BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1014
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1014
(Liu) - As Amended August 1, 2016
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|Policy | Education |Vote:|7-0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill authorizes a school district to grant parental leave
to a student, and provides that such absences generate average
daily attendance (ADA) funding, if the school district files an
expectant and parenting student policy with the California
Department of Education (CDE). Specifically, this bill:
1)Authorizes a school district to provide a parenting student
who gives or expects to give birth, up to six weeks of
parental leave and a parenting student not giving birth
(father), up to three weeks of leave after the birth.
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Specifies the length of leave must be determined by the
student.
2)Authorizes absences due to parental leave to generate ADA.
For purposes of calculating ADA, one day of attendance will be
credited for each hour spent on "activities related to the
instruction of that student", specified as contact with the
student. The total hours cannot exceed the authorized leave
allowance.
3)Specifies that absences due to parental leave are to count
toward calculating ADA only if the school district of
attendance files an expectant and parenting pupil policy with
the California Department of Education (CDE), including
procedures for ensuring students are provided with schoolwork
while on parental leave.
4)Authorizes a student to generate up to four excused absences
per school year to care for a sick child.
5)Requires school districts to notify pregnant and parenting
students of their rights and options available under federal
Title IX and existing state law through annual school year
welcome packets, through independent study packets, on the
school district's website, in lactation rooms, and in locker
rooms.
6)Modifies the existing definition of "temporary disability" to
include pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of
pregnancy, and recovery therefrom.
7)Requires a school district to provide a student with a
temporary disability in a qualifying hospital as a result of
pregnancy with guidelines for makeup work plan development if
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the option for individualized instruction is not available at
the student's school or school district.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)Proposition 98/GF costs, potentially in the range of $20
million to $45 million, to include absences related to
parental leave in the calculation of ADA for school districts.
The higher estimate assumes approximately 20,000 mothers take
the six month leave and 20,000 fathers take the three month
leave at an ADA rate of $50 per day. Actual costs will depend
upon whether districts file an expectant and parenting student
policy, the number of students that choose to take leave, the
total leave taken, and hours of instruction provided to the
student on parental leave.
2)Unknown state mandated costs, likely in the low hundreds of
thousands of dollars, for school districts to expand the
existing annual parent notification mandate and disseminate
information.
3)One-time General Fund administrative costs to CDE of
approximately $85,000 to make revisions to the Principal
Apportionment and Data Collection System to account for
absences attributed to parental leave. Ongoing costs of
approximately $50,000 GF to provide technical assistance to
districts to implement the new policy.
COMMENTS:
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1)Purpose. According to the author, in 2012 nearly 35,000
children in California were born to individuals between the
ages of 15 to 19. Pregnant and parenting students face
obstacles in receiving equal educational opportunities. Some
of these obstacles include: inconsistent access to excused
"family leave" (male parents often have no access to bonding
time); involuntary transfers due to high absence rates related
to pregnancy and parenting responsibilities; varying levels of
support and engagement from their schools while absent;
encouragement to pursue independent study that may not fulfill
A-G Requirements needed for college entrance; and a lack of
awareness of parenting student rights under Title IX and
California law. This bill takes a step towards providing
assistance to pregnant and parenting students by allowing
school districts to receive a full day of ADA funding for
providing just one hour of activities related to instruction
to the student. School districts must file an expectant and
parenting student policy with CDE to receive this funding.
2)Mandated costs. This bill requires school districts to notify
pregnant and parenting students of their rights and options
available under federal Title IX and existing state law,
through annual school year welcome packets, independent study
packets, on the school district's website, in lactation rooms,
and in locker rooms. This requirement likely expands the
existing consolidated annual parent notification mandate
which, before the K-12 mandate block grant, averaged costs of
about $9 million per year. To the extent the Commission on
State Mandates determines these activities to be reimbursable;
this could create pressure to increase the K-12 mandate block
grant.
3)Average Daily Attendance. General purpose state funding is
driven by the average daily attendance (ADA) of students in a
school district. ADA is generated by students attending
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classes under the immediate supervision of a properly
credentialed teacher. Existing law prohibits excused absences
from generating state aid derived by ADA, but does allow a
district to recover a day of lost attendance if the student
chooses to attend Saturday school. Excused absences include
those due to the illness or medical appointment of a student's
child. Existing federal law, known as Title IX, among other
things, excuses absences due to pregnancy or childbirth for as
long as the student's doctor says is necessary, and gives
students the opportunity to make up any missed assignments.
Consistent with existing ADA requirements, the committee may
wish to consider clarifying "contact with the pupil" to mean
direct instruction under the immediate supervision of an
employee of the district who possesses a valid certification
document.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081