BILL NUMBER: SB 376 CHAPTERED 09/23/00 CHAPTER 581 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 23, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 22, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 28, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 25, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 28, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 3, 2000 INTRODUCED BY Senator Ortiz (Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Cox) FEBRUARY 11, 1999 An act to amend Section 42238.2 of the Education Code, relating to school districts. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 376, Ortiz. School districts: declining enrollment. Existing law requires the county superintendent of schools to determine a revenue limit for each school district in the county for each fiscal year. Existing law authorizes a school district that experiences a decline in units of average daily attendance (ADA) in excess of 8% due to a military base closure to elect to receive adjustments to its ADA calculation to ameliorate the effects of the decline in enrollment. Existing law requires the school district to commence repayment of the loan no later than the 4th year after the year preceding a decline in ADA. This bill would also allow a school district that experiences a decline in units of ADA in excess of 5% to elect to receive adjustments to its ADA calculation to ameliorate the effects of the decline in enrollment if the Director of Finance determines that the school district is likely, within 8 years of that decline, to maintain a number of units of ADA that is equivalent to the number of units of ADA maintained by the school district prior to the decline. The bill would require the school district to commence repayment of the loan not later than the 4th year after the year preceding a decline in ADA. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 42238.2 of the Education Code is amended to read: 42238.2. (a) (1) Notwithstanding Section 42238.5 or any other provision of law, a school district that meets any of the following conditions shall be entitled to an adjustment to its units of average daily attendance pursuant to this section: (A) The school district experiences a decline in the number of units of average daily attendance in excess of 8 percent of its total average daily attendance as a result of the closure of a facility operated by a branch of the United States Armed Forces in the school district's boundaries. (B) The school district experiences a decline in the number of units of average daily attendance that is less than 8 percent but at least 5 percent of its total average daily attendance as a result of the closure of a facility operated by a branch of the United States Armed Forces in that school district's boundaries, upon a finding by both the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Director of Finance that both of the following conditions exist: (i) The school district demonstrates that at the end of a three-year period the school district will experience a 10-percent reduction in the amount of funding that the school district would otherwise have received from state apportionments, funding received pursuant to the California State Lottery Act of 1984 (Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 8880) of Division 1 of Title 2 of the Government Code), and funding received pursuant to Title VIII of Public Law 103-382, as a result of the loss of pupils related to the closure of a facility operated by a branch of the United States Armed Forces. (ii) The fiscal crisis and management assistance team established pursuant to Section 42127.8 has reviewed the school district's finances and has found that the school district has taken significant steps to reduce expenditure. (C) The school district experiences a decline in the number of units of average daily attendance in excess of 5 percent of its total average daily attendance and the Director of Finance determines that the school district is likely, within eight years of that decline, to maintain a number of units of average daily attendance that is equivalent to the number of units of average daily attendance maintained by the school district prior to the decline. Notwithstanding subdivision (b), loan repayments shall commence no later than the fourth year after the base year or at a later time, as determined by the Director of Finance. (2) For purposes of this section, the year preceding a decline shall be the base year. (b) In the second year after the base year, the district average daily attendance pursuant to Section 42238.5 may, if the district chooses, be increased by 75 percent of the difference between the base year units of average daily attendance and the units of average daily attendance in the first year of decline. In the third year after the base year, the district average daily attendance pursuant to Section 42238.5 may, if the district chooses, be increased by 50 percent of the difference between the base year units of average daily attendance and the units of average daily attendance in the first year of decline. The amount of money represented by these increases shall be considered a loan to the school district. Loan repayments shall commence no later than the fourth year after the base year. (c) (1) The Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with a school district subject to this section, shall determine a schedule for repayment of the total amount loaned pursuant to this section which may not exceed 10 years. Payments shall include interest charged at a rate based on the most current investment rate of the Pooled Money Investment Account in the General Fund as of the date of the disbursement of funds to the school district. (2) Upon written notification by the Superintendent of Public Instruction that the school district has not made one or more of the payments required by the schedule established pursuant to paragraph (1), the Controller shall withhold from Section A of the State School Fund the defaulted payment which shall not exceed the amount of any apportionment entitlement of the district to moneys in Section A of the State School Fund. In that regard, the Controller shall withhold the amount of any payment made under this subdivision, including reimbursement of the Controller's administrative costs as determined under a schedule approved by the California Debt Advisory Commission, from subsequent apportionments to the school district from Section A of the State School Fund. (3) Any apportionments made by the Controller pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be deemed to be an allocation to the school district for purposes of subdivision (b) of Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, and for purposes of Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 41200) of Part 24. (d) In no event shall the adjustment provided by this section cause the apportionment to a school district to exceed the amount that would otherwise be calculated for apportionment to the district pursuant to Sections 42238 and 42238.1. (e) This section does not apply to a school district that experiences a decline in enrollment as a result of a school district reorganization pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 35500) of Part 21 or any other law.