BILL ANALYSIS
SB 193
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 193 (Lowenthal) - As Amended: May 28, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 39-0
SUBJECT : Class size reduction: Long Beach Unified School
District
SUMMARY : Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction
(SPI) to approve Kindergarten through grade 3 (K-3) class size
reduction (CSR) funding for the Long Beach Unified School
District (LBUSD) despite exceeding required teacher-to-pupil
ratios as a result of a fire in May 2007. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Specifies that the SPI may approve CSR funding for the
2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, and the 2011-12 school years for
classes that either exceed 20 pupils or are housed with
another class, if the following conditions are met:
a) The school district certifies that the number of pupils
enrolled in a district school increased as a direct result
of the closures on Catalina Island resulting from the May
2007 fire and resultant debris flow hazard due to
weather-related conditions, and this growth increased the
number of pupils enrolled in classes in which K-3 CSR
program is implemented; and,
b) The school district certifies that it lacked sufficient
classroom space or credentialed teachers to accommodate the
enrollment increase from the closures on Catalina Island
resulting from the October 2007 fire and resultant debris
flow hazard due to weather-related conditions.
2)Specifies that this bill becomes inoperative on July 1, 2012
and is repealed on January 1, 2013, unless a later enacted
statute that is enacted before January 1, 2013 deletes or
extends the dates on which the bill becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
3)Finds and declares that due to unique circumstances relating
to the LBUSD, a general statute cannot be made applicable.
SB 193
Page 2
4)Contains an urgency clause in order to provide timely
essential relief to the LBUSD that may experience a loss of
state funding as a result of mandatory fire and
weather-related school closings on Catalina Island.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Establishes the K-3 CSR program to provide funding to school
districts to reduce class size in kindergarten through grade 3
to not more than 20 pupils per certificated teacher.
2)Establishes the following two options under which a school
district may apply for CSR funding:
a) Option One: A school district shall provide a reduced
class size for all pupils in each classroom for the full
regular school day in each grade level for which funding is
claimed. In order to qualify for funding, each class in
CSR shall be maintained with an annual average class size
of not more than 20 pupils for the instructional time that
qualifies the class for funding. Nothing prohibits the
class size from exceeding 20 pupils on any particular day,
provided that the average class size for the school year
does not exceed 20.
b) Option Two: A school district shall provide a reduced
class size for all pupils in each classroom for at least
one-half of the instructional minutes offered per day in
each grade level for which funding is claimed. School
districts selecting this option shall primarily devote
those instructional minutes to the subject areas of reading
and mathematics.
3)Establishes penalty in the form of reduction in payments for
each class that the school district fails to maintain required
pupil-to-teacher ratios.
4)Authorizes a school district located in the counties of Los
Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, or Ventura to
claim CSR funding for the 2003-04 school year based on
enrollment counts before the October 2003 fires in classes for
which the K-3 CSR program is implemented if the school
district certifies that it suffered a loss of enrollment in
those classes due to the October 2003 fires that would result
SB 193
Page 3
in a decrease in CSR funding.
5)Authorizes a school district located in the counties of Los
Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa
Barbara, and Ventura, to claim CSR funding for the 2007-08
school year based on enrollment counts before the October 2007
fires if the school district certifies that it suffered a loss
of enrollment in CSR classes due to the October 2007 fires.
6)Specifies further reduction in penalties, capped at 30%, for
districts that fail to maintain pupil-to-teacher ratios for
the 2008-09 through 2011-12 school years only.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, the California Department of Education anticipates
that this bill would allow LBUSD to retain $470,000 it would
otherwise lose due to CSR penalties.
COMMENTS : Enacted in 1996, the CSR provides incentive funding
of $1,071 per pupil to districts that reduce their kindergarten,
first, second, or third grade classes to an average ratio of 20
pupils per certificated teacher. A class can exceed 20 pupils
for any particular day, as long as the average class size for
the school year does not exceed 20.44. The CSR program requires
reducing grade 1 and grade 2 class sizes before reducing grade 3
or kindergarten class sizes. In 2007-08, only 14 districts did
not participate in this program. The state budget provided $1.8
billion for this purpose in fiscal year (FY) 2008-09.
Until the enactment of SB 311 (Sher), Chapter 910, Statutes of
2004, any class that failed to maintain the required ratio was
subject to a penalty in the form of loss of funding for the
whole class. SB 311 reduced the penalties for each class from
100% to the following:
1)20% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than or equal to 20.5 but less than 21;
2)40% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than or equal to 21 but less than 21.5; and,
3)80% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than or equal to 21.5 but less than 21.9.
SB 311 requires a 100% reduction if the annual average
SB 193
Page 4
enrollment of the class size exceeds 21.9.
SB 4 X3 (Ducheny), Chapter 12, Statutes of 2009, as part of the
FY 2008-09 budget adjustments, further reduced the penalties for
not meeting required pupil-to-teachers ratios and capped the
penalties at a 30% reduction for the 2008-09 through the 2011-12
school years, as follows:
1)No penalty if the annual average enrollment for the class is
greater than 20 but less than 20.5;
2)5% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class is
greater than 20.5 but less than 21.5;
3)10% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than 21.5 but less than 22.5;
4)15% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than 22.5 but less than 23;
5)20% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than 23 but less than 25; and,
6)30% reduction if the annual average enrollment for the class
is greater than 25.
Existing law provides an exemption to the penalties for seven
counties that suffered devastating fires in 2003 and 2007. This
bill provides similar relief to the LBUSD as a result of a fire
on the island of Catalina in May 2007. The Avalon Schools
enrolls almost 700 kindergarten through grade 12 students in the
city of Avalon on Catalina Island. According to the author, "In
May 2007 a major fire destroyed vegetation on all major canyons
that drain into the valley which contains the school site and
the community. Whenever the ground reaches a saturation level
there is imminent danger of mudslides and rockslides, which
could result in extended closures and/or evacuations.
"Because of the drought conditions this year, the school hasn't
experienced significant closures due to ground saturation.
However, if California has a wet year next year, it is likely
that closures/evacuations will occur. If this unfortunate event
happens, pupils would be absorbed in other schools on the
mainland - resulting in K-3 CSR limits being exceeded."
SB 193
Page 5
According to the LBUSD, the United States Geological Survey
protocol and onsite reconnaissance has determined that there is
imminent danger of mudslides when the island reaches either 10
inches of rain within 120 days or receives inch of rain per
hour for two to three hours, and/or over 2 inches of rainfall
within a 48 hour period.
This bill authorizes the SPI to approve CSR funding during the
2008-09 through the 2011-12 school years if the district
certifies that classes increased as a result of closures on the
Catalina Island resulting from the May 2007 fire and resultant
debris flow hazard due to weather-related conditions, and the
district certifies that it lacked sufficient classroom space or
credentialed teachers to accommodate the enrollment increase.
This bill essentially prevents the district from losing the
maximum of 30% of its CSR funding if students from Avalon
Schools must be temporarily relocated to other LBUSD schools,
thereby increasing the sizes of those classes that participate
in the CSR program. The provisions of this bill sunset on July
1, 2012 and are repealed on January 1, 2013. According to the
district, the risk of mudslides and rockslides subside when
vegetation that was destroyed by the fire is expected to be
sufficiently restored by 2012.
Committee Amendments :
1)Delete 2008-09. The school year is over and while there were
two half day closures, the school district does not intend to
seek waivers for those days.
2)Technical correction changing the reference of the fire on
page 3, line 8, from "October" to "May".
Prior Legislation . AB 1893 (Garrick), Chapter 30, Statutes of
2008, authorizes a school district located in the counties of
Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa
Barbara, and Ventura, to claim CSR funding for the 2007-08
school year based on enrollment counts before the October 2007
fires if the school district certifies that it suffered a loss
of enrollment in CSR classes due to the October 2007 fires.
SB 311 (Sher), Chapter 910, Statutes of 2004, relaxes penalties
for school districts participating in the K-3 CSR program that
do not meet ratio requirements and authorizes any school
district in the counties of Los Angeles, Riverside, San
SB 193
Page 6
Bernardino, San Diego, or Ventura to claim K-3 CSR funding for
the 2003-04 school year if it certifies that any loss of
enrollment is due to the October 2003 fires.
AB 1670 (Kehoe), vetoed by the Governor in 2004, also contained
the provisions relating to the October 2003 fires. Governor
Schwarzenegger's veto message stated that the bill was
unnecessary because the provisions were contained in another
measure (SB 311).
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Long Beach Unified School District (sponsor)
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087