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AB-494 State Board of Education: waiver authority.(2007-2008)



Current Version: 09/06/07 - Enrolled

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AB494:v93#DOCUMENT

Enrolled  September 06, 2007
Passed  IN  Senate  August 30, 2007
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 04, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  August 01, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  July 18, 2007
Amended  IN  Senate  July 05, 2007
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 09, 2007
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 28, 2007

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2007–2008 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 494


Introduced  by  Assembly Member Huffman
(Principal Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Garrick)
(Coauthor(s): Assembly Member Lieu)

February 20, 2007


An act to amend Sections 33051 and 64001 of the Education Code, relating to education.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 494, Huffman. State Board of Education: waiver authority.
(1) Existing law requires the State Board of Education to approve any and all requests by a governing board of a school district to waive all or part of any section of the Education Code, or any regulation adopted by the state board that implements a provision of that code, except as specified.
This bill would express the Legislature’s intent that high achieving schools and school districts be given additional deference when applying for waivers, as specified. The bill would also express the Legislature’s intent that the state board give particular attention to certain factors when identifying high achieving schools and school districts.
(2) Existing law requires a school district that elects to apply for certain state and federal categorical program funds to submit to the State Department of Education a single consolidated application for approval by the State Board of Education. Related onsite school and district compliance visits and reviews are conducted by the department.
This bill would require the department to notify a school district at least 60 days before the date that a review is scheduled to occur if the department intends to waive that review or extend the time before the next onsite review. If a school receives a positive review or the review is waived, the bill would provide that the school is not subject to any further monitoring for at least 3 years. The bill would provide that a school with an Academic Performance Index score of 800 or more, or a school that has achieved a similar school rank of 9 or 10 in each of the prior 3 years, that receives a positive review would not be subject to any further monitoring for at least 6 years.
The bill would make other technical changes.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

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


SECTION 1.

 Section 33051 of the Education Code is amended to read:

33051.
 (a) The State Board of Education shall approve any and all requests for waivers except in those cases where the state board specifically finds any of the following:
(1) The educational needs of the pupils are not adequately addressed.
(2) The waiver affects a program that requires the existence of a schoolsite council and the schoolsite council did not approve the request.
(3) The appropriate councils or advisory committees, including bilingual advisory committees, did not have an adequate opportunity to review the request and the request did not include a written summary of any objections to the request by the councils or advisory committees.
(4) Pupil or school personnel protections are jeopardized.
(5) Guarantees of parental involvement are jeopardized.
(6) The request substantially would increase state costs.
(7) The exclusive representative of employees, if any, as provided in Chapter 10.7 (commencing with Section 3540) of Division 4 of Title 1 of the Government Code, was not a participant in the development of the waiver.
(b) The state board shall not approve any request for waiver of any provision of Article 5 (commencing with Section 17485) of Chapter 4 of Part 10.5 unless the school district seeking the waiver demonstrates all of the following:
(1) The school district provided written notice of any public hearing it conducted pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 33050 at least 30 days prior to the hearing to each public agency identified in Section 17489.
(2) The school district, after making a good-faith effort to that purpose, was unable to reach agreement with any public agency identified in Section 17489 that seeks to acquire the site under that article on terms and conditions that are consistent with the requirements of the purchase plan adopted by the agency under Section 17493 and would enable the district to meet its reasonable financial goals.
(3) The detriment to the school district’s ability to financially meet the educational needs of the community resulting from the disposition of the schoolsite pursuant to the sale price or lease rate limitations set forth in Section 17491, as compared to the fair market value of the site, outweighs the need for the use of the site for outdoor recreational and open-space purposes as established by a finding made under Section 17492.
(4) In the event that the school district enters into a long-term lease during the period of the waiver or any extension thereof, the school district shall be exempt from the requirements of Article 5 (commencing with Section 17485) of Chapter 4 of Part 10.5, for the duration of the lease term for that site.
(c) The governing board of a school district that has requested and received a general waiver under this article for two consecutive years for the same general waiver is not required to reapply annually if the information contained on the request remains current. The state board may require updated information for the request whenever it determines that information to be necessary. Nothing in this section shall prevent the state board from rescinding a waiver if additional information supporting a rescission is made available to the state board. This waiver process shall not apply to waivers pertaining to teacher credentialing, which shall be submitted to the state board annually.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that high achieving schools and school districts be given additional deference when applying for waivers, both by minimizing the paperwork and documentation required, as well as a general presumption that the educational needs of pupils will be adequately addressed due to the school or school district’s established track record of success. When identifying high achieving schools and school districts, it is the intent of the Legislature that the state board give particular attention to the school or school district’s success in relation to the pupil population it serves. It is therefore the Legislature’s intent that additional deference be given to schools and school districts for doing substantially better when compared to similar schools, as well as to schools and school districts that are reaching the highest achievement levels in the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 64001 of the Education Code is amended to read:

64001.
 (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, school districts shall not be required to submit to the department, as part of the consolidated application, school plans for categorical programs that are subject to this part. School districts shall assure, in the consolidated application, that the single plan for pupil achievement established pursuant to subdivision (d) has been prepared in accordance with law, that schoolsite councils have developed and approved a plan, to be known as the single plan for pupil achievement for schools participating in programs funded through the consolidated application process and any other school program they choose to include, and that school plans were developed with the review, certification, and advice of applicable school advisory committees. The single plan for pupil achievement may also be referred to as the single plan for student achievement. The consolidated application also shall include certifications by appropriate district advisory committees that the application was developed with review and advice of those committees.
(2) If a consolidated application does not include the necessary certifications or assurances, the department shall initiate an investigation to determine whether the consolidated application and single plan for pupil achievement were developed in accordance with law and with the involvement of applicable advisory committees and schoolsite councils.
(b) (1) Onsite school and district compliance reviews of categorical programs shall continue, and school plans shall be required and reviewed as part of these onsite visits and compliance reviews. The Superintendent shall establish the process and frequency for conducting reviews of district achievement and compliance with state and federal categorical program requirements. In addition, the Superintendent shall establish the content of these instruments, including any criteria for differentiating these reviews based on the achievement of pupils, as demonstrated by the Academic Performance Index developed pursuant to Section 52052, and evidence of district compliance with state and federal law. The state board shall review the content of these instruments for consistency with state board policy.
(2) If the department intends, based on its review of a school’s Academic Performance Index data and record of compliance, not to perform an onsite compliance review or extend the time before the next onsite review, the department shall notify the school district at least 60 days before the date that the eliminated or postponed review would otherwise occur.
(3) If a school receives a positive review or the review is waived, the school shall not be subject to any further monitoring for at least three years. If a school with an Academic Performance Index score of 800 or more, or a school that has achieved a similar school rank of 9 or 10 in each of the prior three years, receives a positive review, it shall not be subject to any further monitoring for at least six years.
(c) (1) A school district shall submit school plans whenever the department requires the plans in order to effectively administer a categorical program subject to this part. The department may require submission of the school plan for a school that is the specific subject of a complaint involving a categorical program or service subject to this part.
(2) The department may require a school district to submit other data or information as may be necessary for the department to effectively administer a categorical program subject to this part.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, as a condition of receiving state funding for a categorical program pursuant to Section 64000, and instead of the information submission requirements that were required by this section prior to January 1, 2002, school districts shall ensure that each school in a district that operates categorical programs subject to this part consolidates the plans that are required by those programs into a single plan. Schools may consolidate plans that are required by federal programs subject to this part into this plan, unless otherwise prohibited by federal law. That plan shall be known as the single plan for pupil achievement or may be referred to as the single plan for student achievement.
(e) Plans developed pursuant to subdivision (d) of Section 52054, and Section 6314 and following of Title 20 of the United States Code, shall satisfy this requirement.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the content of a single plan for pupil achievement shall be aligned with school goals for improving pupil achievement. School goals shall be based upon an analysis of verifiable state data, including the Academic Performance Index developed pursuant to Section 52052 and the English language development test developed pursuant to Section 60810, and may include data voluntarily developed by school districts to measure pupil achievement. The single plan for pupil achievement, at a minimum, shall address how funds provided to the school through any of the sources identified in Section 64000 will be used to improve the academic performance of all pupils to the level of the performance goals, as established by the Academic Performance Index developed pursuant to Section 52052. The plan also shall identify the schools’ means of evaluating progress toward accomplishing those goals and how state and federal law governing these programs will be implemented.
(g) The plan required by this section shall be reviewed annually and updated, including proposed expenditure of funds allocated to the school through the consolidated application, by the schoolsite council, or, if the school does not have a schoolsite council, by schoolwide advisory groups or school support groups that conform to the requirements of Section 52852. The plans shall be reviewed and approved by the governing board of the local educational agency at a regularly scheduled meeting whenever there are material changes that affect the academic programs for pupils covered by programs identified in Section 64000.
(h) The school plan and subsequent revisions shall be reviewed and approved by the governing board of the school district. The governing board of the school district shall certify that, to the extent allowable under federal law, plans developed for purposes of this section are consistent with district local improvement plans that are required as a condition of receiving federal funding.
(i) This section does not prevent a school district, at its discretion, from conducting an independent review pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section as it read on January 1, 2001.