BILL NUMBER: AB 972	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Audra Strickland

                        FEBRUARY 26, 2009

   An act to add Section 42135 to the Education Code, relating to
school finance.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 972, as introduced, Audra Strickland. School district
administrative costs.
   Existing law prescribes the procedure for a school district to
adopt a budget for the expenditures of the district during each
fiscal year and for the county superintendent of schools to review
and approve the adopted budget.
   This bill, commencing with the 2010-11 fiscal year, would require
a school district with an annual enrollment greater than 300,000
pupils to limit its expenditures for administrative costs, as
defined, to no more than 10% of its total budget during each fiscal
year, including moneys received from all state, federal, and local
sources during the fiscal year.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 42135 is added to the Education Code, to read:
   42135.  (a) Commencing with the 2010-11 fiscal year, a school
district with an annual enrollment greater than 300,000 pupils shall
limit its expenditures for administrative costs to no more than 10
percent of its total budget for each fiscal year, including moneys
received from all state, federal, and local sources during the fiscal
year.
   (b) For purposes of this section, "administrative costs" means the
sum of expenditures for each of the following categories:
   (1) General administration. For purposes of this subdivision,
"general administration" means those activities involving the
governing board of a school district, activities relating to the
executive responsibility of the school district, activities
associated with central data processing, central support, activities
associated with fiscal services, and other general administrative
services. For purposes of this paragraph, the following terms have
the following meanings:
   (A) "Board" means the activities of the elected body that has been
created under the applicable provisions of law and that has
responsibility for the educational activities over which the elected
body has jurisdiction. These activities may include, but are not
limited to, supervision over services of the board, services related
to the election of members of the board, services related to property
tax assessment and collection, and services related to employee
relations and negotiations.
   (B) "Central data processing" includes, but is not limited to,
in-house services provided from a mainframe computer or minicomputer
as well as the costs of centralized services provided by another
agency. Central data processing does not include smaller specialized
units such as microcomputers or personal computers.
   (C) "Central support" means activities relating to paying,
transporting, exchanging, and maintaining goods and services for the
school district. These activities include, but are not limited to,
planning, research development and evaluation services; the provision
of public information; purchasing; warehousing and distribution; and
printing, publishing, and duplicating. For purposes of this
subparagraph, the following terms have the following meanings:
   (i) "Development services" include, but are not limited to,
activities relating to the deliberate evolving process of improving
educational programs, such as activities using the products of
research.
   (ii) "Evaluation services" include, but are not limited to,
activities relating to ascertaining or judging the value or amount of
an action or an outcome through the careful appraisal of previously
specified data in light of the particular situation and the goals
previously established.
   (iii) "Planning services" include, but are not limited to,
activities relating to the selection or identification of the
overall, long-range goals and priorities of the school district and
the formulation of various courses of action needed to achieve those
goals through the identification of needs and relative costs and
benefits of each course of action.
   (iv) "Printing, publishing, and duplicating" means activities
relating to the printing and publishing of administrative
publications, such as annual reports, school directories, and
manuals. These activities also include centralized services for
duplicating school materials and instruments, such as school
bulletins, newsletters, and notices.
   (v) "Public information" means activities relating to the writing,
editing, and other preparation necessary to disseminate educational
and administrative information to the public through various news
media or through personal contact.
   (vi) "Purchasing" means activities relating to the purchasing of
supplies, furniture, equipment, and materials used in schools or a
school district.
   (vii) "Research services" include, but are not limited to,
activities relating to the systematic study and investigation of the
various aspects of education undertaken to establish facts and
principles.
   (viii) "Warehousing and distribution" means the receipt, storage,
and distribution of supplies, furniture, equipment, materials, and
mail.
   (D) "Executive" means the activities relating to the executive
responsibility of a school district, including, but not limited to,
services pertaining to the office of the county superintendent of
schools, to community relations, and to state and federal relations.
   (E) "Fiscal services" means activities relating to the fiscal
operations of a school district. Fiscal operations include, but are
not limited to, budgeting, receiving and disbursing funds, financial
and property accounting, payroll, inventory control, internal
auditing, and managing funds. For purposes of this subparagraph, the
following terms have the following meaning:
   (i) "Budgeting" means activities relating to the supervision of
budget planning, formulating, control, and analysis.
   (ii) "Financial accounting" means activities relating to the
maintenance of records of the financial operations and transactions
of the school district, including, but not limited to, accounting and
interpreting financial transactions and account records.
   (iii) "Internal auditing" means activities relating to the
verification of account records, including the evaluation of the
adequacy of the internal control system, such as verification and
safeguarding.
   (iv) "Payroll" means activities relating to the periodic payment
of individuals entitled to remuneration for services rendered to a
school district.
   (v) "Property accounting" means activities relating to the
preparation and maintenance of current inventory records of land,
buildings, and equipment owned or leased by a school district as used
for equipment control and facilities planning.
   (vi) "Receiving and disbursing funds" means activities relating to
taking in and paying out money, including, but not limited to, the
current audit of receipts, the preaudit of requisitions or purchase
orders to determine whether the amounts are within the budgetary
allowance and to determine that the disbursements are lawful
expenditures of a school or a school district, and the management of
school funds.
   (F) "Personnel" means activities relating to the maintenance of an
efficient staff for schools under the jurisdiction of a school
district.
   (G) "Other general administrative services" means other general
administrative services of a school district not defined in this
section.
   (2) Instructional resources supervision. For purposes of this
subdivision, "instructional resources supervision" means overall
management and maintenance of the resources to instruct pupils and
activities and materials used by pupils to enhance learning.
   (3) Supervision of instruction. For purposes of this subdivision,
"supervision of instruction" means activities undertaken primarily to
assist instructional staff in planning, developing, and evaluating
the process of providing learning experience for pupils. These
activities include curriculum development, instructional research,
instructional staff development, instructional supervision, and the
organizing and coordinating of training of staff in techniques for
instruction, child development and understanding. For purposes of
this paragraph, the following terms have the following meanings:
   (A) "Curriculum development" means activities that aid teachers in
developing the curriculum, preparing and utilizing special
curriculum materials, and understanding and appreciating the various
techniques that stimulate and motivate pupils.
   (B) "Instructional research" means activities associated with
assessing programs and instruction based on research.
   (C) "Instructional staff development" means activities that
contribute to the professional or occupational growth and competence
of members of the instructional staff during the time of their
service to a school or school district. These activities include the
coordination of services which guide teachers in the use of
instructional materials, administering sabbaticals, and providing the
environment for in-service training.
   (D) "Instructional supervision" means activities associated with
directing, managing, and supervising instruction services.