BILL NUMBER: SB 798AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senator DeSaulnier FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to repeal and add Section 8484.8 of the Education Code, relating to before and after school programs. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 798, as amended, DeSaulnier. Before and after school programs: 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program. Existing law, in accordance with the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program contained in the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, allocates funds appropriated by the Budget Act of 2002 and prescribes requirements related to the allocation of funds, including provisions governing the allocation of funds appropriated by the Budget Act. The bill would, as of January 1, 2010, revise the criteria and priorities for allocating those funds. The bill would revise the percentage of funds required to be allocated to specified high school after school programs and programs serving elementary and middle school pupils established under the act, as specified, and would establish per-day rates for the operation of year-round programs, programs operating during the regular school year, and programs operating during summer or intersession periods, as specified. The bill would specify that per-day rates and cash or in-kind match requirements would not apply for core funding grants for programs serving middle and elementary school pupils in before and after school programs. The bill would establish maximum direct grant amounts awarded under the act. The bill would delete a provision authorizing the department to adjust the core grant cap, and would require the department to give funding priority to grantees that are reapplying for grants, as specified. The bill would provide for supplemental compensation for school sites serving an average daily attendance of 55 pupils or less. The bill would require the department to periodically review the appropriateness of the percentages for allocation of funds, and would authorize the department to adjust the percentages with the consent of the Advisory Committee on Before and After School Programs. The bill would require all school sites operating during the summer that are eligible to provide free meals and snacks to participating children through the United States Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program to offer free meals and snacks, as specified. Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 8484.8 of the Education Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 8484.8 is added to the Education Code, to read: 8484.8. Federal funds through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers Program shall be allocated pursuant to the provisions of this section. Grant awards under this section shall be restricted to those applications that propose primarily to serve pupils that attend schoolwide programs, as described in federal law. Competitive priority shall be given to applications that propose to serve children and youth in schools designated as being in need of improvement under subdivision (b) of Section 6316 of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, and that are jointly submitted by school districts and community-based organizations. (a) Five percent of the federal funds appropriated for purposes of this article for the 2010-11 fiscal year, or any subsequent fiscal year, shall be available to the department for purposes of providing technical assistance, evaluation, and training services, for contracting for local technical assistance, and for carrying out programs related to 21st Century Community Learning Centers Programs. (1) The department shall provide directly, or contract for, technical assistance for new programs and any program that is not meeting attendance or performance goals, or both, and requests that assistance. (2) Training and assistance shall include, but are not limited to, the development and distribution of voluntary guidelines for physical activity programs established pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 8482.3, that expand the learning opportunities of the schoolday. (3) References in subdivision (b) to the amounts appropriated for purposes of this article for the 2008-09 fiscal year, or any subsequent fiscal year, shall be deemed to exclude the amounts allocated pursuant to this subdivision. (b) (1) Of the amounts appropriated for purposes of this article for any fiscal year that remain after funds have been allocated pursuant to subdivision (a), the following amounts shall be allocated on a priority basis for direct grants to community learning centers serving high school pupils funded pursuant to Section 8421: (A) An amount equal to 50 percent of the total amount appropriated for purposes of this article for the 2008-09 fiscal year or for the current fiscal year, whichever is less. (B) An amount equal to 35 percent of the amount, if any, by which the total amount appropriated for the current fiscal year pursuant to this article exceeds the total amount appropriated for the 2008-09 fiscal year pursuant to this article. (2) Of the amounts appropriated for purposes of this article for any fiscal year that remain after funds have been allocated pursuant to subdivision (a), the following amounts shall be allocated to community learning centers serving elementary and middle school pupils funded pursuant to Section 8421: (A) An amount equal to 50 percent of the total amount appropriated for purposes of this article for the 2008-09 fiscal year or for the current fiscal year, whichever is less. (B) An amount equal to6550 percent of the amount, if any, by which the total amount appropriated for the current fiscal year pursuant to this article exceeds the total amount appropriated for the 2008-09 fiscal year pursuant to this article. (3) Of the amounts appropriated for purposes of this article for any fiscal year that remain after funds have been allocated pursuant to subdivision (a), an amount equal to 15 percent of the amount, if any, by which the total appropriated for the current fiscal year pursuant to this article exceeds the total amount appropriated for the 2008-09 fiscal year pursuant to this article shall be allocated to summer programs serving elementary and middle school pupils. (c) The administrators ofaan elementary or middle school program established pursuant to this article may apply for funding pursuant to one of the following options: (1) The program may operate during the regular school year for a minimum of three hours per day and 15 hours per week, at a rate of ten dollars ($10) per day for after school, and for a minimum of one and one-half hours per day, at a rate of seven dollars ($7) per day for before school. (2) The program may operate year round at the rate established in paragraph (1) and a minimum of six hours per day and thirty hours per week during the nonregular school year that includes intersession, vacation, summer and weekend periods at a rate of twenty dollars ($20) per day. If the program chooses to operate year round for a minimum of three hours per day and 15 hours per week for after school, the rate shall be ten dollars ($10) per day, and for a minimum of one and one-half hours per day for before school, the rate shall be seven dollars ($7) per day. In its application for year-round programming, an applicant shall describe any plans it has to consolidate pupils on school sites that will remain open during the summer, intersession, or vacation periods. (3) The program may operate during summer or intersession periods only at a rate of twenty dollars ($20) per day for a minimum of six hours per day and 30 hours per week. In its application for a summer or intersession program, an applicant shall describe the sites it shall use for programming and how it intends to coordinate with each child's home school to correlate its academic services with the child' s academic needs. (d) Core funding grants for programs serving middle and elementary school pupils in before and after school programs shall be allocated according to the same funding provisions, and subject to the same reporting and accountability provisions, as described in Sections 8483.7 and 8483.75, except that the per day rates and the cash or in-kind match requirements shall not apply. The maximum direct grant amounts awarded annually pursuant to this subdivision for after school programs shall be one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) for each regular school year for each elementary school and two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) for each regular school year for each middle or junior high school. The maximum total grant amount awarded annually pursuant to this subdivision for before school programs shall be fifty-two thousand five hundred dollars ($52,500) for each regular school year for each elementary school and sixty-eight thousand six hundred dollars ($68,600) for each regular school year for each middle or junior high school. The maximum grants for summer school, intersession, and vacation programs shall be 50 percent of the grantee's maximum grant amount for the regular school year. (e) (1) Funding for a grant shall be allocated in annual increments for a period not to exceed five years, subject to annual reporting and recertification as required by the department. The department shall establish a payment system to accommodate upfront payments. The department shall notify new grantees, whose grant awards are contingent upon the appropriation of funds for those grants, in writing, no later than May 15 of each year in which new grants are awarded. A first-year grant award shall be made no later than 60 days after enactment of the annual Budget Act and any authorizing legislation. A grant award for the second and subsequent fiscal years shall be made no later than 30 days after enactment of the annual Budget Act and any authorizing legislation. The grantee shall notify the department in writing of its acceptance of the grant. (2) For the first year of a grant, the department shall allocate 25 percent of the grant for that year no later than 30 days after the grantee accepts the grant. For the second and subsequent years of the grant, the department shall allocate 25 percent of the grant for that year no later than 30 days after the annual Budget Act becomes effective. The grantee shall not use more than 15 percent of an annual grant award for administrative costs. (3) In addition to the funding allowed for administrative costs under paragraph (2), up to 15 percent of the initial annual grant award for each core grant recipient may be utilized for startup costs including administrative costs. (4) Under no circumstance shall funding made available pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) result in an increase in the total funding of a grantee above the approved grant amount. (f) A grantee shall identify the federal, state, and local programs that will be combined or coordinated with the proposed program for the most effective use of public resources, and shall prepare a plan for continuing the program beyond federal grant funding. (g) A grantee shall submit semiannual attendance data and results to facilitate evaluation and compliance in accordance with provisions established by the department. (h) A program receiving a grant under this subdivision is not assured of grant renewal from future state or federal funding at the conclusion of the grant period. (i) A total annual grant award for core funding and direct grants for a site serving elementary or middle school pupils shall be fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per year or more, consistent with federal requirements. (j) The department shall give funding priority to grantees that are reapplying for grants pursuant to this subdivision and, as determined by the department, have demonstrated positive outcomes for their pupils in the prior grant. (k)SchoolElementary and middle school sites serving an average daily attendance of 55 pupils or less shall be entitled to supplemental compensation, on a sliding scale, in order to ensure their capacity to meet all federal grant requirements. (l) Funds received but unexpended under this article may be carried forward to subsequent fiscal years consistent with federal requirements. In year one, the full grant may be retained. (m) If funds remain after all of the priority allocations required pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) have been made, the department may use that money to fund additional qualified grant applications under paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), in order to ensure that all federal funds received for those purposes are expended for those purposes. If funds remain after additional qualified grant applications are approved for funding pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision (b), the department may award the remaining funds for additional qualified grant applications pursuant to paragraph (2) of that subdivision. If there are insufficient qualified grant applications to fully expend funds allocated pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), the department may award the remaining funds for additional qualified grant applications pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (b). (n) The department periodically shall review the appropriateness of the percentages in paragraphs (1)and (2), (2), and (3) of subdivision (b), and may adjust the percentages with the consent of the Advisory Committee on Before and After School Programs. (o) All sites operating during the summer that are eligible to provide free meals and snacks to participating children through the United States Department of Agriculture's Summer Food Service Program shall offer free meals and snacks through the federal Summer Food Service Program or the federal Seamless Summer Option. (p) Subdivisions (c) and (d) shall become operative when the department determines that sufficient federal funds are available to ensure that the cumulative number of pupils that can be served at the rates established in subdivisions (c) and (d) is equal to or greater than the cumulative number of pupils that could be served under the rates that applied in the 2008-09 fiscal year.(o)(q) This article shall be operative only to the extent that federal funds are made available for the purposes of this article. It is the intent of the Legislature that this article not be considered a precedent for general fund augmentation of either the state-administered, federally funded program of this article, or any other state-funded before or after school program. SEC. 3. Sections 1 and 2 of this act shall become operative July 1, 2010.