BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 983
AUTHOR: Skinner
INTRODUCED: February 27, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: July 15, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Before and after school programs: weekends.
SUMMARY
This bill authorizes providers of After School Education and
Safety before and after school programs to operate on
weekends in addition to weekdays, using existing grant funds.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Proposition 49, passed in 2002, expanded before and
after school opportunities and funding, and renamed the
existing program as the After School Education and
Safety (ASES) program. The ASES program provides state
funding to local before and after school programs, which
are administered through partnerships between schools
and local community resources to provide literacy,
academic enrichment and safe constructive alternatives
for pupils in kindergarten through ninth grade.
California also administers the federal 21st Century Learning
Community Learning Centers before and after school
program. This bill does not affect 21st Century
programs, as federal law allows 21st Century programs to
operate on weekends.
2) Specifies requirements for the operation of ASES,
including maximum grant levels, local matching
requirements, priority for funding, and authorized
expenditures.
3) Authorizes ASES programs to operate during any
combination of summer, intersession or vacation periods.
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The 2009 Budget Act allocates $547 million General Fund (Prop
98) for the ASES program. Proposition 49 requires state
funding for after school programs to be continuously
appropriated, thereby no longer requiring approval by the
Legislature as part of the annual Budget Act. ASES funding
is not subject to categorical flexibility or associated
funding reductions. The amount of additional funding
pursuant to Proposition 49 will be added to the Proposition
98 base in future years.
ANALYSIS
This bill authorizes providers of After School Education and
Safety (ASES) before and after school programs to operate on
weekends in addition to weekdays, using existing grant funds.
Specifically, this bill:
1) Authorizes the administrators of an ASES before and/or
after school program to provide activities on weekends.
2) Requires costs associated with weekend activities to be
paid from the program's maximum grant or supplemental
grant.
3) Prohibits the participation of pupils in the weekend
activities from being counted toward attendance reported
to the California Department of Education for the
calculation of the amounts for either the maximum or
supplemental grants.
4) Exempts federal 21st Century before and after school
programs from the prohibition detailed in #3 above,
because federal law currently allows those programs to
operate on weekends. Therefore, attendance by pupils
enrolled in those on the weekend should be counted as
attendance for purposes of determining grant amounts.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Current practice ? Staff has received anecdotal evidence
that some After School Education and Safety (ASES)
programs have been operating on weekends. The
California Department of Education has issued a notice
to providers clarifying that ASES programs are not
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authorized to operate on the weekend, regardless of
whether attendance was claimed or weekend operations
were paid for using existing grant funds.
2) Outside the scope of Proposition 49 ? In the Governor's
veto message of prior legislation that, among other
things, contained language very similar to this bill,
the Governor opines that operating after school programs
on weekends is beyond the original scope of the ASES
program (see Prior legislation in #5 below). The
author's office has been in discussions with the
Governor's office and has received some indication that
the Governor may be willing to sign this bill.
3) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis of prior legislation that included
provisions that were nearly identical to this bill, this
bill would not impose additional General Fund (Prop) 98
costs upon the state.
4) Related legislation . AB 434 (Block) reduces the
required local match for ASES programs, and was passed
by this Committee by a vote of 9-0 on July 8, 2009.
5) Prior legislation . This bill is very similar to one of
the provisions in SB 1674 (Torlakson, 2008). SB 1674
was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read:
As the primary author of Proposition 49 that created the
After School Education and Safety Program (ASES) Act, I
am very proud of the good work that after school
providers have done in serving kids over the years.
While providing students with educationally enriching
activities during weekend hours is a worthy goal, this
bill takes the program beyond the original scope of the
ASES program. After school programs are intended to
provide students with access to quality tutoring,
homework assistance, and educational enrichment during
weekday non-school hours, when they are most at risk of
being involved in dangerous activities.
SUPPORT
After School All-Stars, LA
Alum Rock Union Elementary School District
Aspiranet
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A World Fit for Kids
Bay Area Partnership for Children and Youth
Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove
California Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance
California Park & Recreation Society
Central Valley Afterschool Foundation
Children Now
Fight Crime: Invest in Kids
Junior League of Oakland-East Bay, Inc.
LA's BEST
League of California Afterschool Providers
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Pro-Youth/HEART After School Program
San Bernardino City Unified School District
State Public Affairs Committee of the Junior Leagues
Stockton Unified School District
Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center
THINK Together
Vallejo City Unified School District
West Contra Costa Unified School District Bright Futures
After School Programs
Woodcraft Rangers
Zandes Consulting
OPPOSITION
None received.