Want to provide you with a summary of some of the key K-12 provisions of SB 97, the LCFF and budget cleanup legislation signed by the Governor yesterday. The bill makes important changes to LCFF, LCAPs, CCEE, and Prop 39 (energy efficiency), among others.

Because the Governor vetoed SB 344 (Padilla), several sections of SB 97 pertaining to LCAPs will not become law. These changes would have added a ninth state priority for the accountability plans and generally added requirements to the LCAP that related to services/interventions for ELL and poor students. The veto of SB 344 means that the following sections of SB 97 do not take place (the changes to the provisions of law in those sections will not take effect): Sections 17.5, 40.5, 41.5, 43.5, and 44.5. Here is a link to the chaptered version of SB 97.

Following is a summary of the major K-12 education changes as a result of SB 97:

Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF)

The bill makes a several changes related to LCFF, including:

1)    Clarifies statutes related to the William’s settlement agreement to de-link from previous categorical funding while continuing requirements within the new funding model, and specifies that LCFF funding will be used to offset any resulting reimbursable state mandate.

2)    Makes technical statutory changes to align Community Day School and County Community School funding with new LCFF requirements.

3)    Specifies that statutes guiding state apportionments to county offices of education and charter schools will apply only to the Education Protection Account beginning in 2013-14, and will sunset on July 1, 2021, since funds will be apportioned pursuant to the new LCFF.

4)    Clarifies funding calculations that apply to district reorganizations filed before and after December 1, 2013.

5)    Clarifies free and reduce-price meal eligibility is based on federal income eligibility criteria for purposes of unduplicated pupil counts under LCFF, instead of receipt of meals.

6)    Specifies that 2012-13 ADA counts, as of February 20, 2014, shall be used for purposes of calculating Economic Recovery Target rate “add-ons” for qualifying LEAs.

7)    Deletes LCFF provisions governing declining enrollment funding calculations to allow school districts in decline to receive either the prior year or current year ADA funding and corresponding grade span proportions, whichever is greater.

8)    Repeals statute authorizing special funding for the Center for Advanced Research Technology (CART) program — operated by the Fresno Unified and Clovis Unified school districts — which will now be funded pursuant to LCFF. Retains statutes for the CART program that guide minimum instructional day, computation of ADA, supervision of pupils, and the program sunset date

9)    Makes a technical correction to clarify that only charter schools serving students that a county office of education would otherwise be responsible for educating, are eligible to claim the alternative education funding rate under LCFF.

10) Specifies that the CDE and Department of Social Services shall enter into a memorandum of understanding, to share foster youth data, on or before February 1, 2014.  Clarifies the definition of foster youth.  Changes the due date of a CDE report on foster youth outcomes from February 15 to July 1 of each even-numbered year.

11) Specifies that Home-to-School Transportation funding includes funding for the Small School District Transportation Program.

12) Establishes a process for school districts and county offices of education to share maintenance-of-effort requirements related to Regional Occupational Centers and Programs funding.

13) Specifies that in 2013-14 and 2014-15 Regional Occupational Center and Program joint powers agencies and Home-to-School Transportation joint powers agencies shall continue to receive funding at a level associated with 2012-13 amounts for specified categorical programs.

14) Specifies that entitlements to the State Special Schools shall continue to include funding at a level associated with 2012-13 amounts for specified categorical programs.

15) Specifies that ADA, for the purpose of calculating county office of education operational grant funding under the LCFF, shall include the ADA of charter schools authorized by districts over which the county office has jurisdiction.

16) Specifies that if a county office of education meets or exceeds its LCFF funding target, it will be funded pursuant to the county LCFF funding formula or at the higher hold-harmless level.

17) Authorizes school districts and charter schools to submit changes to California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System within the timeframes and procedures established by the CDE.

18) Clarifies that Necessary Small School (NSS) ADA does not count for purposes of base funding, but does count for supplemental and concentration grant funding.

19) Clarifies that the amount of NSS funding received by a school district that qualified for NSS funding in the 2012-13 fiscal year, is included within their hold harmless calculation.

20) Repeals statute to clarify that NSS funding containing grades 7-8 are funded at the elementary NSS rate for those grades, not the high school NSS rate.  These changes are consistent with existing law.

21) Provides that the $3.5 million per year that the Torrance Unified School District will continue to pass through to its local Regional Occupational Center in 2013-14 and 2014-15 for ADA associated with non-TUSD students will not count toward the district’s LCFF target.

22) Clarifies that the $2 million in one-time funds appropriated in 2013-14 to the Office of Planning and Research to support  SBE activities related to LCFF implementation is non-Proposition 98 GF.

Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP)

The bill makes various changes related to the LCAP, including:

1)    Clarifies that a budget cannot be approved for a school district or county office of education before a LCAP, or update to the existing plan, is adopted and clarifies terms under which a budget review committee shall be formed.

2)    Requires school districts and county offices of education to ensure that all written notifications related to the LCAP or annual update are available to parents in languages other than English, as specified under current law.

3)    Specifies that the annual actions that school district and county offices of education take relating to achieving the goals of the LCAP shall not supersede local collective bargaining agreements.

4)    Adds local bargaining units to the groups that school district and county offices of education must consult in the development of the LCAP.

5)    Provides greater detail related to career technical education state priorities for purposes of the LCAP.

Prop 39 – Clean Energy Jobs Act

The bill makes several technical changes related to implementation of the California Clean Energy Jobs Act (Proposition 39):

1)    Specifies that the CDE shall use prior-year enrollment data, instead of ADA, for purposes of allocating energy efficiency funds to the state special schools.

2)    Clarifies that small school districts may elect to bundle year one and year two energy efficiency funds in 2013-14, and extends the application deadline for this bundling option by one month.

3)    Clarifies that statutes requiring schools to repay Proposition 39 funding if they vacate the facility within five years of project completion apply to local educational agencies, not just school districts.

Career Technical Education Grant Program evaluation

Directs $250,000 in one-time Proposition 98 funds, appropriated in the 2013 Budget for the Career Technical Education Pathways Grant Program, for an independent evaluation. These one-time funds shall be allocated to a local education agency identified by the SPI to contract for the evaluation.

Instructional Day Requirements

Specifies that the penalty for districts that fail to meet instructional day requirements is a maximum of five days’ ADA apportionments, and makes other technical and conforming changes.

California School Finance Authority

Makes several clarifying changes related to the transfer of the California School Finance Authority from the CDE to the State Treasurer’s Office beginning in 2013-14.

GF emergency loan for Inglewood Unified School District – covered costs

Specifies that the GF emergency loan package for the Inglewood Unified School District shall cover costs incurred by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (I-Bank).  (The 2013-14 Budget establishes a GF emergency loan for Inglewood – instead of an I-Bank loan – to reduce the interest rate for Inglewood to the Pooled Money Investment Account rate plus 2%.)

Mitigation of I-Bank emergency loan payments for South Monterey Joint Union HSD

Commences annual Proposition 98 payments in 2013-14 to the South Monterey Joint Union High School District to fund the difference between annual payments under the I-Bank loan and what the district would be paying under a GF loan with an interest rate set at the Pooled Money Investment Account rate plus 2%.  These “gap” payments will continue through 2029-30, reflecting the term of the loan.

Special education funding

Clarifies that Program Specialists and Regionalized Services and professional development funds are included in the special education funding base when calculating the Statewide Target Rate for Special Education Local Planning Areas.

California Collaborative for Educational Excellence (CCEE)

Makes changes to the CCEE, authorized and funded in the 2013-14 Budget, to advise and assist local educational agencies in achieving the goals set forth in their local control and accountability plans.  More specifically, this bill:

1)    Specifies that the SPI, with the approval of the SBE, shall contract with a local educational agency, or consortium of local educational agencies, to serve as the fiscal agent for the CCEE, and that the SPI shall apportion funds appropriated for the CCEE to the fiscal agent.

2)    Specifies that the CCEE shall be governed by a board consisting of the following five members:  (a) the SPI or his/her designee; (b) the President of the SBE or his/her designee; (c) a superintendent of a county office of education appointed by the Senate Rules Committee; (d) a teacher appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly; and (e) a superintendent of a school district appointed by the Governor.

3)    Specifies that, at the direction of the board of the CCEE, the fiscal agent shall contract with individuals, as well as local educational agencies or organizations with expertise, experience, and a record of success to carry out the purposes of LCFF implementation.

Barrett Snider
Partner
Capitol Advisors Group
925 L Street, Suite 1200
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.557.9745  office
916.548.0409  mobile
916.443.7468  fax
www.capitoladvisors.org