BILL ANALYSIS
AB 122
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Date of Hearing: April 29, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 122 (Coto) - As Amended: April 14, 2009
Policy Committee: EducationVote:8-1
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes a school district to establish a small
school including construction, located within an existing
elementary, middle, or comprehensive high school. This measure
also sunsets this provision on January 1, 2017. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Specifies pupil enrollment requirements for the following
grade levels: (a) for grades 1-5, inclusive, no fewer than 80
and not more than 250 pupils; (b) for grades 1-8, inclusive,
no fewer than 80 and not more than 450 pupils; and (c) for
grades 6-12, inclusive, no fewer than 80 and no more than 400
pupils.
2)Requires enrollment in the school to be open to all pupils who
have at least one parent or guardian who is a resident in the
attendance area of the school district and requires admission
to the school not be determined by pupil achievement, as
specified.
3)Requires the school to have a governing body consisting of
school staff, parents, guardians, and pupils elected by their
peers.
4)Requires a school district that establishes a small school to
allocate funds to the school in a manner which results in the
school receiving the amount of funds that each pupil would
generate at the pupil's prior school or the school that the
pupil would otherwise attend. This measure further requires
funds to be subtracted for contracted or required district
services established in the school plan or the memorandum of
understanding (MOU) between the governing body of the small
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school and the governing board of the school district.
5)Requires school staff and the governing body of the small
school to have flexibility on how allocated funds to the
school district are spent and requires the small school to
have autonomy over budget, hiring decisions, curriculum,
instructional practices and working conditions (subject to a
negotiated collective bargaining agreement).
FISCAL EFFECT
1)State school construction bond cost pressure, at least in the
tens of millions, to establish a small school program in
statute that is encouraged to access state new construction
and modernization funds, as specified.
2)AB 127 (Nunez), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006, authorized
Proposition 1D: the Kindergarten-University Public Education
Facilities Bond Act of 2006 for $10.416 billion. The voters
passed Proposition 1D on November 7, 2006. Of the $10.416
billion, $7.329 billion is allocated for K-12 education
facilities. Of this amount, $1.9 billion is for new
construction and $3.3 billion for modernization. Proposition
1D also provided up to $200 million in new construction and
modernization funds for small high schools established
pursuant to AB 1465 (Chan), Chapter 894, Statutes of 2004. As
of February 2009, there is approximately $500 remaining for
new construction and $2 billion remaining for modernization
projects.
SUMMARY CONTINUED :
6)Requires a school district that establishes one or more small
schools to develop a plan for each school that includes
specific elements related to pupil achievement, teaching and
learning, school culture, leadership, budget, and the
decision-making process, as specified.
7)Requires a school district that establishes one or more small
schools to develop a process for interested stakeholders to
submit proposals for the establishment of a small school.
This bill also requires a school district that establishes a
small school to adopt regulations that includes creating small
schools as an academic reform strategy, as specified.
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8)Encourages a school district that establishes a small school
to do any of the following: (a) apply for state new
construction grants; (b) use modernization funding to
reconfigure existing campuses into small schools; and (c)
establish the small school in order to provide the small
school with flexibility of a charter schools while allowing it
to be located within the district.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . AB 1465 (Chan), Chapter 894, Statutes of 2004,
established the small high school pilot program until January
1, 2008, for the purpose of allocating state school new
construction and modernization funds to establish small
schools. This statute defined a small high school as having
an enrollment of no more than 500 pupils and set aside $20
million in Proposition 55 new construction funds for this
purpose. Chapter 894 also required a high school with an
enrollment of 1,000 that reconfigures into two or more small
high schools to be eligible for $5 million in modernization
funding, as specified. According to OPSC, only one project
was approved under this program and approximately $18.9
million in new construction and $5 million in modernization
funds remain.
According to the author, the purpose of this bill "is to close
the achievement gap and to assist many more California
students experiencing achievement and success in our schools.
AB 122 points out and defines the potential of small schools
to meet this aim. Many such schools, including in Los
Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, have proven themselves as
places for student success and for closing the achievement
gap."
2)Non-fiscal bill . This bill is keyed as non-fiscal; however,
the committee requested this measure because of the potential
cost pressures related to accessing state school construction
funding to establish a small school.
3)Governance issues . This bill requires the small school to
have a governing body consisting of school staff, parents,
guardians, and pupils who are elected by their peers. School
districts, governed by an elected board, are responsible for
schools located in their jurisdiction with regard to
academics, pupil safety, employees, etc. Why should a small
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school established under this measure be allowed to have its
own elected governing body? Would the governing board have
jurisdiction over making decisions with regard to state and
federal laws? The author may wish to address these issues by
authorizing the small school to have an advisory body that
works with the elected school district governing board.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081