BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 572|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 572
Author: Pan (D)
Amended: 4/22/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6-2, 4/15/15
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan
NOES: Huff, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SUBJECT: School facilities: school district advisory
committee: use or disposition of school buildings:
school closures
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires the governing board of a school
district to appoint a district advisory committee prior to the
closing of a school within the district, and outlines the
membership and responsibilities of the committee.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Declares the intent of the Legislature that the community be
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involved before decisions are made about school closure or the
use of surplus space. (Education Code § 17387)
2)Authorizes the governing board of any school district to
appoint a district advisory committee (DAC) to advise the
governing board in the development of districtwide policies
and procedures governing the use or disposition of school
buildings or space in school buildings which is not needed for
school purposes. Requires the appointment of a DAC purpose
prior to the sale, lease, or rental of any excess real
property, but makes an exception to this requirement for
rentals for 30 days or less. (Education Code § 17388)
3)Outlines the membership of the DAC and its duties. (Education
Code § 17389-17390)
This bill:
1)Requires the governing board of a school district to appoint a
DAC prior to the closing of a school within the district to
advise the governing board regarding the school closure.
2)Requires that a school DAC appointed for the purpose of
advising on a school closure be representative of a cross
section of community members, including pupil representatives,
who are interested in, and may be affected by, the school
closure.
3)Requires that a school DAC created for the purpose of advising
on a school closure be involved in fact finding necessary for
an informal recommendation regarding school closure.
4)Authorizes the fact finding duties of the school DAC to
include, but not be limited to, consideration of enrollment
projection, capacity and condition of facilities, uniqueness
of educational programs, environmental and safety concerns,
potential cost savings, housing and transportation options for
displaced students and transition strategies.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. This bill is prompted by the closure of
two Sacramento schools. According to the author, parents and
community stakeholders were brought into the conversation
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after the school board had already decided to close the
school. SB 572 seeks to establish a DAC for the purpose of
advising the school board whether or not to close a school and
to determine how to move forward based upon the decision. The
decision to close a school can profoundly affect parents,
entire communities, district personnel, and of course,
students. At the same time, a decision to not close a school
faced with declining enrollment, performance, and financial
support, can be irresponsible. In either case, the author
opines that it is vital to engage the community, parents,
district personnel, and students throughout the entire
decision process because their lives are most affected.
Existing law allows, but does not require the use of an
advisory committee before decisions are made about school
closure.
2)School closures. It is unclear how many school closures occur
in California annually. While districts do generally notify
the California Department of Education (CDE) of school
closures, due to the broad definitions used to define a
"closure" the data collected is problematic and potentially
overstates the type of "closure" intended to be affected by
this bill. It is also unclear how many districts that
initiate a school closure already establish a DAC. According
to information provided by the author, nationally about 1% of
schools have closed since 1995.
Current law does not require a district to take specific
steps when closing a school, but does specify the
Legislature's intent that there be community involvement
prior to these decisions being made. The CDE has developed
a Closing a School Best Practices Guide, available on its
website, which recommends that a DAC be formed for this
purpose and be involved in the fact-finding necessary for
an informal recommendation about school closure. The CDE
recommends the statutory DAC be expanded to include a
cross-section of community members who have an interest in
and may be affected by school closures. The CDE also
recommends that the DAC duties involve the determination of
enrollment projections and their impact on surplus space,
that it inventory the capacity and conditions of existing
facilities, determine per-student operating costs at each
facility; consider the uniqueness of the educational
program at each site, evaluate specific schools considered
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for closure and identify specific new environmental/safety
concerns for each site, determine projected cost-savings
for each school considered for closure; identify
housing/transportation options for displaced students,
consider cost benefits of various property disposition/use
options, recommend transition strategies; make specific
recommendations about specific school sites to the board,
and assess the impact of school closure on district's
insurance coverage.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Potentially significant costs may result if the requirements
in this bill result in a reimbursable state mandate, depending
on the frequency of closures.
To the extent a DAC contributes to a decision to not pursue
school closure, the school district would not achieve related
cost savings.
Though this bill does not impose any additional requirements
on CDE, there may be pressure for CDE to provide technical
assistance to school districts resulting in costs in the low
tens of thousands in General Fund.
SUPPORT: (Verified 5/28/15)
California Association of Student Councils
United Way of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/28/15)
None received
Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
5/31/15 12:19:46
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