Amended in Assembly May 1, 2014

Amended in Assembly April 23, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2437

Introduced by Assembly Member Hagman

(Coauthor: Assembly Member Maienschein)

February 21, 2014

An act to add Article 15 (commencing with Section 17079.35) to Chapter 12.5 of Part 10 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, relating to school infrastructure, and making an appropriation therefor.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2437, as amended, Hagman. School infrastructure: network infrastructure.

Existing law authorizes the California School Financing Authority to begin insert issue end insert revenue bonds in an amount not to exceed $400 million begin insert to be end insert repaid from a dedicated portions of funds allocated to school districts from the California State Lottery Education Fund for the purposes of establishing computer-based networks and telecommunications systems for instructional purposes, including the procurement and installation of computer hardware and software, multimedia audio, video, and data transfer equipment, and wiring, cabling, and other equipment necessary to establish network connectivity, and any planning and installation costs associated with establishing and installing the networks.

This bill would require the State Department of Education to establish a competitive grant program to provide grants for the construction of network infrastructure begin insert , as defined, end insert for begin delete schools with kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. end delete begin insert local educational agencies to administer computer-based assessments for pupils. end insert The bill would require the department to begin delete award grants based on the needs of the local education agencies and would require, as a condition of the grant, that the local education agency provide matching funds of 50% of the project costs. end delete begin insert develop guidelines for the implementation of the program. end insert The bill would, for the 2014-15 fiscal year, appropriate $500,000,000 from the General Fund to the department for the grant program.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Article 15 (commencing with Section 17079.35)
is added to Chapter 12.5 of Part 10 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the Education Code, to read:

 

Article 15.  Network Infrastructure

 

17079.35.  

(a) The department shall establish a competitive
grant program to provide grants for the construction of network
infrastructure for begin delete schools with kindergarten and grades 1 to 12,
inclusive. end delete begin insert local educational agencies to administer computer-based
assessments of pupils that are required by federal or state law.
For the purposes of this section, “network infrastructure” means
the hardware or software resources of an entire network that
enable network connectivity, communication, operations, and
management of an enterprise network. end insert

begin delete

(b) In administering the program, the department shall evaluate
an application and award the grants based on the need of the local
education agencies.

end delete begin delete

(c) The department shall, as a condition of a grant, require the
local education agency to provide matching funds in an amount
of 50 percent of the project costs.

end delete begin insert

(b) Grant funds provided pursuant to this section may be used
for the following purposes:

end insert begin insert

(1) Networking hardware, that may include, but is not limited
to, routers, switches, wireless access points, firewalls, intrusion
prevention systems, and network cabling. Network hardware does
not include desktop or laptop computers or similar equipment.

end insert begin insert

(2) Networking software, that may include, but is not limited
to, network monitoring and management, network traffic analysis,
and network security applications.

end insert begin insert

(3) Network service, that may include, but is not limited to,
mobile broadband, cable, digital subscriber line, satellite, wireless,
T1, T3, or optical service.

end insert begin insert

(c) Priority for funding shall be given to local educational
agencies that have no or little network connectivity.

end insert begin insert

(d) The department shall develop guidelines for the
implementation of the program. The guidelines shall be developed
with public input and shall include, but shall not be limited to, all
of the following:

end insert begin insert

(1) The maximum grant amount.

end insert begin insert

(2) A matching funds requirement, based on a sliding scale.

end insert begin insert

(3) The process for submitting applications and determining
awards.

end insert begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  (1) For the 2014-15 fiscal year, the sum of five hundred
million dollars ($500,000,000) is hereby appropriated from the
General Fund to the department for the purposes of this section.

(2) The department may expend not more than ____ percent of
the amount appropriated pursuant to paragraph (1) for its
administrative costs in implementing this article.