BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 698
AUTHOR: Negrete McLeod
AMENDED: April 2, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 29, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: James Wilson
SUBJECT : Juvenile Court School Funding
SUMMARY
This bill replaces average daily attendance (ADA) with
average daily enrollment (ADE, as defined) as the basis for
funding juvenile court schools and increases funding for
juvenile court schools by exempting the funding from
reductions imposed on funding rates for 2008-09 and
2009-2010.
BACKGROUND
Current law provides for county boards of education to
operate juvenile court schools in which the minimum school
day is 240 minutes, calculated on the basis of the average
number of minutes of attendance during 10 consecutive days
of class. Juvenile court schools are required to be open
on all weekdays that are not school holidays or closed when
"necessary to accommodate contingencies."
County offices of education receive per pupil "revenue
limit" funding from the state for pupils in average daily
attendance (ADA) in juvenile court schools. These revenue
limits are based on historical funding levels of the
various schools when they were primarily supported with
local funding. Current law calls for juvenile court school
revenue limits to be annually adjusted for inflation;
however, budget constraints of the past few years have
caused the state to suspend payments of the cost-of-living
adjustments (COLA). Instead of simply repealing the
statutory COLAs, the state has created offsetting "deficit
factors" so that the schools remain entitled to the
adjusted levels of support when the fiscal crisis subsides.
For 2008-09, the deficit statute calls for a revenue limit
reduction (negating COLA increases) of 7.819% and for
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2009-2010, the factor is scheduled to be 13.360%. These
deficits offset COLAs of equal value so that they do not
represent actual cuts to prior year levels of funding, but
rather denied increases.
In 2006-07, 48 of the 58 county offices of education
operated juvenile court schools, with an average daily
attendance of approximately 16,200 students. Due to high
turnover rates in many of these facilities, the actual
cumulative annual enrollment would be substantially higher,
likely more than 30,000. There were a total of 180
educational facilities in operation, including 84 juvenile
halls, 11 ranches, 14 residential/group homes, 19 day
centers, 36 camps, and 16 detention centers.
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Provides that the average daily attendance (ADA) of
pupils enrolled in juvenile court schools shall equal
"average daily enrollment" as defined to be "the sum
of the daily count of wards of the court in placement
at a facility with a juvenile court school" divided by
the statutorily defined number of days in the
reporting period (70, 135 and 175 days for 1st, 2nd
and annual reporting periods).
2) Suspends the application of budgeted deficit factors
to the revenue limits of juvenile court schools for
2008-09 and 2009-10, thereby increasing per pupil
funding 7.839% in 2008-09 and 13.360% in 2009-2010.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. The sponsor of the bill argues
that basing juvenile court school funding on ADA is
inadequate "because of the unpredictability of
attendance in juvenile court school classrooms and the
requirements to staff classrooms regardless of student
attendance." Although pupils are confined and would
therefore be expected to have perfect attendance, in
fact pupils are required to be absent for hearings and
other circumstances beyond the control of school
officials. On the other hand, school officials must
fully staff all classrooms at all times and cannot
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realize any operational saving when pupils are not
present.
2) Fiscal impact. While switching from attendance to
enrollment is likely to make juvenile court school
funding more predictable and steady, it is potentially
costly. Average daily enrollment would not be as
large as the total annual headcount of pupils who
spend even one day in a juvenile court school. That
number is estimated at 30,000 pupils, while juvenile
court school ADA is approximately 16,200. Average
daily enrollment would be somewhere between those two
figures, but closer to the ADA. Increasing all
juvenile court school funding by 7.839% and 13.360% is
also likely to be a substantial cost, perhaps $12
million to $20 million.
SUPPORT
California County Superintendents Educational Services
Association
Lake County Office of Education
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Los Angeles County Office of Education
Orange County Department of Education
Riverside County Office of Education
San Francisco Unified School District
Santa Clara County Office of Education
Sonoma County Office of Education
OPPOSITION
None received.