The California Legislature has introduced 2,113 measures since session resumed on January 3, 2022. On February 24, 2022, CASBO’s Legislative Committee deliberated on the first round of legislative proposals, and this report highlights the major issues and positions.
AB 1607 (Muratsuchi): Education finance: Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF). Starting with the 2022-23 school year, this bill would calculate average daily attendance (ADA) for school districts based on a three-year average for the current fiscal year and each of the previous two fiscal years. The bill would also add $4.2 billion (half of the estimated Proposition 98 increase) into the LCFF above the statutory cost of living adjustment (COLA) for the 2022-23 budget year, with the intent that the Legislature strive to reach the top 10 states in the country in K-12 per-pupil spending. Out of the additional $4.2 billion above the estimated 2022-23 COLA, the base rates would increase by about $3.4 billion so every district will benefit from this measure. In addition to the base grant increases, this measure would provide increases to the supplemental and concentration grant by roughly $750 million each.
CASBO Position: Watch
Staffer: Sara Bachez
AB 1614 (Muratsuchi): Education finance: LCFF: base grants: aspirational funding level: reports. This bill would add $4.2 billion into the current base grant funding, using the existing LCFF, for the 2022-23 budget year, with intent language that the Legislature strive to reach the top 10 states in the country in K-12 per-pupil spending. Commencing with the 2022-23 fiscal year, a base grant of:
- $9,989 for ADA in grades K-3
- $9,184 for ADA in grades 4-6
- $9,457 for ADA in grades 7 and 8
- $11,245 for ADA in grades 9-12
CASBO Position: Support
Staffer: Andrea Ball
AB 1667 (Cooper): California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS). This bill states the intent of the Legislature to enact legislation related to the CalSTRS, including, among other things, in connection with employee liability for system errors in payments, guidance provided by the system later determined to be erroneous, changes to interpretations of creditable compensation laws by the system, and system audits. The bill intends to establish a process that promotes accuracy and transparency by:
- Ensuring retired members are not held liable for prior overpayments, except in cases of “member error;”
- Holding CalSTRS accountable for guidance later determined to be erroneous;
- Requiring that CalSTRS regularly update an official guidance document governing employer reporting;
- Clarifying that any changes to CalSTRS’ interpretation of creditable compensation laws must be preceded by prior notice;
- Requiring that CalSTRS publish all audit reports on their website; and
- Ensuring that CalSTRS’ appeal process allows all individuals impacted by an audit the right to appeal.
CASBO Position: Support
Staffer: Elizabeth Esquivel
AB 1948 (Ting): Education finance: LCFF: low-income pupils: pupils experiencing homelessness. This bill would replace pupils who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals with low-income pupils and pupils experiencing homelessness in the categories of pupils who are unduplicated pupils for purposes of LCFF. The bill would require pupils who are only English learners or low-income pupils, or pupils who only fall within both categories, to be counted only once. The bill would require pupils who are pupils experiencing homelessness or foster youth, or both, or who are also English learners or low-income pupils, or both, to be counted twice. Specifically, the bill considers a revised LCFF unduplicated pupil definition that would:
- Count unhoused students, count poverty, foster and homelessness status in an duplicated way;
- Raise the poverty threshold from federal school meals to a level closer to California’s Cal Grant eligibility levels: 250% federal poverty level ($66,000 for a family of four); and
- Increase the LCFF base funding for all students by 10.66% — double the proposed COLA.
CASBO Position: Watch
Staffer: Andrea Ball
SB 3 (Caballero): Education finance: Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) portal. This bill would require the California Department of Education (CDE) to develop, on or before July 1, 2023, an LCAP portal that will allow comprehensive analysis by policymakers of actions, expenditures and progress on metrics included within LCAPs adopted by local education agencies (LEAs). The bill would require the portal to include a tracking mechanism for school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to use to report the types of services on which they spend their supplemental and concentration grant funds. Commencing January 1, 2024, the bill would require LEAs to annually report to CDE the types of services on which they spend their supplemental and concentration grant funds using the portal developed by CDE.
CASBO Position: Oppose
Staffer: Sara Bachez
SB 579 (Allen): Education finance: LCFF. This bill would, for the 2022-23 fiscal year, require apportionments to LEAs under the LCFF to be calculated based on the greater of each LEA’s 2019-20, 2021-22 or 2022-23 ADA.
CASBO Position: Watch
Staffer: Sara Bachez
SB 830 (Portantino): Education finance: supplemental education funding. This bill would define “average daily membership” as the quotient of the aggregate enrollment days for all pupils in a school district or county office of education, from transitional kindergarten to grade 12, inclusive, as applicable, divided by the total number of instructional days for the LEA in an academic year. The bill, commencing with the 2023-24 fiscal year, would authorize a county office of education or school district to apply each fiscal year to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction for supplemental education funding. The bill would require an LEA to receive as supplemental education funding the difference between what the LEA would have received under the LCFF based on average daily membership and what the LEA received under the LCFF based on ADA for that fiscal year, as provided. For an LEA to be eligible for supplemental educational funding, the bill would require it to report to the State Superintendent on July 1 the average daily membership for the prior academic year and to demonstrate a maintenance of effort to address chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy, as provided. The bill would require LEAs use at least 50% of their supplemental education funding to supplement existing LEA expenditures to address chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy. The bill would condition implementation of these provisions upon the appropriation of funds for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or other statute.
Senator Portantino’s press release
CASBO Position: Oppose
Staffer: Sara Bachez
SB 878 (Skinner): School transportation. Commencing January 1, 2023, this bill would require a pupil attending a public, non-charter school to be offered free transportation to and from their neighborhood school. The bill would require a school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or regional occupational center or program that does not currently provide transportation to all pupils in the LEA to implement a plan to ensure that all pupils attending the LEA are offered free transportation to and from school. The bill would require these plans to be developed in consultation with specified stakeholders and would make all of these provisions operative only upon an appropriation of funds for these purposes.
CASBO Position: Concern
Staffer: Elizabeth Esquivel
Other Bills to Watch
SB 871 (Pan): Public health: immunizations. The bill would prohibit the governing authority of a school or other institution from unconditionally admitting any person as a pupil of any public or private elementary or secondary school, childcare center, day nursery, nursery school, family day care home, or development center, unless prior to their admission to that institution they have been fully immunized against COVID-19. This bill would also repeal Section 120338 of the Health and Safety Code, thereby removing the personal belief exemption from any additional immunization requirements deemed appropriate by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
AB 1973 (McCarty): Education finance: base grants: adjustments: kindergarten: minimum school day. This bill would require, commencing with the 2025-26 school year, as a condition of receiving that additional adjustment, a school district or charter school that offers a kindergarten program, to provide, at each school site that offers a kindergarten program, a minimum school day for the kindergarten day that is at least equivalent to the minimum school day provided for grades 1 to 3.
AB 2774 (A. Weber): Education finance: LCFF: supplemental grants: lowest performing pupil subgroup or subgroups. This bill would, commencing with the 2023-24 fiscal year, adjust the definition of “unduplicated pupils” to include pupils who are included in the lowest performing subgroup or subgroups, based on the most recently available mathematics or language arts results on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress. The bill would also require the State Superintendent to annually identify the lowest performing pupil subgroup or subgroups and would authorize school districts and charter schools to review and revise their submitted data on pupils who are included in the lowest performing subgroup or subgroups.
AB 2573 (McCarty): Certificated school employees: probationary employees. This bill would require a certificated employee of a school district or a county superintendent of schools, regardless of the ADA of the school district or county superintendent of schools, who completes two consecutive school years and is so re-elected, to become and be classified as a permanent employee.
To learn more about the CASBO Governmental Relations areas of responsibility, click here.
Updates to Cal/OSHA Emergency Temporary Standards
On February 28, 2022, Governor Newsom issued an executive order to update the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards (ETS) to align with the updated state’s public health guidance. The order suspends the general masking requirement for those who are fully vaccinated, and instead requires employers to now follow orders from CDPH or local health departments.
The Safe Schools Team also has provided the following clarification on masking requirements on school transportation systems:
What are the implications of recent changes to CDC and CDPH masking guidance for transportation on school buses serving K-12 populations?
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- School buses serving K-12 populations are considered a school setting and accordingly, masking remains required through March 11, 2022, after which time masking will be strongly recommended.
- After March 11, 2022, the following CDC statement regarding the Requirement for Face Masks on Public Transportation will be relevant in California: “CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems … CDC plans to amend its Mask Order as soon as practicable to not require that people wear masks while outdoors on conveyances or while outdoors on the premises of transportation hubs, and to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems.”
- Additionally, as is always the case: (1) state requirements and recommendations are subject to change; and (2) local health agencies and/or educational authorities may have additional requirements beyond state and federal requirements.
- When practicable and safe, CDPH recommends optimizing air quality on school buses by opening windows to create more ventilation.
In Other News: California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Annual Survey
CalPERS is seeking input from stakeholders regarding their communications, operations, strategies to handle risk, and overall level of confidence in their ability to fund benefits, and more. You can take their annual stakeholder survey here. These results are shared in aggregate with the CalPERS board in the summer and help to guide efforts for the coming year. Please complete by March 10, 2022.