BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 1724
AUTHOR: Chesbro
INTRODUCED: February 3, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 16, 2010
URGENCY: Yes CONSULTANT:Daniel Alvarez
SUBJECT : Necessary Small School Funding: Del Norte County
Unified School
District.
KEY POLICY ISSUE
Does the geographic isolation and school size of two
elementary schools in the Del Norte County Unified School
District (DNCUSD) warrant an exception to current law as it
relates to funding for necessary small schools?
SUMMARY
This bill, an urgency measure, allows the DNCUSD to receive
necessary small school (NSS) funding for the (1) Gasquet
Mountain Elementary and (2) Margaret Keating Elementary
schools, even though the school district is too large for
these schools to qualify for this type funding.
BACKGROUND
Current law allows school districts with less than 2,501
pupils in average daily attendance (ADA) to receive necessary
small school funding, in lieu of per ADA revenue limit
funding, for elementary schools that have fewer than 101 ADA
in grades K through 6. Necessary small elementary schools
with fewer than 24.5 ADA, with at least one teacher, are
entitled to receive approximately $113,100 in lieu of the
revenue limit funding of their district; additional funding
would vary according to the number of teachers and ADA of
each school.
(Education Code 42280, et. seq.)
School district funding is primarily based on the calculation
of its revenue limit (RL). The RL is the basic general
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purpose money allocated based on ADA and is calculated
separately for each district. Revenue limit income is a
combination of local property taxes and state funding, and
accounts for approximately two-thirds of a typical district's
revenues. Any increase in property taxes results in an offset
of state funds necessary to meet a district's calculated RL.
ANALYSIS
This bill , an urgency measure, allows the Del Norte County
Unified School District to receive necessary small school
funding for the (1) Gasquet Mountain Elementary and (2)
Margaret Keating Elementary schools. Specifically, this
bill:
1) Deems the Gasquet Mountain and Margaret Keating
elementary schools of the Del Norte County Unified
School District as necessary small schools commencing
with the 2010-11 fiscal year.
2) Establishes that if the ADA of the Gasquet Mountain
Elementary School or the Margaret Keating Elementary
School exceeds 100, the school shall not be entitled to
necessary small school funding.
3) Contains legislative findings and declarations related
to the circumstances necessitating the switch to
necessary small school funding status for the
aforementioned elementary schools.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, both of the
elementary schools are in remote areas of the district,
and that if the school district does not receive
necessary small school funding for the schools, it may
be forced to close the schools, forcing children grades
K-5 to an hour long bus ride along windy mountain roads,
especially treacherous in the winter months when travel
is dangerous for all. This also would have a negative
impact in having regular parental involvement in their
children's schools.
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2) School locations are remote . The Gasquet Mountain
Elementary School (approximately 35 enrolled students)
is located 20 miles east of Crescent City, serves a
small community with the next closest elementary school
being 24 miles away. The Margaret Keating Elementary
school (approximate enrollment is 92 students) is also
located in a remote rural area, 20 miles south from
Crescent City, with the closest elementary school 23
miles away. Both schools serve students in grades K-5.
The roads toward Crescent City are intermittently closed
during the winter months due to mud and rock slides and
during more inclement weather for road repairs.
Both schools are located within the Del Norte County
Unified School District which has an approximate ADA of
3,400.
3) Funding comparison . The Assembly appropriations
Committee developed a table which shows the funding
levels the DNCUSD would receive under a regular RL
approach, the NSS approach, and the difference between
the two levels of funding:
--------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------
4) Prior and related legislation .
SB 667 (Hollingsworth), Chapter 559, Statutes
of 2007, appropriated $55,000 from the General Fund
to the Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District
for purposes of allowing the school district to
continue to operate the Palomar Mountain Elementary
School, which through the 1999-2000 school year was
part of the Pauma Elementary School District and
qualified that district to receive necessary small
school funding for the school.
SB 1367 (Ducheny), Chapter 250, Statutes of
2006, revised and clarified provisions of statute
governing eligibility for necessary small school
funding, including authorization for one elementary
school and one high school in the Coachella Valley
Unified School District to continue to receive
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necessary small school funding without regard to
the overall size of the district, provided that the
ADA of each school remains less than 287.
SB 268 (Knight), Chapter 24, Statutes of 1998,
authorized the Sierra Sands Unified School District
to receive necessary small school funding for the
Rand Elementary School despite having a district
ADA of approximately 6,200. This bill was sponsored
by the Sierra Sands Unified School District, which
reported that the alternative to keeping the Rand
School open would require its student body to
travel over two hours per day on a school bus. In
this instance, the district said the loss of
Federal Impact Aid eliminated its ability to fund
the program from its general fund resources.
SUPPORT
Del Norte County Unified School District
Small School Districts' Association
California School Boards Association
OPPOSITION
None received.