BILL NUMBER: SB 640CHAPTERED BILL TEXT CHAPTER 58 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE AUGUST 6, 2009 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR AUGUST 5, 2009 PASSED THE SENATE JULY 16, 2009 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 30, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2009 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 4, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator Hancock FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to amend Sections 52302.2 and 52302.8 of the Education Code, relating to career technical education. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 640, Hancock. Regional occupational centers and programs: employer advisory boards. (1) Existing law authorizes the county superintendent of schools of each county, with the consent of the State Board of Education, to establish and maintain, or with one or more counties to establish and maintain a regional occupational center or regional occupational program in the county to provide education and training in career technical courses. Existing law also authorizes the governing board of any school district maintaining high schools in a county, with the consent of the state board and of the county superintendent of schools, to cooperate in the establishment and maintenance of a regional occupational center or program, except as specified. Existing law requires the governing board of each regional occupational center or program to establish and maintain an employer advisory board or boards pursuant to guidelines developed by the State Department of Education. Existing law requires an employer advisory board to perform various duties, including, among others, approving measures, criteria, and methods to evaluate whether pupils acquired the skills and knowledge identified in their skill certificates and assisting a regional occupational center or program in creating college scholarships for pupils participating in occupational course sequences. This bill instead would require an employer advisory board to recommend measures, criteria, and methods to evaluate pupils' skills and knowledge. In addition to creating college scholarships, the bill would require an employer advisory board to assist a regional occupational center or program in identifying scholarships. (2) Existing law prescribes calculations that limit the percentage of state-funded average daily attendance which a regional occupational center or program is authorized to claim for services provided to students not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. Existing law excludes adult average daily attendance attributable to continuously enrolled grade 12 pupils who have not passed the high school exit examination from those calculations. Existing law requires that amounts that become available from reductions resulting from those calculations shall be redirected to other regional occupational centers or programs to serve additional secondary pupils. This bill would prohibit the redirection of adult average daily attendance funding for a regional occupational center or program that has entered into a corrective action plan to other regional occupational centers or programs to serve additional secondary pupils for up to 3 years while the regional occupational center or program is in corrective action. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 52302.2 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52302.2. (a) The governing board of each regional occupational center or program shall establish and maintain an employer advisory board or boards pursuant to guidelines developed by the department. The advisory board shall do all of the following: (1) Assist in the development of skill certificates that identify the skills and knowledge that pupils completing an occupational course sequence are expected to acquire upon completing the sequence. The advisory board also shall recommend the measures and criteria, and methods to evaluate whether pupils actually acquired the identified skills and knowledge. (2) Review at least once a year whether pupils who are assessed as having met the requirements for a skill certificate possess the skills needed for success in employment in that occupation. (3) Review the specific occupational sequences offered by the regional occupational center or program to train pupils for jobs that are in demand and offer high beginning salaries or the potential for significant wage increase after several years on the job. (4) Assist the regional occupational center or program in developing internships, paid summer employment, and postgraduation employment opportunities for pupils participating in the course sequences. (5) Assist the regional occupational center or program in identifying and creating college scholarships for pupils participating in the course sequences. (b) Employer advisory boards shall be composed of representatives of trade organizations and businesses or government agencies that hire a significant number of employees each year and require the skills and knowledge that are taught in the course sequence or sequences in that occupational area, as well as at least one representative from a school district career technical educational advisory committee. The department shall develop regulations guiding the establishment of these boards. (c) Regional occupational centers or programs operated in a rural county of the sixth, seventh, or eighth class may designate a local business or industry organization as the advisory board and consult with the leadership of the local business or industry organization to determine skill needs in the region and emerging job market needs. For purposes of this section, the local business organization may be designated as the advisory board for the regional occupational center or program. SEC. 2. Section 52302.8 of the Education Code is amended to read: 52302.8. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that vocational training resources that are provided through regional occupational centers and programs are an essential component of the state's secondary school system and the local system of providing occupational skills training to high school pupils. For this reason, the Legislature finds and declares that these resources should be focused primarily on the needs of pupils enrolled in high school. (b) For the 2008-09 fiscal year, a regional occupational center or program may claim no more than 50 percent of the state-funded average daily attendance for which the center or program is eligible, for services provided to students who are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. (c) For the 2009-10 fiscal year, a regional occupational center or program may claim no more than 30 percent of the state-funded average daily attendance for which the center or program is eligible, for services provided to students who are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive. (d) For the 2011-12 fiscal year and every fiscal year thereafter, a regional occupational center or program may claim no more than 10 percent of the state-funded average daily attendance for which the center or program is eligible, for services provided to students who are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, and up to an additional 5 percent for CalWORKs, Temporary Assistance Program, or Job Corps participants and participants under the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 2810 et seq.) who are enrolled in Intensive Training services. (e) Pupils who are CalWORKs, Temporary Assistance Program, or Job Corps participants shall have priority for service within the percentage limits established under subdivision (d). (f) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), a regional occupational center or program may claim more than 15 percent of its average daily attendance for students who are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, if all of the students who are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, are CalWORKs, Temporary Assistance Program, or Job Corps participants, and if the governing board of the regional occupational center or program does all of the following: (1) Meets with local human services directors, and representatives of adult education programs, community colleges and other institutions of higher education, to assess the needs of CalWORKs, Temporary Assistance Program, or, Job Corps and federal Workforce Investment Act participants to identify alternative ways to meet the needs of these adult students. (2) Enters into a transition plan, approved by the Superintendent, to become in compliance with subdivision (d) in accordance with benchmarks and timelines established in the transition plan. Transition plans shall be established pursuant to guidelines issued by the department, in consultation with the State Department of Social Services, and shall be resubmitted and reviewed annually. (g) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), a regional occupational center or program that claims more than 40 percent of its students are not enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, on January 1, 2007, shall submit a letter to the Superintendent by July 1 of each year until it complies with this subdivision, outlining the goals of the regional occupational center or program to reduce the number of adult students in order to comply with subdivision (d) on or before July 1, 2013. (h) Regional occupational centers and programs operated in a rural county of the sixth, seventh, or eighth class may exceed the number of adults by an additional 10 percent of the limits established in subdivisions (b), (c), and (d). (i) (1) For purposes of this calculation, adult average daily attendance attributable to continuously enrolled grade 12 pupils who have not passed the high school exit examination pursuant to Section 60851 is excluded from the calculation under this section. Amounts that may become available from reductions resulting from the enactment of this section shall be redirected to other regional occupational centers or programs to serve additional secondary pupils. (2) Adult average daily attendance funding for a regional occupational center or program that has entered into a corrective action plan pursuant to subdivision (k) shall not be redirected to other regional occupational centers or programs to serve additional secondary pupils for up to three years while the regional occupational center or program is in corrective action. (j) The governing boards of a community college district and a regional occupational center or program may enter into contractual agreements under which the center or program provides services to adult students of the community college district affected by this section if both of the following are satisfied: (1) The agreements conform to state regulations and audit requirements jointly developed by the Chancellor of the Office of the California Community Colleges and the State Department of Education, in consultation with, and subject to approval by, the Department of Finance. (2) A course offered for adults pursuant to an agreement entered into pursuant to this subdivision is limited to the same cost per student to the state as if the course were offered at the regional occupational center or program. This subdivision does not authorize the apportionment of funds for community colleges for adult students in excess of the revenue limit for regional occupational centers or programs if a course is deemed eligible for college credit. (k) A regional occupational center or program that fails to meet a timeline established under subdivision (c), (d), or (g) shall meet with the community college, adult education program, or other adult service to identify alternative means of meeting the needs of adult students and shall enter into a corrective action plan administered by the department. The corrective action plan shall be established pursuant to guidelines issued by the department and shall be submitted to the department annually for review.