) "Urban and rural areas" as defined by the
United States Census Bureau.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. According to the author, "Children in
rural communities are met with challenges that hinder their
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ability to grow socially and academically. In a community
that faces these types of challenges, an after-school
program is oftentimes their only opportunity to better
serve their children. However, due to little resources,
rural communities have a shortage of programs that would
provide for after-school academic assistance and
extracurricular activities. Currently, the geographic
funding distribution formula does not meet the state and
federal requirement that governs the 21st Century Community
Learning Centers and Afterschool Safety and Enrichment for
Teens funds. The purpose of this measure is to ensure a
fair distribution of funding among urban and rural
communities."
2) Recent report. In January 2014, the California Department
of Education (CDE) released the report A Vision for
Expanded Learning in California, which identified four
initiatives: system of support, grant administration and
policy, communication and information systems, and expanded
learning/K-12 integration. Workgroups were subsequently
formed for most of the initiatives, including the Defining
Equity Committee. That committee released a report in
November 2015, containing recommendations, several of which
are implemented by this bill.
[http://www.caexpandedlearning.com/uploads/2/7/3/3/27335217/
defining_equity_recommendations_nov_2015_.pdf]
3) Geographical distribution of funds. This bill requires the
CDE, to the extent possible, to award 21st Century grants
in an equitable distribution to applicants in northern,
southern, and central California, and in urban and rural
areas of the state. Existing law requires the CDE, to the
extent possible, to award After School Safety and
Enrichment for Teens grants in an equitable distribution to
applicants in northern, southern, and central California,
and in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the state (this
bill deletes reference to "suburban"). This proposal was a
recommendation of the Defining Equity Committee. According
to the CDE, the federal government requires a state
educational agency to distribute funds equitably among
geographic areas within the state, including urban and
rural communities.
This bill establishes definitions of geographic areas of the
state using California County Superintendents Educational
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Services Association (CCSESA) regions.
The link to a map of the California County Superintendents
Educational Services Association (CCSESA) regions is as
follows:
[http://ccsesa.org/members/region-map/]
This bill requires the California Department of Education
(CDE) to allocate funds, regarding the requirement for at
least 40% of the total awarded to be for programs serving
students in elementary and middle school, and at least 50%
total awarded to be fore high schools, to each geographic
region by the regional percentage of statewide students who
are eligible for free or reduced-price meals reported to
the CDE for the immediately preceding fiscal year. This
bill requires each region's percentage to be determined by
dividing the region's number of students eligible for free
or reduced-price meals by the statewide number of students
eligible for free or reduced-price meals.
SB 1221 (Hancock, Ch. 370, 2014) included provisions to
assist small/rural programs, such as establishing a new
minimum grant for After School Education and Safety (ASES),
and authorizing transportation funding for ASES programs in
an extreme rural census tract.
4) Flexibility. The bill provides more flexibility to After
School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) and ASES
grant recipients by allowing programs to change schoolsites
within a local educational agency and allowing the
restructuring of partnerships. Existing law allows a
program to change site due to extreme transportation
problems or if participation decreases to fewer than 20
students. This bill will allow a program to change
location if a school closes or restructures. According to
CDE, grantees sometimes need to change partnerships due to
administrative problems, splits in the partnership or due
to fraudulent activities. For ASES programs, the bill also
authorizes the grade levels to be served to be determined
according to local needs.
5) Family fees. This bill modifies ASES and ASSETs provisions
regarding family fees to specifically authorize a program
to charge family fees, and require a program to waive or
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reduce the cost of the fees for students who are eligible
for free or reduced-price meals (existing law specifies
that programs are not required to charge family fees or to
conduct individual eligibility determinations based on need
or income).
6) Fiscal oversight. This bill conforms ASSETs provisions
with existing ASES provisions that allow the CDE to
terminate grant allocations of any site or program that
does not comply with program requirements, including audit
resolutions, fiscal reporting, attendance reporting, or
outcome reporting as required by the CDE. The bill also
adds the authority for CDE to withhold funds to both
programs.
7) Attendance Credit. Currently, program sites that are
affected by natural disaster, civil unrest or are in
imminent danger can receive attendance credit through
approval by the State Board of Education (SBE). According
to the CDE, the SBE questions this role and prefers to be
removed from this process. This bill authorizes the
California Department of Education (CDE) to approve a
request by an After School Education and Safety (ASES) or
After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs)
grantee for student attendance credits equal to the average
annual attendance that the grantee would have received if
it had been able to operate during those times of crises.
8) ASES and 21st Century. Generally, provisions related to
ASES also apply to 21st Century, as many provisions for
21st Century are modeled on those for ASES. The only
section in this bill that does not apply to 21st Century is
§ 8483.7.
9) Technical amendments. The following technical amendments
are recommended by staff:
a) Reinsert amendments to § 8483, relating to ASES,
that were included in the introduced version of this
bill but were inadvertently excluded from subsequent
versions of the bill:
(a)(2) It is the intent of the Legislature that elementary
school and middle school or junior high school pupils
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participate in the full day of the program every day
during which pupils participate and that pupils in
middle school or junior high school attend a minimum
of nine hours a week and three days a week to
accomplish program goals participate except as allowed
by the early release policy pursuant to paragraph (1)
and section 8483.76(f)(2) .
b) In § 8426.5, relating to ASSETs, modify
provisions regarding the definition of a significant
barrier to student participation:
(b)(3) A local educational agency opens a new schoolsite
and either merges the program of an existing
schoolsite with into the new schoolsite or splits the
program of the existing schoolsite student with the
new schoolsite so that the existing schoolsite after
school program is subject to a grant reduction
pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 8426.
c) In § 8482.8, relating to ASES, modify provisions
regarding the definition of a significant barrier to
student participation:
(b)(3) A local educational agency opens a new schoolsite
and either merges the program of an existing
schoolsite with into the new schoolsite or splits
the program of an existing schoolsite students with
the new schoolsite so that the existing schoolsite
before or after school component is subject to a grant
reduction pursuant to subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 8483.7
d) In § 8482.8, relating to ASES, clarify language
regarding transferring program services to another
schoolsite, and modify language regarding merging or
splitting of schoolsites:
(a)(1)(A) The schoolsite shall agree to receive pupils
from, and have an existing grant of the same type as,
the transferring school of attendance with the pupil
participation barrier.
(B) The schoolsite shall not have a 10-percent lower
percentage of pupils eligible for free or
reduced-price meals than the transferring school of
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attendance with the pupil participation barrier. If
the proposed schoolsite is not yet open, feeder school
free or reduced-price meal data, as determined by the
department, shall be considered in evaluating the
proposed transfer.
e) In § 8426(a)(4), relating to ASSETs, align to
provisions for ASES program that authorize the
restructure of a partnership or consortium to occur
only at the time of grant renewal.
10) Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill would have minor/absorbable
costs to the California Department of Education (CDE) to
update the Request for Application for new grant awards,
calculate funding for each region, and provide program
assistance and guidance to the field. Changes to the
distribution of funds based on geographical regions may
result in different funding amounts for certain grantees
than they had received in prior years. CDE notes, however,
that the changes proposed by this bill will be implemented
with a new round of grant funding. The bill also does not
result in overall increases to the program.
11) Related legislation. AB 1567 (Campos) provides homeless
students and students who are in foster care with priority
for enrolling in before and after school programs and
prohibits a program that charges family fees from charging
a fee to a family of a homeless or foster care student. AB
1567 is pending on the Assembly Floor.
SB 645 (Hancock) authorized an After School Education and Safety
program to suspend operation for up to five days in a
fiscal year beginning January 1, 2016. SB 645 was held in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
SUPPORT
California State PTA
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson
OPPOSITION
None received.
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