AB 86

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state, and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law establishes procedures for the apportionment of state funds to these local educational agencies. Existing law, for purposes of calculating apportionments for the 2020–21 fiscal year, requires a local educational agency to offer in-person instruction and authorizes these agencies to offer distance learning, as specified. This bill would require the school administrator or other person in charge of a public or private school campus maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, upon learning that a school employee or pupil at the public or private school campus has tested positive for COVID-19 and was present on campus while infectious, to immediately, and in no case later than 24 hours after learning of the positive COVID-19 case, notify the local health officer or the local health officer's representative about the positive case, as specified. The bill would prohibit this information from being disclosed by a local public health department, except as provided. The bill, beginning March 15, 2021, would require every school district, county office of education, charter school, and private school maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to notify the State Department of Public Health of certain information relating to in-person activities of the educational entity on or before the 2nd and 4th Monday of each month, as specified, and would require the State Department of Public Health to conduct safety reviews of certain schoolsites. The bill would require an educational entity to post a completed COVID-19 safety plan containing certain information on its internet website home page, as specified, and would require certain local educational agencies to submit their COVID-19 safety plan to their local public health department and the State Department of Public Health and resolve any deficiencies identified in the plan before offering in-person instruction. By requiring additional actions by local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require the Government Operations Agency to (A) prioritize COVID-19 vaccination for all persons in Tier 1B pursuant to the State Department of Public Health's Vaccine Allocation Guidelines for COVID-19 Vaccine equally statewide, (B) prioritize a set number of appointments for education sector staff under Tier 1B described in (A) , and (C) provide related direct outreach to, and support for, education sector staff. Of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines available to the state, the bill would require 10% to be offered to childcare and K-12 education sector staff. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2022, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2023. (2) For the 2020–21 fiscal year, this bill would appropriate $6,557,443,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, of which $4,557,443,000 would be apportioned to school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools, as prescribed, and available for expenditure until August 31, 2022, for certain activities, including offering supplemental instruction and support. As a condition of receiving these funds, the bill would require a local educational agency to, among other things, adopt at a public meeting a plan describing how these funds will be used consistent with eligible purposes. The bill would require the Superintendent to develop and post on the department's internet website a template for the plan to be used by local educational agencies, as prescribed. The bill would require the remaining $2,000,000,000 to be apportioned to school districts, county offices of education, and certain charter schools, and available for expenditure until August 31, 2022, if those local educational agencies, among other things, provide optional in-person instruction to certain pupil groups within prescribed timelines. The bill would require certain reporting requirements regarding the use of apportioned funds, would impose certain penalties for noncompliance with prescribed requirements, and would require the Superintendent to initiate collection proceedings for unexpended funds. The bill would make these provisions inoperative on June 30, 2023, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2024. (3) The Cal Grant Program establishes the Cal Grant A and B Entitlement Awards, the California Community College Transfer Cal Grant Entitlement Awards, the Competitive Cal Grant A and B Awards, the Cal Grant C Awards, and the Cal Grant T Awards under the administration of the Student Aid Commission, and establishes eligibility requirements for awards under these programs for participating students attending qualifying institutions. A provision of the program specifies that the commission shall require that a grade point average be submitted, as specified, to the commission for Cal Grant A and B applicants, except for those applicants permitted to provide test scores in lieu of a grade point average. Existing law requires the commission to adopt regulations that set forth the circumstances under which a student may submit a specified test score designated by the commission, by regulation, in lieu of submitting a qualifying grade point average. For the 2021–22 award year, this bill would authorize commission staff to waive the requirement to submit a test score in lieu of a qualifying grade point average for a student who does not have a grade point average and is unable to submit a test score due to unavailability of designated testing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would require the commission to require a student seeking a waiver under these provisions to submit a signed certification verifying they were prevented from taking and submitting a test score in lieu of a qualifying grade point average due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill would give a student applying for a Cal Grant A or B Entitlement award for the 2021–22 award year with a waiver under these provisions until May 16, 2021, to complete and submit their financial aid application and signed certification. (4) Existing law appropriates $355,227,000 from the Federal Trust Fund, $4,439,844,000 from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, and $539,926,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation in the 2020–21 fiscal year to eligible local educational agencies to support pupil academic achievement and mitigate learning loss related to COVID-19 school closures. Existing law requires the funds appropriated from the Federal Trust Fund to be used from March 13, 2020, to September 30, 2022, inclusive, the funds appropriated from the General Fund to be used from March 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, inclusive, and the funds appropriated from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to be used from March 1, 2020, to December 30, 2020, inclusive, unless otherwise provided in federal law. This bill would instead require the funds appropriated from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to be used from March 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, inclusive. By extending the date to encumber or otherwise use funds appropriated from the Coronavirus Relief Fund, the bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require an eligible local educational agency that retains unspent funds received from the Coronavirus Relief Fund after December 30, 2020, to recertify, as part of the reporting required for the quarterly period ending March 31, 2021, that the remaining funds will be used in full compliance with federal law by May 31, 2021, and if an eligible local educational agency does not certify or recertify as required by these provisions, the bill would authorize funds received from the Coronavirus Relief Fund to be reallocated upon order of the Director of Finance. The bill would (A) require funds not expended by May 31, 2021, to be reported by the eligible local educational agency to the Superintendent, (B) require the Superintendent to recover those unexpended funds and deposit them into the Coronavirus Relief Fund, and (C) authorize those deposited funds to be reallocated, upon order of the Department of Finance. By authorizing those moneys to be reallocated, the bill would make an appropriation. (5) The Child Care and Development Services Act (act) establishes a system of childcare and development services for children up to 13 years of age, and sets out specified eligibility criteria for these services. Existing law appropriates $402,000,000 in funding from the federal Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act of 2021 to provide subsidized childcare and preschool providers with COVID-19 pandemic-related assistance, and allocates $80,000,000 of those funds to provide additional emergency vouchers for children of essential workers, at-risk children, and children with disabilities or special health care needs whose individualized education plan or individualized family service plans include early learning and care and who are eligible for services under the act, through June 30, 2022, inclusive. This bill would specify that the allocation of $80,000,000 to provide additional emergency vouchers is for the above-described children whose parent or guardian self-certifies that the family is eligible for services pursuant to the eligibility criteria specified under the act. (6) For the 2020–21 fiscal year, the bill would appropriate $25,000,000 from the General Fund to the State Department of Public Health for the purpose of the Safe Schools For All Team, which will coordinate technical assistance, community engagement, increased transparency, and enforcement by the appropriate entity for public school health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. (7) For the 2020–21 fiscal year, the bill would appropriate $5,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for allocation to the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to provide support to local educational agencies to maximize positive pupil outcomes and most effectively use certain funds described above in paragraph (2) . (8) 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 the statutory provisions noted above. (9) Certain funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution. (10) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.