BILL ANALYSIS
AB 296
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Date of Hearing: May 20, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 296 (Solorio) - As Amended: May 19, 2009
Policy Committee: EducationVote:7-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: No
SUMMARY
This bill requires local education agencies (LEAs) to perform
specific duties related to notification and access to school
facilities for supplemental educational services (SES) required
under the federal No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), as specified.
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires LEAs to provide at least two methods by which parents
or guardians of pupils eligible for SES may submit completed
enrollment forms. This measure also requires LEAs to provide
parents or guardians with information about SES through at
least two channels, including back-to-back school
presentations, school fairs, mail, and telephone.
2)Requires LEAs, if they provide outside entities access to
school facilities, to permit SES providers the same access.
This bill also requires SES providers to comply with the same
legal and fee requirements as outside entities.
3)Authorizes school district governing boards to limit SES
provider access to school facilities, if allowing equal access
is impractical due to limited space. This measure also
requires governing boards, if they elect to limit SES access
to facilities, to develop fair and transparent
policies/procedures for determining which SES providers can
serve pupils at each schoolsite.
FISCAL EFFECT
Minor, absorbable GF/98 costs to school districts to comply with
this measure. The State Department of Education (SDE) is
currently in the middle of a regulatory process for SES
providers (see comment #3 below).
COMMENTS
AB 296
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1)Purpose . In 2001, the federal government passed NCLB, which
requires the state to adhere to a federal accountability
system because California will receive approximately $2.7
billion in K-12 federal NCLB funds in the 2009-10 FY. Of this
amount, $1.64 billion are Title I funds, which serve the
state's poorest students.
The federal accountability system is governed by a status
model, as measured by Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), academic
targets as measured by state assessments. Under this model,
schoolsites are identified as program improvement (PI) based
on failing to meet AYP targets.
Under NCLB, LEAs are required to offer SES to low income
pupils attending a Title I schoolsite in years two through
five of PI. SES is additional academic instruction provided
outside of the regular school day and must be high quality,
research based, and specifically designed to increase student
academic achievement. SES are required to be consistent with
the content and instruction used by the LEA and are aligned
with the state's academic content standards. SES providers
may be public, private non-profit, and private for-profit
entities and they are required to be approved by the State
Board of Education. According to the SDE, there are
approximately 143 approved SES providers authorized to operate
in the state until June 2011.
According to the author, "There have been challenges to
implementing SES, such as the availability of services in
rural areas, timely notification of parents regarding their
children's eligibility for services, negotiation of contracts
with providers for delivery, access to school facilities by
providers, and measurement of effectiveness of SES in
improving student academic achievement." This bill requires
LEAs to meet specific notification and facility requirements
related to SES providers, as specified.
2) Federal NCLB SES requirements .
a) Availability of services: Federal regulations require
an LEA to provide information to parents in the following
manner: (1) directly, through such means as regular mail or
e-mail and (2) through broader means of dissemination such
as the Internet, the media, and public agencies serving the
student population and their families. Federal law further
requires LEAs to distribute information to parents
regarding SES through both of these means. This bill is
AB 296
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consistent with these requirements.
b) Enrollment in services: Federal regulations suggest an
LEA should make its SES sign-up form accessible to parents
and should widely distribute the form. For example,
federal guidance states "an LEA could post the form on its
website and mail the form home to parents, as well as leave
copies of the form at the schools that have students
eligible for SES, at LEA offices, and at sites where
parents may go, such as libraries or community centers."
This bill is consistent with these requirements.
c) SES provider access to school facilities: Federal law
states that an LEA that spends less than its 20% obligation
for pupil choice and SES services and uses the unexpended
amount for other allowable activities must ensure that SES
providers are given access to school facilities. Federal
law further requires school districts to provide facility
access, using a fair, open, and objective process and on
the same basis and terms as are available to other groups
that seek access to school facilities. Federal guidance
also states the following: "If many SES providers are
approved to serve an LEA, or if other after-school programs
use an LEA's schools, it may not be possible to have all
providers provide SES in an LEA's school buildings." This
bill is consistent with these requirements.
3)SDE proposed regulations on SES providers . In March 2009, SDE
proposed regulations to describe the responsibilities that
prospective SES providers, approved providers, LEA, and the
State Educational Agency shall have in ensuring that eligible
students receive appropriate SES services. The 45-day public
comment period for these regulations ended on May 12, 2009.
SDE indicates that the issues addressed in this bill are being
considered as part of this regulatory process.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081