BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1432|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1432
Author: Hancock (D)
Amended: 4/20/10
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 4/14/10
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price,
Simitian, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Special education school facilities
SOURCE : Coalition for Adequate School Housing
DIGEST : This bill establishes the inclusion of specified
certifications regarding the provision of facilities and
infrastructure for students who are individuals with
exceptional need, as a condition for approval of a school
district or county office of education new construction
project by the California Department of Education.
ANALYSIS :
Existing Law
1.Establishes the School Facility Program (SFP) under which
the state provides general obligation bond funding for
various school construction projects.
CONTINUED
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2.Requires that all school facilities purchased or newly
constructed under the SFP for the use of students with
exceptional needs to be designed and located to maximize
interaction between these and other students as
appropriate to the needs of both.
3.Requires that the governing board of each applicant
school district and the county office of education ensure
that school facilities for pupils who are individuals
with exceptional needs are integrated with other school
facilities. Current law authorizes this requirement to
be waived by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, as
specified.
4.Requires (in accordance with federal law that requires
the least restrictive environment for individuals with
exceptional needs) that every public agency ensure, to
the maximum extent appropriate, that these children are
educated with children who are non-disabled and that
special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of
individuals with exceptional needs from the regular
educational environment occur only if the nature of
severity of the disability is such that education in the
regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and
services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
5.Requires the California Department of Education (CDE) to,
among other things, develop standards for site selection
and establish standards to ensure that design and
construction of school facilities are educationally
appropriate and promote school safety.
6.Prohibits the apportionment of funds to school districts
for school construction projects unless, among other
things, the school district has obtained written approval
of the CDE that the site selection and building plans and
specifications comply with the adopted standards.
This bill:
1.Requires an applicant school district or county office of
education to certify, as a condition of approval of a new
construction project by the CDE, that either:
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A. The project includes the necessary classrooms,
toilet rooms and medical therapy facilities, with due
consideration for identifying and planning for the
least restrictive environment for students who are
individuals with exceptional needs.
B. The project site has dedicated storage of
sufficient size and in an appropriate location to
support future construction of classrooms, toilet
rooms and medical therapy units by the district or
the county office of education.
2.Requires an applicant school district that submits a new
construction project that does not include facilities,
supporting infrastructure, or dedicated acreage for
individuals with exceptional needs to certify that the
district and the county office of education or special
education local planning agency (SELPA) have conferred
and determined that there are no special education
facilities needs for the project.
Comments
Need for the Bill . Although local educational agencies
(LEA) are required to integrate school facilities for
special needs students with general education facilities,
the CDE has recently observed an increase in the number of
LEA school facility applications that appear to not meet
the least restrictive environment and age appropriate
setting required by federal and state law. This bill
additionally requires a LEA to certify that the new
construction project meets, or can meet special education
student facility needs in the future. For a project that
does not provide any facility, infrastructure or acreage
for special education students, a district is required to
certify that the district and the county office of
education or SELPA have conferred and determined that there
are no special education facilities needs.
This bill is intended to initiate a dialog at the local
level among those entities responsible for ensuring that
special education facilities needs are considered during
the facility planning process.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/3/10)
Coalition for Adequate School Housing (source)
California PTA
County School Facilities
California School Nurses Organization
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the sponsor, the
Coalition for Adequate School Housing, "This legislation
will assure that school districts, county offices of
education and special education local plan areas (SELPAs)
plan effectively to serve the pupils with exceptional needs
in facilities providing for their education and therapeutic
needs while having a variety of options available to meet
the 'least restrictive environment'."
CPM:cm 5/4/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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