BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SB 361
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   July 6, 2011

                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                                Felipe Fuentes, Chair

                   SB 361 (Berryhill) - As Amended:  May 31, 2011 

          Policy Committee:                             Education 
          Vote:10-0

          Urgency:     No                   State Mandated Local Program: 
          No     Reimbursable:              No

           SUMMARY  

          This bill extends the authorization for The Center for Advanced 
          Research and Technology (CART), a charter school located in 
          Fresno County, to operate and receive revenue limit funding 
          (general purpose) under a specified formula until July 1, 2017.  


           FISCAL EFFECT  

          Loss of GF/98 revenue limit funding (general purpose) savings, 
          likely between $500,000 and $1 million.  Under CART's existing 
          funding formula, it receives approximately $770 more per pupil 
          than other schools.  If the existing funding formula for CART 
          were to sunset, the state would save this amount of funding per 
          pupil.  

           COMMENTS  

           1)Purpose  .  CART was established by a joint powers authority 
            (JPA) in 1997. This charter school is organized around four 
            career clusters: professional sciences, engineering, advanced 
            communications, and global economics.  Approximately 1,300 
            students from the Clovis Unified School District (CUSD) and 
            the Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) are bused to CART to 
            attend half-day classes in one of the career-specific 
            laboratories within each cluster. The students also complete 
            industry-based projects and receive academic credit for 
            advanced English, science, math, and technology. CART students 
            spend the other half of their instructional day at schoolsites 
            located in their "home districts" (i.e., CUSD or FUSD). 









                                                                 SB 361
                                                                  Page  2

            According to the author, this bill "updates existing law as it 
            pertains to a school funding mechanism, to ensure that CART is 
            able to continue preparing high school students for the 
            post-secondary education and career path of each student's 
            choosing."

           2)Existing law  .  AB 2246 (Villines), Chapter 762, Statutes of 
            2006, authorized CART to receive revenue limit funding 
            (general purpose) utilizing a formula that allows pupils 
            concurrently enrolled at CART and regular secondary school 
            classes to generate average daily attendance, as specified.  
            This authorization sunsets on July 1, 2012.  

            Prior to Chapter 762, CART received general-purpose and 
            regional occupational center program (ROC/P) funding as if it 
            was a traditional charter school. As part of its annual 
            statutory required audit, state auditors determined CART was 
            ineligible for traditional revenue limit funding and ROC/P 
            funding due to its joint structure with CUSD and FUSD. If the 
            provisions of this bill were to sunset, the CART would be 
            ineligible to receive revenue limit and ROC/P funding.  This 
            bill extends CART's funding authorization for six years - 
            until 2017.  

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916) 
          319-2081