BILL NUMBER: AB 2556 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 31, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2000
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2000
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Hertzberg and Shelley
FEBRUARY 24, 2000
An act to add Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 58740) to Part
31 of the Education Code, relating to school and community
partnerships , and making an appropriation therefor
.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2556, as amended, Hertzberg. School and community partnership
collaborations.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district
to provide school facilities.
This bill would establish a grant program, administered by the
Office of Planning and Research, to pay the cost of planning and
operating full-service school and community partnership collaboration
programs. The bill would prescribe the requirements for grant
eligibility, the purposes of which grant funds could be utilized, and
the process for applying for, and receiving, a grant under this
program. The bill would require grants awarded under the bill to be
matched by the school and community partnership collaboration and its
participating agencies at a rate of $1 for every $2 received.
The bill would appropriate $4,000,000 to the State Department of
Education for purposes of the grant program.
Vote: 2/3 majority .
Appropriation: yes no . Fiscal
committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) As California enters the 21st century, the projected increase
in the population of the state raises concerns about the quality of
life that will be experienced by citizens of the state in the future.
By the year 2020, the current population of the state of 33 million
is projected to reach 45.3 million; in other words, the population
of the state will increase by half the number of people it now has in
the next twenty years.
(2) The population growth the state is experiencing places a
burden on the financial resources and physical infrastructure of our
communities.
(3) Social problems such as crime, drug abuse, juvenile
delinquency, and academic failure are closely linked to the
conditions in our communities. One in four adolescents are in
significant trouble, ranging from drug abuse and teenage pregnancy to
juvenile delinquency and more serious crimes. Of critical
importance is that research shows that juvenile crime and risky
behaviors spike in the afternoon hours of 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., when 55
percent of middle school children spend two or more hours each day at
home without an adult.
(4) It is crucial that the state address how local communities are
organized to respond to social problems. To this end, schools can
serve as community centers, places where young people and adults
receive lifelong instruction as well as having access to necessary
social services.
(5) The Beacon schools program in New York City is a premier
example of the success that can be achieved when schools are used as
community centers. The program began in 10 schools in 1991 to fight
youth drug abuse. At these schools, staff workers use a youth
development framework to help pupils with homework and conduct
after-school recreation programs. The schools are also home to
health clinics and social service centers to make these services more
accessible to local residents. These schools have become community
centers at which children and adults congregate every day of the
year. The Beacon schools program has grown to include 75 schools
that provide tens of thousands of youngsters with a safe structured
environment after school and on weekends.
(6) The Safe Haven after-school program operated by the city of
Madison, Wisconsin, is another example of the opportunity schoolsites
provide for improving the quality of life of our communities. The
program is conducted at elementary schools in communities with high
crime and poverty rates. Besides academic assistance and
recreational activities, the schools also provide instruction in
conflict resolution, such as peer mediation, to help pupils resolve
disputes. The Safe Haven schools report improved school attendance
and fewer conflicts among pupils during after-school hours.
(7) Healthy Start, After School Learning and Safe Partnerships
Programs and other school and community partnerships are
demonstrating their effectiveness in raising school achievement,
strengthening families, and building strong communities. New school
and community partnership collaboration programs should build on the
experiences of these programs, particularly in the areas of training
and technical assistance, and evaluation.
(8) Launched in 1996, the San Francisco Beacon Initiative is a
collaboration of the San Francisco Unified School District, private
foundations, and local community organizations that oversee eight
Beacon Centers housed in public schools. Run by a local community
agency, Beacon Centers offer academic support, leadership and career
development, arts and recreation programs, and health services. All
programs are designed to offer support and opportunities for the
healthy development of youth. Beacon Centers provide youth with a
safe place where they can make positive connections with adults and
peers, assume valued leadership roles, and engage in challenging
learning activities. All Beacon Centers serve as platforms to
attract and maintain numerous programs for their communities.
(9) School and community partnership collaborations are necessary
to achieve positive results for child, youth, families, and
communities.
(10) School reform will not succeed without addressing the
holistic needs of children and students.
(11) Parental involvement in youth activity and schooling is
critical to the prevention of juvenile crime and the attainment of
academic success.
(12) A consensus is arising that school and community partnership
collaborations offer a workable solution to an array of interrelated
problems such as deteriorating schools, troubled children,
overburdened families, at-risk communities, and fragmented service
systems.
(13) Research shows that school and community partnership
collaborations have the capacity to improve educational outcomes and
lower risky behaviors, particularly when these approaches involve
cities and counties.
(14) Schools should serve as community centers at which
individuals receive education throughout their lives. Schools should
be places where learning occurs "after school," in the evenings, in
out-of-school time, during intersession, and on weekends.
(15) Schools should support and provide a variety of social
services in partnership with public, civic, and private
organizations, as well as businesses. Any number of social services
should be provided at schoolsites.
(16) Most schools in the state, however, have been designed to
serve only as instructional facilities. In most cases, school
facilities are not available for use by the general public. Schools
should, instead, be designed to sustain the relationship between a
school and its community.
(17) Schools should be built to serve as the centers of their
communities. School gymnasiums and play fields should double as
community recreation centers and parks, school auditoriums should
also serve as community theaters, and the resources in school
libraries should be made available to members of the local community.
In addition, health clinics and other community services should be
provided at schoolsites to increase the availability of those
services to the residents of the community.
(b) Therefore, the Legislature finds and declares that the concept
of school and community partnership collaborations must be enhanced
and expanded so that all youth, children, families and communities
are provided with resources for success.
SEC. 2. Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 58740) is added to
Part 31 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.6. SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS GRANT PROGRAM
58740. For the purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "Asset mapping" means a survey of geographically-located
organizations providing support services to children, youth, and
families.
(b) "Community partnerships" mean locally-based programs that are
broad, comprehensive, integrated, culturally-sensitive, and include a
local educational agency and at least four of the following
entities, with at least one being a nongoverning entity:
(1) Cities.
(2) Counties.
(3) Philanthropic organizations.
(4) Nonprofit organizations.
(5) Community-based organizations.
(6) Park and recreation districts.
(7) Libraries.
(8) Other organizations that address the needs of children, youth,
families, and communities.
Any of the above entities may be the organizing agency in the
community partnership and may apply for grant funding available under
this chapter. In forming community partnerships, the school and
community partnership shall include citizen participation.
(c) "Community partnership coordinator" means a professional
working for the school and community partnership collaboration who
fosters community involvement, develops collaborative programs,
conducts fundraising, and works closely with school administrators,
city and county agencies, and other collaboratives.
(d) "Consortium" means two or more local educational agencies.
(e) "Cooperating agency" means any federal, state, or local public
or private nonprofit agency that agrees to offer support services at
a schoolsite or community facility through a program implemented
under this chapter.
(f) "School and community partnership collaboration" means the
integration of education, youth development, and family services.
This may include medical, and social human services provided after
school and community-based that are beneficial to meeting the needs
of children, youth, and families on school grounds or in locations
that are easily accessible.
(g) "Local educational agency" means a school district or county
office of education.
(h) "Private partner" means a private business or foundation that
provides financial assistance or otherwise assists a support services
program operated under this chapter.
58741. (a) The Office of Planning and Research shall award grants
to school and community partnership collaborations to pay the cost
of planning and operating full-service school and community
partnership collaboration programs. Grants applications and funding
may include three elements : (1) planning (2) operational and (3)
capital infrastructure funds. A school and community partnership
collaboration may apply for any or all of the grant elements. The
Office of Planning and Research shall issue those grants as follows:
(1) Planning funds may be awarded to school and community
partnership collaborations that have demonstrated a need to implement
a program, but are not ready to begin the operation of the program,
or that are in need of additional planning to expand existing support
services programs. Planning grants shall not exceed fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000). Planning activities shall build on data
collection and planning efforts and may include, but are not limited
to, asset mapping of child, youth, and family resources in the
geographic area of the partnership, building school and community
partnership collaborations, defining communitywide results,
measurable indicators, and program performance measures, establishing
a monitoring and evaluation system. Upon completion of the planning
phase, the school and community partnership collaborations shall be
eligible to use operational funds.
(2) Operational funds may be awarded to school and community
partnership collaborations that have met the following criteria:
(A) Utilized the planning funds to complete a school and community
partnership collaboration planning process.
(B) Demonstrated readiness to begin operation of a program or to
expand existing support services programs.
(3) Operational funds shall supplement, not supplant, existing
services and funds, and shall be awarded based on the following
schedule:
(A) One hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in the first year.
(B) Seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) each in the second
and third years.
(C) Fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in the fourth year and each
successive year.
Of the amount provided pursuant to this paragraph, the school and
community partnership collaborations shall annually expend an amount
necessary to retain the services of a community partnership
coordinator.
(4) Capital funds may be awarded to school and community
partnership collaborations that have developed plans for joint use of
facilities for the school and community partnership collaboration.
These grants may be up to two hundred fifty thousand dollars
($250,000). These programs may be located on a schoolsite or in a
community facility.
(b) All grants awarded pursuant to this section shall be matched
by the school and community partnership collaboration and its
participating agencies with one dollar ($1) for each two dollars ($2)
awarded. The match shall be contributed in cash or as services or
resources of comparable value.
(c) The Office of Planning and Research shall award grants
pursuant to this section and shall, to the extent possible, award
grants to programs representative of the ethnic and linguistic
diversity of schoolage pupils and their families. The Office of
Planning and Research shall develop and implement a plan to ensure
that grant funds are awarded to applicants representative of the
geographic, ethnic, and linguistic diversity of California.
(d) A school and community partnership collaboration is eligible
for a grant under this section if it demonstrates in its program plan
that it shall do at least two of the following:
(1) Give priority for services provided under this chapter to
pupils from low-income families.
(2) Assist families in responding to support service needs of
pupils.
(3) Provide services to families such as English as a Second
Language courses, support in accessing health and human services
programs, and mentoring.
(4) Involve parents or guardians and teachers in the process of
identifying a pupil's service needs and in the planning for and
provision of support services.
(5) Submits or has submitted an application to the State
Department of Education and the State Department of Health Services
for certification as a Medi-Cal provider, pursuant to Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 14000) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(e) For purposes of this chapter, support services shall include
case-managed health, mental health, dental health, and, social and
academic support services benefiting children and their families, and
may include, but are not limited to:
(1) Health care, including:
(A) Immunizations.
(B) Vision and hearing testing and services.
(C) Dental services.
(D) Physical examinations, diagnostic, and referral services.
(E) Prenatal care.
(2) Mental health services, including primary prevention, crisis
intervention, assessments, and referrals, and training for teachers
in the detection of mental health problems.
(3) Substance abuse prevention and treatment services.
(4) Family support and parenting education, including child abuse
prevention and schoolage parenting programs.
(5) Academic support services, including tutoring, mentoring,
employment, community service internships, and in-service training
for teachers and administrators. However, grants for these purposes
shall supplement, not supplant, existing resources in these areas.
(6) Counseling, including family counseling and suicide
prevention.
(7) Services and counseling for children who experience violence
in their communities.
(8) Nutrition services.
(9) Youth development services, including tutoring, mentoring,
recreation, career development, and job placement.
(10) Case management services.
(11) Provision of onsite Medi-Cal and Healthy Families eligibility
workers.
58742. (a) Each community partnership seeking a grant under this
article shall submit an application to the Office of Planning and
Research that includes the information in subdivision (b) and any
additional information the Office of Planning and Research requests
as part of the application process.
(b) Each grant application submitted shall include all of the
following:
(1) Documentation of the need for participation in this program.
(2) Documentation of the need for planning assistance, program
operation support, or both.
(3) A description of the communitywide results for children and
their families, measurable indicators, and program performance
measures for the program.
(4) A description of the proposed programs, including two or more
support services expected to be provided at the schoolsite or at a
site near or adjacent to the school. The amount and sources of
required funding, the existing resources to be used or redirected,
the priorities for development and timing of the program, the
agencies responsible for the implementation of the program, and the
procedures for the evaluation of the program. The program plan
submitted with an operational fund application shall include all of
the following:
(A) Provisions for data collection and recordkeeping, including
records of the population served, the components of the service, the
results of the service, and costs, including startup, direct and
indirect costs, including those to other agencies, and cost savings.
(B) A service evaluation component, including input, process, and
program performance measures that include inputs, quality measures,
and program outcomes, quality assessment, and the process by which
these measures will be taken. In addition, the plan shall include
specific targets and outcome measures.
(C) A specific governing mechanism at the site level, that
includes parents, by which the plan will be implemented, including
local decisionmaking responsibilities, organizational needs,
anticipated problems and procedures to solve them, and incentives for
collaboration and participation incentives to personnel.
(5) Documentation of any procedures that have been, or will be,
taken to designate the local educational agency as a Medi-Cal
provider pursuant to Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 14000) of
Part 3 of Division 9 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(6) A description of technical assistance, professional growth,
and development needs, if any.
(7) A description of the proposed plan for family involvement in
the program.
(8) A description of the population anticipated to be served.
(9) A plan describing how the proposed program will be sustained
over time.
58743. A school and community partnership collaboration may
contract with other entities, including county agencies and private
nonprofit organizations or private partners, to provide services to
pupils and their families.
58744. (a) Grants awarded pursuant to this chapter may be used
for salaries of staff responsible for developing or implementing the
program plan and administrative support staff, equipment and
supplies, training, and insurance.
(b) (1) The Office of Planning and Research may use funds
appropriated pursuant to this chapter for state-level administration,
including evaluation and technical assistance.
(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "technical assistance"
includes, but is not limited to, establishing interagency
collaboration, providing information dissemination and referrals,
including information about appropriate program models, conducting
site visits, and convening workshops to assist in the implementation
of school and community partnership collaboration programs developed
pursuant to the chapter.
58745. Commencing in the 2000 calendar year, and each subsequent
year for which funding is available, grants shall be awarded by the
Office of Planning and Research according to the following schedule:
(a) The Office of Planning and Research shall issue requests for
applications on or before November 1.
(b) Grant applications shall be submitted to the Office of
Planning and Research on or before March 1.
(c) The Office of Planning and Research shall award grants on or
before May 15.
SEC. 3. The sum of four million dollars ($4,000,000) is hereby
appropriated from the General Fund to the State Department of
Education for purposes of Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Sec. 58740) of
Part 31 of the Education Code.