BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
129 (Huff)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 07/23/2009
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: SB 129, an urgency measure, would establish and
define "heritage schools" in the Education Code as entities that
are not full-time day schools that offer foreign language
education or training and/or education on the culture,
traditions, or history of a country other than the United
States. The bill would require heritage schools to file an
affidavit with the Department of Education detailing information
concerning personnel and the course of study and would also
require employees to be fingerprinted.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Heritage school affidavits Startup costs ranging from
$100 to $160, General
ongoing costs
of $30 to $50, depending
on the number of affidavits
filed
Department of Justice $1,800 in initial costs and
$370 ongoing Special*
to be fully offset by fees
*Fingerprint Fees Account
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Current law establishes certain health and safety licensing
standards for the operation of child care centers. These
licensing standards are enforced by the Department of Social
Services (DSS), typically through a site review conducted once
every five years.
Current law requires private schools to file an affidavit with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction detailing specific
information relative to school personnel and the courses of
study, and requires employees to be fingerprinted. The
Department of Education maintains a database with the
information from the affidavits and publishes a list of schools
with specified information.
This bill would define "heritage schools" as schools that serve
children who are school aged and who attend public or private
full-time day schools; specify hours of operation; offer
education or tutoring in a language other than English; offer
education on the culture, traditions or history of country other
than the United States; offer culturally enriching activities;
maintain membership in an association that upholds specified
health and safety standards such as staff health screening
reporting, criminal records clearance, an emergency disaster
plan, and other requirements; and do not operate out of a
residence.
Page 2
SB 129 (Huff)
Essentially, these are schools or centers that offer activities
and education intended to maintain the heritage of a particular
culture, such as instruction in language, dance, and other
traditions.
This bill would require every person, firm, association,
partnership or corporation offering or conducting heritage
school instruction to file, between the first and 15th day of
October of each year (beginning October 1, 2011) with the
Superintendent of Public Instruction an affidavit or statement,
under penalty of perjury, by the owner or other head setting
forth the following information for the current year:
All names of the person, firm, association, partnership,
or corporation under which it has done and is doing
business.
The address of every place of doing business of the
person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation
within the State of California.
The address of the location of the records of the
person, firm, association, partnership or corporation, and
the name and address of the custodian of the records.
The names and addresses of the directors and principal
officers of the person, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation.
The school enrollment, by grades, number of teachers,
co-educational or enrollment limited to boys or girls, and
boarding facilities.
That specified records are kept at the address stated,
and are true and accurate.
Criminal records summary information has been obtained
pursuant to current law affecting private school employees.
The bill would further require employees to be fingerprinted, as
specified, and the Department of Justice would be required to
ascertain whether the individual has been arrested or convicted
of a crime insofar as that fact can be ascertained from
available information.
This bill would establish heritage schools in the Education Code
similar to the process by which private K-12 schools are
recognized. Earlier legislative efforts have treated heritage
schools as child care providers, and have sought to exempt them
from child care facility licensing requirements - and the
associated applications, fees, and inspections - provided that
the school met other specified standards.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) is responsible for the
monitoring and licensing of child care providers. It is not
clear that the self-reported affidavit process this bill
establishes would sever heritage schools from DSS oversight, nor
is it clear that the Department of Education (CDE) is the more
appropriate entity to which these schools should report. The
bill provides no mechanism or obligation for the Department of
Education to monitor the schools to ensure that specified
requirements are being met.
CDE reports annual costs of $164,000 to develop and maintain the
affidavit; conduct outreach and technical support associated
with the filing process; develop and manage
Page 3
SB 129 (Huff)
a database; and respond to request for data. These figures
mirror the costs of the affidavit process for private K-12
schools. As there are likely fewer heritage schools than there
are private schools in the state, it is possible that costs,
particularly the ongoing costs, would also be somewhat lower
than the estimated figure. It does appear reasonable to assume,
however, that at a minimum, there would be startup costs for the
development of the affidavit and the database, and for outreach
and technical assistance to these entities that are would be
newly established in law.
Also, the Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates one-time costs
of $1.8 million for work related to the fingerprinting and
criminal background checks, and ongoing costs of $370,000.
These costs would be covered by fees. The figures could be
higher or lower depending on the number of heritage schools that
file an affidavit. DOJ assumes there are 3,000 schools for this
estimate.
SB 379 (Huff, 2009), which would have defined heritage schools
in the Health and Safety Code and established requirements for
them in lieu of standard child care licensing requirements, was
held on this committee's suspense file.
AB 1888 (Huff, 2008), legislation similar to SB 379, was held
under submission by the Assembly Appropriations Committee last
year.
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
129 (Huff)
Hearing Date: 08/17/2009 Amended: 07/23/2009
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: ED 8-0
_________________________________________________________________
____
BILL SUMMARY: SB 129, an urgency measure, would establish and
define "heritage schools" in the Education Code as entities that
are not full-time day schools that offer foreign language
education or training and/or education on the culture,
traditions, or history of a country other than the United
States. The bill would require heritage schools to file an
affidavit with the Department of Education detailing information
concerning personnel and the course of study and would also
require employees to be fingerprinted.
_________________________________________________________________
____
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Heritage school affidavits Startup costs ranging from
$100 to $160, General
ongoing costs
of $30 to $50, depending
on the number of affidavits
filed
Department of Justice $1,800 in initial costs and
$370 ongoing Special*
to be fully offset by fees
*Fingerprint Fees Account
_________________________________________________________________
____
STAFF COMMENTS: This bill meets the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Current law establishes certain health and safety licensing
standards for the operation of child care centers. These
licensing standards are enforced by the Department of Social
Services (DSS), typically through a site review conducted once
every five years.
Current law requires private schools to file an affidavit with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction detailing specific
information relative to school personnel and the courses of
study, and requires employees to be fingerprinted. The
Department of Education maintains a database with the
information from the affidavits and publishes a list of schools
with specified information.
This bill would define "heritage schools" as schools that serve
children who are school aged and who attend public or private
full-time day schools; specify hours of operation; offer
education or tutoring in a language other than English; offer
education on the culture, traditions or history of country other
than the United States; offer culturally enriching activities;
maintain membership in an association that upholds specified
health and safety standards such as staff health screening
reporting, criminal records clearance, an emergency disaster
plan, and other requirements; and do not operate out of a
residence.
Page 2
SB 129 (Huff)
Essentially, these are schools or centers that offer activities
and education intended to maintain the heritage of a particular
culture, such as instruction in language, dance, and other
traditions.
This bill would require every person, firm, association,
partnership or corporation offering or conducting heritage
school instruction to file, between the first and 15th day of
October of each year (beginning October 1, 2011) with the
Superintendent of Public Instruction an affidavit or statement,
under penalty of perjury, by the owner or other head setting
forth the following information for the current year:
All names of the person, firm, association, partnership,
or corporation under which it has done and is doing
business.
The address of every place of doing business of the
person, firm, association, partnership, or corporation
within the State of California.
The address of the location of the records of the
person, firm, association, partnership or corporation, and
the name and address of the custodian of the records.
The names and addresses of the directors and principal
officers of the person, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation.
The school enrollment, by grades, number of teachers,
co-educational or enrollment limited to boys or girls, and
boarding facilities.
That specified records are kept at the address stated,
and are true and accurate.
Criminal records summary information has been obtained
pursuant to current law affecting private school employees.
The bill would further require employees to be fingerprinted, as
specified, and the Department of Justice would be required to
ascertain whether the individual has been arrested or convicted
of a crime insofar as that fact can be ascertained from
available information.
This bill would establish heritage schools in the Education Code
similar to the process by which private K-12 schools are
recognized. Earlier legislative efforts have treated heritage
schools as child care providers, and have sought to exempt them
from child care facility licensing requirements - and the
associated applications, fees, and inspections - provided that
the school met other specified standards.
The Department of Social Services (DSS) is responsible for the
monitoring and licensing of child care providers. It is not
clear that the self-reported affidavit process this bill
establishes would sever heritage schools from DSS oversight, nor
is it clear that the Department of Education (CDE) is the more
appropriate entity to which these schools should report. The
bill provides no mechanism or obligation for the Department of
Education to monitor the schools to ensure that specified
requirements are being met.
CDE reports annual costs of $164,000 to develop and maintain the
affidavit; conduct outreach and technical support associated
with the filing process; develop and manage
Page 3
SB 129 (Huff)
a database; and respond to request for data. These figures
mirror the costs of the affidavit process for private K-12
schools. As there are likely fewer heritage schools than there
are private schools in the state, it is possible that costs,
particularly the ongoing costs, would also be somewhat lower
than the estimated figure. It does appear reasonable to assume,
however, that at a minimum, there would be startup costs for the
development of the affidavit and the database, and for outreach
and technical assistance to these entities that are would be
newly established in law.
Also, the Department of Justice (DOJ) estimates one-time costs
of $1.8 million for work related to the fingerprinting and
criminal background checks, and ongoing costs of $370,000.
These costs would be covered by fees. The figures could be
higher or lower depending on the number of heritage schools that
file an affidavit. DOJ assumes there are 3,000 schools for this
estimate.
SB 379 (Huff, 2009), which would have defined heritage schools
in the Health and Safety Code and established requirements for
them in lieu of standard child care licensing requirements, was
held on this committee's suspense file.
AB 1888 (Huff, 2008), legislation similar to SB 379, was held
under submission by the Assembly Appropriations Committee last
year.