BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2791
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Date of Hearing: April 12, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION
Jose Medina, Chair
AB 2791
(Medina) - As Amended March 29, 2016
SUBJECT: Community colleges: Disability Services Program
SUMMARY: For purposes of apportionment to the California
Community Colleges (CCC) educational programs and support
services for disabled students, defines disabled students for
whom funded services can be provided to include students who
have applied to a CCC and enrolled in disabled student services
programs or courses.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires the CCC Board of Governors (BOG) to adopt rules and
regulations for the administration and funding of educational
programs and support services (Disabled Student Programs and
Services (DSPS)) to be provided to disabled students by CCC
districts.
2)Defines disabled students to be persons with exceptional needs
who have enrolled at a CCC who, because of a verified
disability, cannot fully benefit from classes, activities, and
services regularly provided by the CCC without specific
additional specialized services.
AB 2791
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3)Provides that the BOG regulations shall provide for the
apportionment of funds to each CCC district to offset the
direct excess cost of providing specialized support services
or instruction, or both, to disabled students enrolled in
state-supported programs or courses.
4)Provides, as a condition of receiving funds pursuant to this
section, each CCC district shall certify that reasonable
efforts have been made to utilize all funds from federal,
state, or local sources which are available for serving
disabled students. Districts shall also provide the
programmatic and fiscal information concerning programs and
services for disabled students that the regulations of the
board of governors require.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Purpose of this bill. In 2015, the CCC Chancellor's
Office issued implementing guidelines to districts, citing
Section 56062 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations,
which requires a person with a disability to be enrolled at a
CCC to qualify for DSPS. While this interpretation and
regulation appears consistent with statute, the new directive
raised concerns within the disabled student services community
that this guidance may result in CCC districts not providing
services to students who have applied but have not yet
"enrolled" in courses.
According to the author, "this guidance creates a conflict
between the services that must be provided by the college for
students with disabilities and the funding mechanism for the
bulk of those services. Federal and state laws and regulations
require that services be provided for students in a timely and
AB 2791
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effective manner. In order to do that, the DSPS programs must
provide some services before an academic term begins. If a
student is blind and needs their books in Braille the DSPS
office generally must be working on that task for weeks to have
the books ready by the beginning of the course. If someone is
deaf and needs a sign language interpreter, the DSPS office must
meet with the student and schedule those services ahead of time.
For students coming directly out of high school special
education programs, many students need multiple interactions
with DSPS staff to determine appropriate services and to explain
processes and procedures in order for the student to have
services ready as soon as their classes begin."
This bill would specify a practice that, according to supporters
has been mutually agreed upon for decades, allows DSPS programs
at CCC districts to provide services to students who have
applied to and enrolled in a college DSPS program to be
considered "disabled purposes", even though they may not yet
have started attending courses at the college.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
Opposition
None on File
AB 2791
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Analysis Prepared by:Laura Metune / HIGHER ED. / (916) 319-3960