BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 527|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 527
Author: Liu (D), et al.
Amended: 8/15/16
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 4/29/15
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-1, 1/21/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Nielsen
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 8/26/16 (pursuant to Senate
Rule 29.10)
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
SENATE FLOOR: 24-10, 1/26/16
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Glazer, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva,
Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Roth,
Wieckowski
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Fuller, Gaines, Huff, Moorlach,
Morrell, Nielsen, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bates, Cannella, Galgiani, Nguyen, Runner,
Wolk
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 63-15, 8/18/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Education finance: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund: Learning Communities for School Success
Program
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SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill establishes a grant program, to be
administered by the California Department of Education (CDE),
that furthers the purpose of Proposition 47 in reducing truancy
and supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of
school or who are victims of crime.
Assembly Amendments recast the provisions of the bill, which now
reflects the framework agreed upon by both Houses of the
Legislature, in collaboration with the CDE, Department of
Justice, Department of Finance, and stakeholders.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Establishes the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, through
passage of Proposition 47 in November 2014, which reduces the
penalties for certain non-violent, non-serious drug and
property crimes. Existing law requires 25% of the resulting
savings to be deposited in the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools
Fund to fund a grant program administered by the CDE to reduce
truancy and support students who are at risk of dropping out
of school or who are victims of crime. (Government Code §
7599, et seq.)
2)Requires local educational agencies to adopt and annually
update a local control and accountability plan (LCAP), which
must include a description of annual goals to meet the state
priorities, and any additional local priorities, for all
students and each numerically significant subgroup and a
description of the specific actions to achieve the goals
identified in the LCAP. (Education Code § 52060 and § 52066)
This bill:
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1) Establishes the Learning Communities for School Success
Program to implement the K-12 education portion of the Safe
Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47).
2) Requires the CDE to administer a grant program and
coordinate assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) in
identifying and implementing evidence-based, non-punitive
programs and practices that are aligned with the goals for
students contained in each LEA's LCAP.
Application
3) Requires a LEA that chooses to apply for funding to submit
an application to the CDE, in a format and by a date
determined by the CDE. This bill requires the application to
include, at a minimum, all of the following:
a) Information about the student 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
students contained in its LCAP.
d) How the LEA will measure outcomes associated with the
proposed activities and metrics reported in the LEA's
LCAP.
4) Requires the CDE to issue application guidelines that
include, at a minimum, information about the CDE's plans for
overall evaluation of the program considering the objectives
in #13. This bill requires the CDE, in consultation with the
executive director of the State Board of Education, for
purposes of facilitating program evaluation, to identify a
set of measures and associated data sources that are deemed
valid and reliable for measuring student and school outcomes
and assessing the benefits of the program.
5) Requires CDE to consult with stakeholders, including but not
limited to, representatives of LEAs, teachers and other
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school personnel, parents, advocacy organizations with
experience working with target vulnerable populations, and
parent- and youth-serving community-based organizations. This
bill states legislative intent 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.
Grant awards
6) Requires the CDE to determine eligibility for grants and the
distribution of grant funding based on all of the following
factors:
a) Student and school needs the LEA will address with the
grant funds.
b) Number of students 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.
7) Requires the CDE, before the initial application deadline,
to conduct targeted outreach to LEAs that are likely to be
given priority for funding and offer the LEAs technical
assistance as they develop their grant applications. This
bill 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.
8) Provides that an application is to be for three years of
funding 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
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period.
Use of grant funds
9) Requires a LEA that receives a grant to use the grant funds
for planning, implementation, and evaluation of activities in
support of evidence-based, non-punitive programs and
practices to keep the state's most vulnerable students in
school. This bill requires these activities to complement or
enhance the actions and services identified to meet the LEA's
goals as identified in its LCAP. This bill authorizes these
activities to include but not be limited to, all of the
following:
a) Establishing a community school, as defined.
b) Implementing activities or programs to improve
attendance and reduce chronic absenteeism, including but
not limited to, early warning systems or early
intervention programs.
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 students 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, non-punitive 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 limited to, conducting outreach to
families and children currently, or at risk of becoming,
chronically truant.
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Priority for funding
10)Authorizes the CDE, in selecting grant recipients, 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 student
population or for a numerically significant student
subgroup, as identified in the LCAP. This bill defines
"high rate" as a rate that exceeds the state average.
b) Is located in a community with a high crime rate.
c) Has a significant representation of foster youth among
its student enrollment.
Other requirements
11)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 bill
authorizes the local contribution to be from cash
expenditures or in-kind contributions, and encourages a
LEA to exceed the 20% match requirement to enable the LEA
to sustain the activities or programs 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.
Training and technical assistance
12)Requires CDE to establish a structure to deliver training
and technical assistance to grantees using regional workshops
and technical assistance providers that have expertise on
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student engagement, school climate, truancy reduction, and
supporting students who are at risk of dropping out of school
or who are victims of crime. This bill authorizes CDE to
contract with those providers to assist the grantees as well
as to serve as a resource for other LEAs that may use their
own funding sources to engage in this community of practice.
This bill requires technical assistance provided pursuant to
this bill to be consistent with the technical assistance
provided to a LEA by the county superintendent of schools or
the Superintendent of Public Instruction in the development
of the LCAP.
Evaluation and report
13)Requires a LEA that receives grant funding 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 with the
grant funds. This bill requires 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 student and
school outcomes associated with the strategies and programs
implemented by grantees. This bill requires CDE to submit an
interim report of preliminary evaluation findings to the
Legislature by January 31, 2019, and a final evaluation
report to the Legislature by January 31, 2020.
Miscellaneous
14)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 the
evaluation.
15)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
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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
students, families, and community members.
b) "Local educational agency" means a school district,
county office of education, or charter school.
16)Prohibits the provisions of this bill from becoming
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.
17)Provides that this bill is contingent upon the passage of AB
1014 (Thurmond).
Comments
Package deal. This bill is the result of an agreement on a
framework between both Houses of the Legislature, in
collaboration with the CDE, Department of Justice, Department of
Finance, and stakeholders. This bill implements the framework,
along with AB 1014 (Thurmond), which is identical to this bill.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee:
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.
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
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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.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/24/16)
Advancement Project
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/24/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 63-15, 8/18/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Baker, Bloom,
Bonilla, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau,
Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Eggman,
Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,
Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hadley, Holden, Irwin,
Jones-Sawyer, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein,
McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell,
Olsen, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wilk,
Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Travis Allen, Bigelow, Brough, Dahle, Dodd, Beth Gaines,
Gallagher, Grove, Harper, Jones, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Patterson, Wagner
NO VOTE RECORDED: Roger Hernández, Kim
Prepared by:Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/29/16 9:19:09
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