BILL ANALYSIS
SB 334
Page 1
Date of Hearing: July 8, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
SB 334 (Ducheny) - As Amended: June 30, 2009
SENATE VOTE : 24-12
SUBJECT : New construction eligibility: special education
pupils
SUMMARY : Requires the State Allocation Board (SAB) to apply
prospective increases to the per-unhoused-pupil grants for the
construction of new school facilities to the special education
per-unhoused-pupil grant amounts. Specifically, this bill :
1)Specifies that the increase shall include, but not be limited
to, increases made to the regular per-unhoused-pupil grants on
or after January 1, 2010, pursuant to AB 127 (Nu?ez and
Senator Perata), Chapter 35, Statutes of 2006.
2)Requires the Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) to
recommend to the SAB, no later than April 1, 2010, a
methodology to adjust the special education per-unhoused-pupil
grant amounts so that the adjustments reflect increases made
to the regular new construction per-unhoused pupil grants.
3)Specifies that any adjustment made to the special education
per-unhoused-pupil grants pursuant to the methodology
developed by this bill shall be made on or after January 1,
2010.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires the SAB to determine new construction grant
eligibility by multiplying the number of unhoused pupils in a
school district by specified per-unhoused-pupil grant amounts
and requires the SAB to adjust the per-unhoused-pupil
apportionment annually to reflect construction cost changes,
as set forth in the statewide index for class B construction
as determined by the SAB.
2)Requires the SAB to increase the per-unhoused-pupil grant
amounts on and after July 1, 2006 by specified percentage
increases for elementary, middle and high school pupils.
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3)Requires the SAB to conduct an analysis of the relationship
between current grant levels and the cost of new school
construction, and after January 1, 2008, requires the SAB to
increase or decrease the per-unhoused-pupil grant eligibility
by amounts it deems necessary to cause the grants to
correspond to costs of new school construction as long as
annual increases do not exceed 6%.
4)Authorizes the SAB to adopt regulations for per-unhoused
special education pupil grants.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, this bill would increase the pressure on bond funds,
potentially reduce the number of projects completed through
existing proceeds, and create pressure for additional bonds.
According to the OPSC, this bill would result in annual
increased bond funding pressure of $3 million.
COMMENTS : SB 50 (Leroy Greene), Chapter 407, Statutes of 1998,
establishes the current School Facility Program (SFP) and
provides specific amounts for new construction and modernization
per-pupil apportionments. The grant levels are multiplied by
the number of unhoused pupils (the net of 5 year projected need
subtracted by existing pupil seats) for new construction and per
pupil for modernization to determine a district's allocations.
To adjust for inflation and changes in construction costs, SB 50
requires the SAB to adjust the per-unhoused-pupil amounts by a
construction cost index (CCI) for class B construction annually.
Due to concerns expressed by local educational agencies that the
grant levels were insufficient to build adequate and complete
schools, AB 127, which authorized Proposition 1D, the
Kindergarten-University Public Education Facilities Bond Act of
2006, passed by voters in November 2006, increased new
construction grant levels by 7% for elementary and middle
schools and 4% for high schools in January 2007. AB 127 also
requires the SAB to conduct an analysis of the grant levels in
relation to the cost of new school construction, and based on
the analysis, requires the SAB to increase or decrease the grant
levels to more accurately correspond to the cost of building
schools in California, provided that the increase is no more
than 6% annually. At its May 2008 meeting, the SAB increased
the new construction grants by 6% for 2008. The SAB is
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deliberating an increase for 2009, but has not taken action yet.
Current grant levels are $9,369 for elementary school pupils,
$9,909 for middle school pupils and $12,607 for high school
pupils.
School facilities grants for special education pupils are
stipulated in SAB regulations rather than in statute. These
grant levels, based on recommendations by the Legislative
Analyst Office in 1999, are higher than the new construction
per-unhoused-pupil grants in order to provide accommodations
such as enhanced electrical and plumbing fixtures and more
accessible doors and grab bars. The grants are not based on
grade levels and instead are allocated according to whether a
pupil's disability is severe ($26,324 per pupil) or non-severe
($17,605 per pupil). The grants increase according to the
annual inflation adjustments but has not been increased
otherwise since the inception in 1999.
AB 127 did not provide special education pupil grants the same
increases as those provided to the regular new construction
grants in 2007, and the OPSC determined that the SAB did not
have authority to provide any increase provided on or after
January 1, 2008, to special education grants due to a technical
amendment enacted by SB 132 (Education Committee), Chapter 730,
Statutes of 2007, the annual omnibus education technical cleanup
bill. SB 132 amended the provision which authorizes the SAB to
adjust new construction grants up to 6% annually on or after
January 1, 2008, in order to clarify that the increase is
intended to be on top of the 2007 increases provided by AB 127.
This amendment resulted in linking any increase authorized by
the SAB in 2008 to the new construction per-unhoused-pupil
grants specified in Education Code 17072.10(a), which led to an
interpretation by OPSC staff that the SAB has authority to
increase only the regular new construction per-unhoused-pupil
grants.
Last year, AB 100 (Mullin), vetoed by the Governor, would have
increased the regular and special education per-unhoused-pupil
grant amounts by 5% in 2009 and 4% in 2010, and authorized
districts that received special education per-unhoused-pupil
grants in 2008 the opportunity to apply for a supplemental grant
equal to the same increase of 6% provided to the regular grant
amounts in 2008. The Governor's veto message stated the
following:
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"Provisions in this bill would set an undesirable precedent by
providing a retroactive increase to school district per-pupil
construction grants. This provision conflicts with the full and
final apportionment provision of the School Facilities Program,
which requires districts to certify that the funding received is
sufficient to complete the project for which the grants are
intended. Furthermore, with California's current fiscal
climate, it is imprudent to increase construction grants at this
time, particularly considering it is uncertain when the next
school bond measure may be approved by the voters."
This bill requires the increases to be provided prospectively.
Because the regular per-unhoused-pupil grants and the special
education per-unhoused-pupil grants are not provided in the same
manner (elementary, middle, and high school level grants v.
severe and non-severe, respectively), this bill requires the
OPSC to develop a methodology to apply regular grant increases
to the special education grants. However, this is only a
problem if the increases for regular new construction grants are
differentiated based on school levels, similar to the 2007
increases provided by Proposition 1D where elementary and middle
school grants received a 7% increase and high school level
grants received a 4% increase. If all regular new construction
grants receive the same percentage increase, as those proposed
by AB 100 (Mullin), the special education grants would simply
receive the same percentage increase and a methodology would not
be necessary. Staff recommends clarifying that the provision
requiring OPSC to develop a methodology to adjust special
education per-unhoused-pupil grants is specifically in cases
where there are differentiated school level increases.
According to the author, "Although the cost for concrete, steel
and labor are the same for any classroom - there has been a
failure to equitably realign Special Education grants up to this
point. This is happened, in part, because Special Education
facilities grants are located in a separate section of the
Education Code and must be specifically referenced in order to
be adjusted."
Proposition 1D provided $1.9 billion for new construction
projects, of which approximately $200 million remains. The SAB
will be transferring $700 from leftover funds from the
Critically Overcrowded Schools program within the next few
months.
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Prior legislation : AB 100 (Mullin), vetoed by the Governor in
2008, would have increased the regular and special education
per-unhoused-pupil grant amounts by 5% in 2009 and 4% in 2010,
and authorized districts that received special education
per-unhoused-pupil grants in 2008 the opportunity to apply for a
supplemental grant equal to the same increase of 6% provided to
the regular grant amounts in 2008.
SB 704 (Ducheny), authorizes school districts that have new
construction projects approved on or after July 1, 2006, that
contain a special education classroom or classrooms to apply for
a supplemental apportionment equal to a 6% increase. This bill
was held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's Suspense
File in 2007.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
County School Facilities Consortium (sponsor)
Association of California Construction Managers
California School Boards Association
Coalition for Adequate Funding for Special Education
Coalition for Adequate School Housing
Legislative Committee of California County Boards of Education
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Mendocino County Office of Education
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
San Bernardino District Advocates for Better Schools
Small School Districts' Association
Special Education Local Plan Area Administrators
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087