SB 1369, as amended, Block. Community colleges: Disability Services Program.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law states the intent of the Legislature that the public postsecondary institutions request, and the state provide, through the state budget process, funds to cover the actual cost of providing services and instruction, consistent with specified principles, to disabled students in their respective postsecondary institutions.
Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt rules and regulations for the administration and funding of educational programs and support services provided to disabled students by community colleges for state-funded services. Existing law requires these regulations to provide for the apportionment of funds to each community college district to offset the direct excess cost, as defined, of providing specialized support services or instruction, or both, to disabled students enrolled in state-supported educational programs or courses.
This bill would recast these requirements as the Disability Services Program and would use the term “students with disabilities” instead of disabled students. The bill would instead require the regulations adopted by the board of governors to providebegin insert for the apportionment of funds to each community college district to offset the direct excess cost, as modified by the bill, of providingend insert students with disabilities enrolled in state-supported educational programs operated by community college districts with academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services, as appropriate, in compliance with all applicable requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws. In utilizing funds apportioned to a community college district, the bill would require the district to give priority to ensuring that requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws have been satisfied with respect to students with disabilities who enroll for specified purposes. The bill would authorize a district to use these funds to provide other specialized services or to offer educational assistance courses for students with disabilities so long as specified conditions are met. The bill would also prohibit a district from using these funds to provide services for students with disabilities participating in classes, courses, or educational programs that do not receive state support. As a condition of receiving these funds, the bill would require a district to cooperate in the conduct of program evaluations, as prescribed, and to promptly take any corrective action required by the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges as a result of the program evaluations. The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to request funding for the Disability Services Program that is sufficient to carry out the requirements of the program on a statewide basis in the annual budget request to the Governor and the Legislature.
(2) Existing law requires all participating districts, with the assistance of the chancellor, to establish and maintain institutional research to evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success and Support Program implemented under the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012. Existing law requires the research to include certain metrics including, among others, disaggregated data by ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and socioeconomic status, to the extent the information is available.
This bill would require a district to report a student participating in the Student Success and Support Program as having a disability if the student participates in the Disability Services Program.
To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Section 78214 of the Education Code is amended
2to read:
(a) All participating districts shall, with the assistance
4of the chancellor, establish and maintain institutional research to
5evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success and Support
6Program described by this article and of any other programs or
7services designed to facilitate students’ completion of their
8educational goals and courses of study.
9(b) The metrics for this research shall include, but not be limited
10to:
11(1) Prior educational experience, including transcripts when
12appropriate, as determined by the chancellor.
13(2) Educational goals and courses of study.
14(3) Criteria for exemption from orientation, assessment, or
15required counseling or advisement, if applicable.
16(4) Need for financial assistance.
17(5) (A) Disaggregated data by ethnicity, gender, disability, age,
18and socioeconomic status, to the extent this information is
19available.
20(B) For purposes of this paragraph, unless the chancellor
21establishes a different approach for reporting disability status, a
22district shall report a student as having a disability if the student
23participates in the Disability Services Program established pursuant
P4 1to Article 6 (commencing with Section 84850) of Chapter 5 of
2Part 50.
3(6) Academic performance, such as the completion of specified
4unit thresholds, success in basic skills courses,
grade point average,
5course completion outcomes, transfer readiness, and degree and
6certificate completion.
7(7) Any additional information that the chancellor finds
8appropriate.
9(c) The evaluation provided for by this section shall include an
10assessment of the effectiveness of the programs and services in
11attaining at least the following objectives:
12(1) Helping students to define their academic and career goals
13and declare a course of study.
14(2) Assisting institutions in the assessment of students’
15educational needs and valid course placement.
16(3) Helping support students’ successful course completion and
17goal attainment.
18(4) Matching institutional resources with students’ educational
19needs.
The heading of Article 6 (commencing with Section
2184850) of Chapter 5 of Part 50 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the 22Education Code is amended to read:
23
Section 84850 of the Education Code is amended and
27renumbered to read:
(a) The Board of Governors of the California
29Community Colleges shall adopt rules and regulations for the
30administration and funding of educational programs and support
31services to be provided to students with disabilities by community
32college districts pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section
3367310) of Chapter 14 of Part 40. This program shall be known and
34may be cited as the Disability Services Program.
35(b) As used in this article, a student with a disability is a person
36who is enrolled, or has been admitted and is planning to enroll, in
37one or more courses at a community college and has been verified
38as being an individual with a disability within the meaning of the
39Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended
(42 U.S.C.
40Sec. 12101 et seq.).
P5 1(c) (1) The regulations adopted by the board of governors shall
2providebegin insert for the apportionment of funds to each community college
3district to offset the direct excess cost, as defined in paragraph
4(2), of providingend insert students with disabilities enrolled in
5state-supported educational programs operated by community
6college districts with academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and
7services, as appropriate, in compliance with all applicable
8requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws, including,
9but not limited to, all of the following:
10(A) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended
11(42 U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.).
12(B) Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended
13(29 U.S.C. Sec. 794).
14(C) Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 11135) of Chapter
151 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
16(D) The Equity in Higher Education Act (Chapter 4.5
17(commencing with Section 66250) of Part 40 of Division 5).
18(2) Direct excess costs are those actual fixed, variable, and
19one-time costs, as defined in Section 67311, that exceed the
20combined total of the following:
21(A) The indirect cost to the community college district of
22providing facilities and support for the administration ofbegin delete services begin insert
the Disability Services Programend insert.
23for students with disabilitiesend delete
24(B) The revenue derived from full-time equivalent students
25enrolled in educational assistance courses for students with
26disabilities.
27(C) The average cost to the community college district of
28providing services to nondisabled students multiplied by the
29number of students served by the Disability Services Program.
30(D) Any other funds for serving students with disabilities that
31the district receives from federal, state, or local sources.
32(d) (1) In utilizing funds provided pursuant to this section, a
33community college district shall give priority to ensuring that the
34requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws have
35been satisfied with respect to students with
disabilities who enroll
36to earn degrees, career technical certificates, transfer preparation,
37or career development or advancement. However, the community
38college district remains responsible for complying with the
39requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws with
P6 1respect to students with disabilities pursuing other educational
2objectives.
3(2) In addition, a community college district may also use funds
4allocated pursuant to this section to provide other specialized
5services or to offer educational assistance courses for students with
6disabilities so long as these services or courses satisfy all of the
7following conditions:
8(A) They are consistent with the regulations adopted by the
9board of governors.
10(B) They further the goal established in Section 67310 of
11promoting the independence of students with
disabilities and the
12maximum integration of these students with other students.
13(C) They are provided in the most integrated setting possible.
14(e) A community college district shall not use funds allocated
15pursuant to this section to provide services for students with
16disabilities participating in classes, courses, or educational
17programs that do not receive state support.
18(f) As a condition of receiving funds pursuant to this section,
19each community college district shall do all of the following:
20(1) The community college district shall certify that reasonable
21efforts have been made to utilize all funds from federal, state, or
22local sources that are available for serving students with disabilities.
23(2) The community college district shall provide the
24programmatic and fiscal information concerning programs and
25services for students with disabilities that the regulations of the
26board of governors require.
27(3) The community college district shall cooperate in the conduct
28of program evaluations conducted pursuant to subdivision (g) and
29promptly take any corrective actions required by the chancellor as
30a result of those evaluations.
31(g) The board of governors shall require the chancellor to use
32an amount not less than one-half of 1 percent of the funds allocated
33pursuant to this section to conduct, or to contract to conduct, an
34evaluation of program effectiveness as required pursuant to Section
3567312. In addition to addressing the requirements of Section 67312,
36the evaluations shall determine whether the requirements of this
37article and those set forth in the
regulations adopted by the board
38of governors have been satisfied. Each community college
39operating a program pursuant to this section shall be required to
40participate in a peer-based onsite evaluation during the self-study
P7 1year of each accreditation cycle. Funds designated for program
2evaluation purposes under this subdivision may be used to, among
3other things, compensate and reimbursebegin insert
members ofend insert onsite
4evaluation teams.
5(h) The board of governors may authorize the chancellor,
6consistent with the requirements the board may impose, to
7designate up to an additional 2 1⁄2 percent of the funds allocated
8pursuant to this section for program development and program
9accountability.
Section 84850 is added to the Education Code, to read:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
12(a) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C.
13Sec. 12101 et seq.), and other federal and state nondiscrimination
14laws require community college districts to ensure that students
15with disabilities are not denied the benefits of, or excluded from
16participating or otherwise subjected to discrimination in, any
17program or activity operated by those community college districts
18due to the absence of academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, or
19services, as appropriate.
20(b) The board of governors, the California Student Aid
21Commission, and other state agencies are responsible for
22distributing state and federal funding to community college
23
districts.
24(c) As a result, the state shares the responsibility with
25community college districts for ensuring that students with
26disabilities are able to fully participate in and benefit from the
27programs and activities operated by community college districts
28in accordance with the requirements of federal and state
29nondiscrimination laws.
30(d) By enacting the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of
312012, the Legislature has recognized the importance of ensuring
32that all students, including students with disabilities, have the
33resources and support services necessary to establish and achieve
34their educational goals while attending a community college.
35(e) The Legislature recognizes that programmatic adjustments,
36auxiliary aids, and other services may be needed in order for
37students with disabilities to be able to
participate in and fully
38benefit from the Student Success and Support Program and that
39providing these adjustments and services will result in additional
40costs and workload for community college districts.
P8 1(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that adequate funding shall
2be provided to the Disability Services Program through the annual
3budget process to ensure that each community college is able to
4provide students with disabilities the services needed to meet the
5requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws and to
6further their participation in the Student Success and Support
7Program.
Section 84852 is added to the Education Code, to read:
In its annual budget request for the California
10Community Colleges to the Governor and the Legislature, the
11Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges
12shall request funding for the Disability Services Program sufficient
13to carry out the purposes and requirements of this article on a
14statewide basis.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
16this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
17local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
18pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
194 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
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