Amended in Assembly August 15, 2016

Amended in Assembly June 6, 2016

Amended in Senate January 13, 2016

Amended in Senate April 20, 2015

Senate Bill No. 527

Introduced by Senator Liu

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(Coauthor: Assembly Member Thurmond)

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February 26, 2015

An act to add Article 10 (commencing with Section 33430) to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of, and to repeal Section 33434 of, the Education Code, relating to education finance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 527, as amended, Liu. Education finance: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success Program.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted by Proposition 47, as approved by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, among other things, established the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, which is funded by savings that accrue to the state from the implementation of the act. The act provides that, among other purposes, 25% of the funds shall be disbursed to the State Department of Education to administer a grant program to public agencies aimed at improving outcomes for public school pupils by reducing truancy and supporting pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school or are victims of crime.

This bill would establish the Learning Communities for School Success Program for the purpose of implementing that grant program, subject to an appropriation to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund in the annual Budget Act or another measure for the purposes of the bill. The bill would specify the administrative duties and responsibilities of the department with respect to the program, including administering grants and coordinating assistance to local educational agencies, as defined. The bill would set forth criteria to guide the department in awarding grants under the begin delete program end delete begin insert program, end insert and would specify the purposes for which grant funds may be used. The bill would require the department to submit a final evaluation of the program to the Legislature on or before January 31, 2020.

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These provisions would become operative only if AB 1014 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is chaptered and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017.

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Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, approved as
Proposition 47 by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide
general election (the act), made significant changes to the state’s
criminal justice system by reducing the penalties for certain
nonviolent, nonserious drug and property crimes. The act requires
the state savings realized from these criminal justice changes to
be deposited in the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund and
spent on prevention and support services with the intent of reducing
crime, including truancy and dropout prevention.

(b) The act requires 25 percent of the moneys deposited in the
Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund to be allocated to the State
Department of Education for administration of a grant program to
reduce truancy and support pupils who are at risk of dropping out
of school or who are victims of crime.

(c) In accordance with the act, the funding provided to K-12
education should be used to help build the capacity of local
educational agencies to identify and implement evidence-based,
nonpunitive programs and practices to keep our most vulnerable
pupils in school, consistent with each local educational agency’s
local control and accountability plan, including, but not limited
to, its goals for pupil engagement and school climate.

(d) California needs to increase the knowledge base concerning
which strategies are most effective for improving pupil success
and eliminating the school-to-prison begin delete pipeline. end delete begin insert pipeline, including,
but not necessarily limited to, providing resources to local
educational agencies to establish community schools and address
pupil attendance problems in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3,
inclusive. end insert One manner in which this can be accomplished is for
the local educational agencies participating in the K-12 education
grant program pursuant to the act to report and evaluate outcomes
using multiple measures, while engaging in a broader community
of practice that disseminates promising and proven strategies to
local educational agencies statewide.

SEC. 2.  

Article 10 (commencing with Section 33430) is added
to Chapter 3 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Education
Code, to read:

 

Article 10.  The Learning Communities for School Success
Program

 

33430.  

The Learning Communities for School Success Program
is hereby established for the purpose of implementing, pursuant
to paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 7599.2 of the
Government Code, the K-12 education portion of the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act, as approved as Proposition 47
by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election.
Through this program, the department shall administer grants and
coordinate assistance to local educational agencies to support the
local educational agencies in identifying and implementing
evidence-based, nonpunitive programs and practices that are
aligned with the goals for pupils contained in each of the local
educational agency’s local control and accountability plan pursuant
to Section 47606.5, 52060, or 52066, as applicable.

33431.  

(a) A local educational agency that chooses to apply
for funding pursuant to this article shall submit an application to
the department to receive a grant, in a format and by a date
determined by the department. An application submitted to the
department by a local educational agency shall include, at a
minimum, all of the following:

(1) Information about the pupil and school needs within the
local educational agency.

(2) The activities the local educational agency will undertake
with the grant funding.

(3) How the activities specified in paragraph (2) support the
local educational agency’s goals for pupils contained in its local
control and accountability plan.

(4) How the local educational agency will measure outcomes
associated with the activities specified in subdivision (e) and
metrics reported in the local educational agency’s local control
and accountability plan.

(b) An application shall be for three years of grant funding.
Consistent with the provisions of this article, the department may
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.

(c) The department shall determine eligibility for grants and the
distribution of grant funding based on all of the following factors:

(1) Pupil and school needs the local educational agency will
address with the grant funds.

(2) Number of pupils to be served with the grant funds.

(3) Number, size, and type of participating schools within the
local educational agency.

(4) Any challenges the local educational agency experiences in
building capacity for fulfilling the purposes of this article.

(5) The unique characteristics of small school districts, given
their challenges with economies of scale and access to services in
rural locations.

(d) (1) Before the initial application deadline, the department
shall conduct targeted outreach to local educational agencies that
are likely to be given priority pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section
33432 and shall offer the local educational agencies technical
assistance as they develop their grant applications.

(2) The department may provide technical assistance with
application development to any local educational agency that
requests assistance. This may include assistance from external
entities the department may contract with as part of the training
and technical assistance structure established pursuant to Section
33433.

(e) The department shall issue application guidelines that
include, at a minimum, information begin delete on the outcome metrics the
department will use to evaluate the program. When determining
outcome metrics, the department shall consider metrics currently
being collected and used by existing federal, state, or local
programs. Consistent with the objective of the Safe Neighborhoods
and Schools Act to reduce crime, including truancy and dropout
prevention, the department shall consider using metrics for pupil
truancy and school dropout, among others. end delete begin insert about the department’s
plans for overall evaluation of the program considering the
objectives identified in Section 33434. For purposes of facilitating
program evaluation, the department, in consultation with the
executive director of the state board, shall identify a set of
measures and associated data sources that are deemed valid and
reliable for measuring pupil and school outcomes and assessing
the benefits of the program. end insert

(f) In meeting the requirements of this section, the department
shall consult with stakeholders, including, but not limited to,
representatives of local educational agencies, teachers and other
school personnel, parents, advocacy organizations with experience
working with target vulnerable populations, and parent- and
youth-serving community-based organizations. It the intent of the
Legislature that stakeholders provide input to the department on
the design of the application and review process, including the
size of the grant awards. The stakeholders shall not be involved
in determining who will be awarded grants.

33432.  

(a) A local educational agency that receives a grant
shall use the grant funds for planning, implementation, and
evaluation of activities in support of evidence-based, nonpunitive
programs and practices to keep the state’s most vulnerable pupils
in begin delete school, consistent with end delete begin insert school. These activities shall complement
or enhance the actions and services identified to meet end insert the local
educational agency’s goals begin delete for the pupil engagement and school
climate state priorities end delete as identified in its local control and
accountability plan pursuant to Section 47606.5, 52060, or 52066,
as applicable. These activities may include, but are not limited to,
all of the following:

(1) Establishing a community school, as defined in Section
33435.

(2) Implementing activities or programs to improve attendance
and reduce chronic absenteeism, including, but not limited to, early
warning systems or early intervention programs.

(3) Implementing restorative practices, restorative justice
models, or other programs to improve retention rates, reduce
suspensions and other school removals, and reduce the referral of
pupils to law enforcement agencies.

(4) Implementing activities that advance social-emotional
learning, positive behavior interventions and supports, culturally
responsive practices, and trauma-informed strategies.

(5) Establishing partnerships with community-based
organizations or other relevant entities to support the
implementation of evidence-based, nonpunitive approaches to
further the goals of the program.

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(6) Adding or increasing staff within a local educational agency
whose primary purpose is to address ongoing chronic attendance
problems, including, but not necessarily limited to, conducting
outreach to families and children currently, or at risk of becoming,
chronically truant.

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(b) In selecting grant recipients pursuant to this article, the
department shall give priority to a local educational agency that
meets any of the following criteria:

(1) (A) Has a high rate of chronic absenteeism, out-of-school
suspension, or school dropout for the general pupil population or
for a numerically significant pupil subgroup, as identified in a local
control and accountability plan pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3)
of subdivision (a) of Section 52052.

(B) For purposes of this paragraph, “high rate” means a rate
that exceeds the state average.

(2) Is located in a community with a high crime rate.

(3) Has a significant representation of foster youth among its
pupil enrollment.

(c) A local educational agency that receives a grant shall provide
a local contribution of matching expenditures equal to at least 20
percent of the total grant award. This local contribution can be
from cash expenditures or in-kind contributions. A local
educational agency is encouraged to exceed the 20-percent match
requirement to enable the local educational agency to sustain the
activities or programs established under this article beyond the
three-year grant period.

(d) A local educational agency that receives a grant shall use
the grant funds to begin delete supplement and not supplant the existing
resources the local educational agency currently allocates end delete begin insert increase
or improve services that the local educational agency currently
provides end insert for purposes specified in this article.

(e) A local educational agency shall not use grant funds to pay
for law enforcement activities, including personnel or equipment.

33433.  

(a) The department shall use the funding the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act authorizes for administrative costs
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 7599.2 of the Government
Code, which is no more than 5 percent of the annual funding the
department receives from the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund, for the administrative costs of implementing this article,
including, but not limited to, administering grant awards,
coordinating the training and technical assistance structure
described in subdivision (b), and completing the evaluation
pursuant to Section 33434.

(b) The department shall establish a structure to deliver training
and technical assistance to grantees using regional workshops and
technical assistance providers that have expertise on pupil
engagement, school climate, truancy reduction, and supporting
pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school or who are victims
of crime. The department may contract with those providers to
assist the grantees as well as to serve as a resource for other local
educational agencies that may use their own funding sources to
engage in this community of practice. begin insert Technical assistance
provided pursuant to this subdivision shall be consistent with the
technical assistance provided to a local educational agency by the
county superintendent of schools or the Superintendent, as
appropriate, in the development of the local control and
accountability plan. end insert

33434.  

(a) A local educational agency that receives grant
funding pursuant to this article shall evaluate and report to the
governing board of the school district, the county board of
education, or its chartering authority, as applicable, and the
department the results of the activities it undertakes pursuant to
this article. The department shall compile information from grantee
reports as part of an overall evaluation of the grant program
implementation. The department shall assess the benefits of
participation in the program and identify the pupil and school
outcomes associated with the strategies and programs implemented
by grantees. The department shall submit an interim report of
preliminary evaluation findings to the Legislature on or before
January 31, 2019, and a final evaluation report to the Legislature
on or before January 31, 2020.

(b) (1) A report to be submitted pursuant to subdivision (a)
shall be submitted in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.

(2) Pursuant to Section 10231.5 of the Government Code, this
section is repealed on January 31, 2024.

33435.  

For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:

(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 schoolsite to pupils, families, and community
members.

(b) “Local educational agency” means a school district, county
office of education, or charter school.

33436.  

This article shall not become 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 article.

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begin insert SEC. 3. end insert   

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begin insert Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall become operative
only if Assembly Bill No. 1014 of the 2015-16 Regular Session is
chaptered and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017. end insert