BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 527
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
527 (Liu)
As Amended August 15, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 24-10
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Olsen, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |16-1 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Gallagher |
| | |Bonilla, Bonta, | |
| | |Calderon, Chang, | |
| | |Daly, Eggman, Eduardo | |
| | |Garcia, Holden, | |
| | |Obernolte, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, | |
| | |Wood, McCarty | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SB 527
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SUMMARY: Establishes the Learning Communities for School
Success Program for the purpose of implementing the K-12
education portion of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act,
approved as Proposition 47 by the voters at the November 4,
2014, statewide general election. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to
administer a grant program and support local educational
agencies (LEAs) in identifying and implementing
evidence-based, nonpunitive programs and practices that are
aligned with the goals for pupils contained in each LEA's
local control and accountability plan (LCAP).
2)Requires LEAs to submit an application to the CDE to receive a
grant, in a format and by a date determined by the CDE.
Requires the application to include, at a minimum, all of the
following:
a) Information about the pupil and school needs within the
LEA.
b) The activities the LEA will undertake with the grant
funding.
c) How the activities support the LEA's goals for pupils
contained in its LCAP.
d) How the LEA will measure outcomes associated with the
proposed activities and metrics reported in the LEA's LCAP.
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3)Specifies that the grant shall be for three years 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.
4)Requires the CDE to determine eligibility for grants and the
distribution of grant funding based on all of the following
factors:
a) Pupil and school needs the LEA will address with the
grant funds.
b) Number of pupils 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.
e) The unique characteristics of small school districts,
given their challenges with economies of scale and access
to services in rural locations.
5)Requires the CDE to conducted targeted outreach to LEAs that
are likely to be given priority as specified by this bill and
offer the LEAs technical assistance as they develop their
grant applications. 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.
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6) Requires the CDE to issue application guidelines that
include, at a minimum, information about the CDE's plans for
overall evaluation of the program. Requires the CDE, in
consultation with the Executive Director of the State Board of
Education, to 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.
7)Requires the 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.
Expresses the intent of the Legislature 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.
8)Requires a LEA that receives a grant to 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 school.
Requires the activities to complement or enhance the actions
and services identified to meet the LEA's goals as identified
in its LCAP. Specifies that these activities may include, but
are not limited to, all of the following:
a) Establishing a community school.
b) Implementing activities or programs to improve
attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, including, but
not limited to, early warning systems or early intervention
programs.
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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 pupils to law enforcement agencies.
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, nonpunitive 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 necessarily limited to, conducting
outreach to families and children currently, or at risk of
becoming, chronically truant.
9)Authorizes the CDE 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 pupil
population or for a numerically significant pupil subgroup,
as identified in the LCAP. Defines "high rate" as a rate
that exceeds the state average.
b) Is located in a community with a high crime rate.
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c) Has a significant representation of foster youth among
its pupil enrollment.
10)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 local
contribution can be from cash expenditures or in-kind
contributions. A LEA is encouraged to exceed the 20% match
requirement to enable the LEA to sustain the activities or
programs established under this article beyond the
three-year grant period.
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.
11)Authorizes 5% of the funds to be used for the administrative
costs of implementing this bill, including, but not limited
to, administering grant awards, coordinating the training and
technical assistance structure, and completing an evaluation.
12)Requires the CDE to 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. Authorizes the CDE to contract with
those providers to assist the grantees as well as to serve as
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a resource for other LEAs that may use their own funding
sources to engage in this community of practice. Specifies
that the technical assistance provided shall be consistent
with the technical assistance provided to a LEA by the county
superintendent of schools or the State Superintendent of
Public Instruction, as appropriate, in the development of the
LCAP.
13)Requires a LEA that receives grant funding pursuant to this
bill 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 pursuant to this bill. Requires the
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
pupil and school outcomes associated with the strategies and
programs implemented by grantees. Requires the CDE to 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, submitted in compliance with Government Code Section
9795.
14)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 pupils,
families, and community members.
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b) "Local educational agency" means a school district,
county office of education (COE), or charter school.
15)Specifies that the provisions of this bill 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 bill.
16)Makes the enactment of this bill contingent upon the
enactment of AB 1014 (Thurmond) of the current legislative
session.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee:
1)The 2016-17 Budget provides a total of $27.9 for the purposes
of this bill. Specifically, the budget includes $9.9 million
in Proposition 47 savings and an additional $18 million in
one-time Proposition 98 funds to implement the K-12 grant
program required under Proposition 47, pursuant to
legislation.
2)Administrative costs to the CDE in the range of $400,000 to
$800,000 to administer grants, provide technical assistance,
and collect and analyze data. This bill, consistent with the
Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, allows the CDE to use no
more than 5% of the funding the department receives from the
Act for administrative costs.
COMMENTS: In November 2014, voters approved Proposition 47,
establishing the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act. The
Proposition reduced penalties for specified non-violent drug and
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property crimes, resulting in a reduced prison population and
thereby reduced state costs. The Proposition requires the
Department of Finance to, on or before July 31st of each fiscal
year, beginning with July 31, 2016, to calculate the savings
derived by the Proposition during the preceding fiscal year.
The savings are required to be allocated for the following
purposes:
1)Twenty-five percent to the CDE to administer a grant program
to public agencies aimed at improving outcomes for public
school pupils in kindergarten through grade 12 by reducing
truancy and supporting students who are at risk of dropping
out of school or are victims of crime.
2)Ten percent to the California Victim Compensation and
Government Claims Board, to make grants to trauma recovery
centers to provide services to victims of crime pursuant to
Section 13963.1 of the Government Code.
3)Sixty-five percent to the Board of State and Community
Corrections, to administer a grant program to public agencies
aimed at supporting mental health treatment, substance abuse
treatment, and diversion programs for people in the criminal
justice system, with an emphasis on programs that reduce
recidivism of people convicted of less serious crimes, such as
those covered by the Proposition, and those who have substance
abuse and mental health problems.
Purpose of this bill. This bill establishes a grant program to
implement the requirement to direct 25% of the funds to K-12
schools to reduce truancy and support students who are at risk
of dropping out of school or are victims of crime. School
districts, COEs and charter schools are eligible to apply for
three years of grant funding for planning, implementation, and
evaluation of activities in support of evidence-based,
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nonpunitive programs and practices to keep students in school,
consistent with the LEA's goals established in the LCAP.
Each LEA is required to develop a LCAP to establish how local
control funding formula funds are used. LEAs are required to
describe their goals for meeting eight state priorities,
including "pupil engagement," as measured by factors such as
school attendance rate and chronic absenteeism rate, and "school
climate," as measured by suspension and expulsion rates.
Implementation of the program. This bill requires the CDE to
establish parameters for the program, in consultation with
stakeholders, but specifies that priority for funding shall go
to LEAs with a high rate of chronic absenteeism, out-of-school
suspension, or pupil dropouts; LEAs located in communities with
high crime rates; or LEAs with significant representation of
foster youth.
This bill requires the CDE to distribute funds based on the
following: 1) pupil and school needs to be addressed; 2) the
number of pupils to be served; 3) the number, size, and type of
participating schools within the LEA; 4) whether the LEA
experiences any challenges in building capacity for fulfilling
the purposes of this bill; and 5) the unique characteristics of
small school districts and their challenges.
Use of funds. This bill authorizes funds to be used to
establish a community school, implement activities or programs
to improve attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, implement
restorative practices, restorative justice models to keep
students in school and reduce referrals of pupils to law
enforcement agencies, implement activities that promote
social-emotional and positive learning environments,
establishing partnerships with community-based organizations to
support implementation of evidence-based, nonpunitive
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approaches, and adding or increasing staff whose primary purpose
is to address attendance issues. This bill specifically
prohibits funds to be used to pay for law enforcement personnel
or equipment.
Technical assistance. This bill requires the CDE to identify
and outreach to LEAs that meet the priorities for funding to
provide assistance in developing their applications. This bill
also requires the CDE to establish a structure to provide
training and technical assistance to grantees, such as providing
regional workshops, on strategies to improve pupil engagement,
reduce truancy, improve school climate, and support pupils who
are at risk of dropping out or who are victims of crime.
Local match. This bill requires a 20% local match, either
through cash expenditures or in-kind contributions.
This bill is identical to AB 1014 (Thurmond) of the current
legislative session. The enactment of this bill is contingent
upon the enactment of that bill.
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0004078
SB 527
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