Today, March 1, 2021 Governor Newsom, Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, along other legislative leaders, announced they reached a reopening schools deal. The proposal is detailed in Assembly Bill 86/Senate Bill 86, providing $2 billion for in-person instruction support and $4.6 billion for expanded learning purposes.

The legislature will approve the legislation in its respective budget committees on Tuesday, March 2, 2021 and expect to have a floor vote in each house by Thursday, March 4, 2021.

In-Person Instruction Grant

Funding Amount. Provides $2 billion to local educational agencies (LEAs), excluding a nonclassroom-based charter school, as of the 2019-20 second principal apportionment certification. Within 15 days of the effective date of AB/SB 86, the California Department of Education (CDE) shall notify each LEA and state special school of its estimated apportionment of these grant funds.

The State Controller’s Office shall provide funding in two payments: in May 2021 (50% of the amount using 2020-21 first principal apportionment certification data and 2020-21 preliminary California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Fall 1 data) and August 2021 (remaining amount).

Funds shall be available for expenditure through August 31, 2022.

Funding Contingency. LEAs must provide in-person instruction in order to receive funds from the In-Person Instruction Grant. From April 1, 2021 – May 15, 2021, a LEA’s apportionment shall be reduced by 1 percent for each day that is not provided through in-person instruction as identified in the 2020-21 school calendar, effective March 1, 2021.

If an LEA does not provide in-person instruction on or before May 15, 2021, it shall forfeit all funds. If an LEA does not offer continuous in-person instruction through the end of the 2020-21 school year, unless otherwise ordered by a state or local health officer, it shall forfeit all funds. The CDE shall reduce an LEA’s August 2021 apportionment payment.

Purpose of Funds. Funds may be used for any purpose consistent with providing in-person instruction for any student, including but not limited to:

  • COVID-19 testing
  • Cleaning and disinfection
  • Personal protective equipment
  • Ventilation and other schoolsite upgrades necessary for health and safety
  • Salaries for certificated or classified employees providing in-person instruction or services
  • Social and mental health support services

In-Person Instruction Definition. The legislation defines “in-person instruction” as instruction under the immediate physical supervision and control of a certificated employee of the local educational agency while engaged in educational activities required of the student. In-person instruction may include: hybrid models offering fewer than 5 days per week of in-person instruction, only if the LEA offers in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible.

To be considered as offering in-person instruction, an LEA shall do at least all of the following:

  • Purple Tier: Offer optional in-person instruction to all students who are individuals with exceptional needs, if consistent with each student’s individualized education program, and to all prioritized student groups. An LEA may limit the number of students within the prioritized student groups to its maximum practical capacity to maintain health and safety standards based on its COVID-19 safety plan.
  • For elementary schools (Kindergarten through Grade 6):
    • Purple Tier: Offer optional in-person instruction to all students required to be offered in-person instruction to special education students and all students in Kindergarten through grades 1 and 2.
    • When eligible to provide in-person instruction based on COVID-19 industry sector guidance: Offer optional in-person instruction to all students in Kindergarten through grades 1 and 2, and to all students in grade 3 through grade 6, inclusive.
  • For middle schools and high schools (Grades 6-12):
    • When eligible to provide in-person instruction based on COVID-19 industry sector guidance: Offer in-person instruction to all prioritized students and to all students in at least one full-grade level.

On or before June 1, 2021, an LEA shall certify its compliance with offering in-person instruction, using a CDE developed form that will be available on its website on or before May 1, 2021.

Prioritized Student Groups.

  • Students at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation
  • Homeless students
  • Foster youth
  • English learners
  • Students without access to a computing device, software, and high-speed internet needed to participate in distance learning
  • Disengaged students

COVID-19 Testing Requirement & Grandfathering Clause. An LEA in the purple tier will conduct asymptomatic testing for staff and students participating in-person instruction consistent with the CDPH COVID-19 industry sector guidance for schools and school-based programs.

For LEAs providing in-person instruction on or before March 31, 2021 or its governing board has adopted a plan to provide in-person instruction and has publicly posted its COVID-19 safety plan on its website, the LEA in a county that moves from the purple tier into the red, orange, or yellow tier is not required to maintain asymptomatic testing for staff and students as set forth in the CDPH COVID-19 industry sector guidance for schools and school-based programs.

(Section 2, Education Code 43520, 43521)

Expanded Learning Opportunities Grant

Funding Amount. Provides $4.56 billion to implement a learning recovery program, that at a minimum, provides supplemental instruction, support for social and emotional well-being, and to the maximum extent permitted, meals and snacks to students who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals, English learners, foster youth, homeless students, special needs students, and students at risk of abuse, neglect, or exploitation, disengaged students, and students who are below grade level and/or at risk of not graduating.

LEAs will receive $1,000 per homeless student enrolled in the 2020-21 fiscal year, and the remaining funds will be apportioned proportionally on the basis of an LEA’s Local Control Funding Formula entitlement determined as of the 2020-21 second principal apportionment certification.

At least 10 percent of funds shall be used to hire paraprofessionals to provide supplemental instruction and support through the duration of this program with a priority for full-time paraprofessionals. The CDE shall identify for each LEA the amount of funding that is required to be expended for this purpose.

Funds shall be available for expenditure through August 31, 2022.

Purpose of Funds. The funds shall be expended only for any of the following purposes:

  • Extending instructional learning time by increasing the number of instructional days or minutes provided during the school year, providing summer school or intersessional instructional programs, or taking any other action that increases the amount of instructional time/services.
  • Accelerating progress to close the achievement gap, including but not limited to any of the following activities:
    • Tutoring
    • Learning recovery programs
    • Educator training for both certificated and classified staff
  • Integrated student services, such as health, counseling, or mental health, access to school meals, before or after school programs
  • Community learning hubs to provide access to technology
  • Support for credit deficit students
  • Additional academic services for students, such as diagnosis, progress monitoring, and benchmark assessments
  • Training school staff on strategies to engage students and families

Expenditure Plan Adopted by School Board. On or before June 1, 2021, the governing board shall adopt at a public meeting, a plan describing how the funds will be used. Within 5 days of adoption, a school district shall submit its plan to the county office of education, a charter school shall submit its plan to its charter authority, and a county office of education shall submit its plan to CDE. LEAs shall provide parents and schoolsite staff an opportunity to be involved in the development of the plan.

Within 21 days of the effective date of AB/SB 86, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, with the Executive Director of the State Board of Education, shall develop and post a template of the plan on CDE’s website.

(Section 2, Education Code 43520, 43521, 43522)

State Audit Requirements

The Controller shall include instructions in the audit guide for the 2021-22 fiscal year audits, that include procedures for determining compliance.

For an LEA with audit findings of noncompliance of directing 10% of funds towards paraprofessionals and at least 85% directed for in-person services, the SPI shall withhold from the LEA’s principal apportionment in an amount equal to the amount of expenditures that are noncompliant.

LEA’s receiving apportionments shall report final expenditures to CDE by December 1, 2022, and the Superintendent shall initiate collection proceeding for unexpected funds. An LEA that does not submit this expenditure report, shall forfeit all funds.

(Section 2, Education Code 43523)

COVID-19 Reporting & Public Health Requirements

Reporting a Positive COVID-19 Test. A school administrator in charge of the public or private school shall immediately notify the local health officer or health officer’s representative, in no case later than 24 hours after learning, that a school employee or student has tested positive for COVID-19. The notification shall include:

  • Full name, address, telephone number, and date of birth of individual who tested positive.
  • Date of positive test, the school(s) the individual was last onsite, and the date the individual was last onsite at the applicable school(s).
  • Name, address, and telephone number of the person making the report.
  • The information listed above shall be submitted even if he individual who tested positive has not provided prior consent to disclose personally identifiable information.

Beginning March 15, 2021, a single schoolsite with two or more outbreaks of COVID-19, as identified by the local health officer or the State Department of Public Health (CDPH) shall be subject to a safety review by the State Department of Public Health.

(Section 1, Education Code 32090)

CDPH Reporting by LEA. Beginning March 15, 2021, every school district, county office of education, charter school, and private school shall notify CDPH of the following information, on or before the second and fourth Monday of each month:

  • Number of students enrolled by schoolsite and, if applicable, school district.
  • Number of students participating in full-time in-person instruction by schoolsite and, if applicable, school district.
  • Number of students participating in a mix of in-person and distance learning, by schoolsite and, if applicable, school district.
  • Number of students participating in distance learning by schoolsite and, if applicable, school district.
  • Number of school employees who work onsite at a school by schoolsite and, if applicable, school district.
  • Number of students being served in cohorts while the school is closed for in-person instruction and the support and services they are receiving.
  • For school districts with schoolsites with students participating only in distance learning, the reasons why in-person instruction is not being offered and the barriers the schoolsite or school district faces in providing in-person instruction.
  • For nonclassroom-based charter schools, the total number of students enrolled and the number of students attending each resource center, if any.

COVID-19 Safety Plan. Every LEA and private school offering in-person instruction shall post a completed COVID-19 safety plan on its website homepage. For LEAs and private schools not offering in-person instruction as of the effective date of AB/SB 86, but begins offering in-person instruction after the effective date of AB/SB 86, the LEA or private school shall post a completed COVID-19 safety plan on its internet website, at least five days before offering in-person instruction.

The COVID-19 safety plan consists of both the written Cal/OSHA COVID-19 prevention program and the supplemental CDPH COVID-19 School Guidance Checklist, including descriptions of any planned periodic asymptomatic testing cadences for staff and students.

At least five days before providing in-person instruction, a LEA in a county in the purple tier shall submit its COVID-19 safety plan to its local public health department and the CDPH. If the local public health department of CDPH identifies deficiency in the LEA’s COVID-19 safety plan, it shall notify the LEA of is deficiency and the LEA shall resolve the deficiency to the satisfaction of the local public health department or the CDPH before providing in-person instruction.

(Section 1, Education Code 32091)

Vaccines for Education

The Government Operations Agency, through the state’s third-party administrator for COVID-19 vaccination, shall prioritize a set number of appointment for education sector staff. Of the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccines available to the state, 10 percent shall be offered to childcare and K-12 education sector staff, but states that this section shall not be construed as inferring that vaccination of school staff or students is a prerequisite for providing in-person instruction.

(Section 1, Education Code 32092)