BILL ANALYSIS
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
379 (Huff)
Hearing Date: 05/28/2009 Amended: As Introduced
Consultant: Dan Troy Policy Vote: Human Svcs. 4-0
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BILL SUMMARY: This bill would define "heritage schools" in the
Health and Safety Code and establish requirements for them in
lieu of child care licensing requirements.
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Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund
Compliance review $200 to $500 General
Periodic monitoring $100 $100 General
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STAFF COMMENTS: SUSPENSE FILE. AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED.
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.
This bill would define "heritage schools" as schools that:
Serve children who are school aged.
Specify hours of operation.
Offer education or tutoring in a language other than
English.
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.
Do not operate out of a residence.
Maintain an adult to child ratio of 1:14 and a tutor to
child ratio of 1:28.
Meet other miscellaneous requirements.
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.
The bill would exempt the heritage schools from child care
facility licensing requirements - and the associated
applications, fees, and inspections - provided that the school
meets specified health and safety standards and maintains
membership in an association that upholds those standards.
While the bill would eliminate licensure requirements for
heritage schools, DSS would still need to ensure that the
centers are meeting the requirements established in the bill.
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SB 379 (Huff)
DSS estimates that there may be as many as 3,000 of these
schools operating in the state, though the number is uncertain
given that these schools are not currently licensed or
monitored. Conducting a preliminary compliance review of
heritage schools would likely cost in the range of $200,000 to
$500,000. Assuming that schools would need to be periodically
visited to ensure they were meeting the standards specified by
the bill would likely have ongoing costs of approximately
$100,000.
Similar legislation (AB 1888, Huff, 2008) was held under
submission by the Assembly Appropriations Committee last year.
Author's amendments would require heritage schools only to
submit an affidavit to the Department of Education.