BILL NUMBER: AB 122 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 14, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 17, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Coto
JANUARY 15, 2009
An act to add and repeal Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section
58530) of Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
relating to small schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 122, as amended, Coto. Small schools.
Existing law grants authority to school districts to establish and
operate public schools within their boundaries.
This bill would authorize a school district to establish a small
school, subject to specified conditions, including, among others, a
requirement to develop a school plan, as specified, and a requirement
to adopt regulations that include the small school as part of an
academic reform strategy focused on the positive outcomes small
schools are intended to produce. The bill would require the small
school to have a governing body that consists of members elected by
specified groups, and would specify that the small school have
autonomy over specified matters including budget, hiring decisions,
and, subject to negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working
conditions. The bill would require a school district that establishes
a small school to fund the small school pursuant to specified
provisions. The bill would encourage school districts that establish
one or more small schools pursuant to this authority to apply for new
construction grants for unhoused pupils as a vehicle for
establishing small schools on, adjacent to, or separate from existing
campuses; use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools; and
establish the small school in order to provide the small school with
the flexibility of a charter school while allowing it to be located
within the district. The bill would repeal these provisions on
January 1, 2017.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(1) Research has shown that school size is an important predictor
of pupil success, second only to socioeconomic status. The research
literature clearly indicates the superiority of high-quality small
schools as learning environments. In small schools, all of the
following occur:
(A) Dropout and truancy rates dramatically decrease and graduation
rates and postsecondary education enrollment rates increase.
(B) Parents and guardians are much more likely to be involved in
the school and to have greater participation in decisionmaking.
(C) Pupils experience a greater sense of belonging and are more
satisfied with their schools.
(D) Fewer discipline problems occur.
(E) Crime, violence, and gang participation decrease.
(F) Incidences of alcohol and tobacco abuse decrease.
(G) Pupil attendance increases.
(H) Ample evidence exists that well-planned and well-implemented
small schools can result in astonishing growth in pupil achievement
and a significant narrowing of the achievement gap.
(2) A recent study of large and small schools in four states has
shown that smaller schools reduce the damaging effects of poverty and
help pupils narrow the achievement gap between them and pupils from
more affluent communities.
(3) Reducing school size has also been shown to significantly
increase the likelihood of success of school reform efforts. Small
schools are more effective at staff development and in implementing
new curriculum and instructional strategies.
(4) Based upon the research on the benefits of small schools, the
United States Department of Education has created the Smaller
Learning Communities Program and is currently providing a small
number of planning and implementation grants to school districts
across the country to support the development of small schools and
small learning communities.
(5) Other states have recognized the value of small schools and
have developed state policy to encourage small schools development.
In Florida, for example, all schools built after 2003 will be small
schools.
(6) Many parent groups and school districts in the state,
including groups and districts in Los Angeles, Oakland, Sacramento,
San Diego, San Francisco, and San Jose, have initiated efforts to
create small schools. These efforts include the creation of new small
schools on new sites as well as the reconfiguration of existing
schools into small schools and small learning communities.
(7) The trend in California, over the last few decades, has been
to build larger and larger schools. For example, in 2000, more than
73 percent of California high schools had more than 1,000 pupils and
more than 57 percent of middle schools had more than 800 pupils.
(8) The trend to build large schools has been driven by California'
s rapidly growing population and by the assumption that large schools
are more cost effective.
(9) Research, however, has also shown that small schools, due to
lower dropout rates and factors such as reduced school violence and
increased daily school attendance, can be more cost effective in
total per-pupil spending than large schools.
(b) It is therefore the intent of the Legislature to reenact and
revise provisions in state law that have been repealed to create an
incentive for school districts to establish small schools with the
assistance of funding for new construction, modernization, and
reconfiguration of existing schoolsites.
SEC. 2. Chapter 3.2 (commencing with Section 58530) is added to
Part 31 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:
CHAPTER 3.2. SMALL SCHOOLS
58530. A school district may establish a small school pursuant to
this chapter, subject to all of the following conditions:
(a) If the school provides instruction in kindergarten and grades
1 to 5, inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for
those grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 250
pupils. If the school provides instruction in kindergarten and grades
1 to 8, inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for
those grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 450
pupils. If the school provides instruction in grades 6 to 12,
inclusive, the number of pupils enrolled in the school for those
grades shall not be fewer than 80 pupils and not more than 400
pupils.
(b) The school shall be staffed by school district employees who
volunteer to be assigned to the school.
(c) The facilities that house the pupils enrolled in the school
shall be located in proximity to one another.
(d) Enrollment in the school shall be open to all pupils who have
at least one parent or guardian who is a resident in the attendance
area of the school district.
(e) Admission to the school shall not be determined by pupil
achievement. The school shall have a heterogenous pupil population in
terms of pupil achievement that reflects the diversity of the pupils
in that school district. The small school shall develop an
objective, transparent process to ensure the school has a
heterogeneous pupil population.
(f) The school shall have a governing body consisting of school
staff, parents, guardians, and pupils. Members of those groups shall
be elected to the governing body by their peers.
(g) A school district that establishes a small school shall
allocate funds to the small school in a manner that results in the
small school receiving the amount of funds that each pupil would
generate at the pupil's prior school or the school that the pupil
would otherwise attend. Funds shall be subtracted for contracted or
required school district services as set forth in the school plan or
the memorandum of understanding between the governing body of the
small school and the governing board of the school district. School
staff and the governing body of the small school shall have
flexibility on how funds allocated to the school district are spent.
(h) The small school shall have autonomy over budget, hiring
decisions, curriculum, instructional practices, and, subject to
negotiated collective bargaining agreements, working conditions.
(i) A school district that establishes one or more small schools
pursuant to this chapter shall develop, with collaboration from
representatives of community groups, bargaining units representing
the employees of the school district, and parents of pupils of the
school, a school plan for each small school that includes all of the
following:
(1) Goals for pupil achievement.
(2) Teaching and learning philosophy.
(3) Curricular focus of the school.
(4) Goals for school culture and practices.
(5) Leadership goals.
(6) Tentative budget.
(7) Decisionmaking process, including the role of the governing
body of the small school.
(8) An evaluation plan based on multiple measures. The school's
own evaluation that includes the results of assessments required by
the state shall be submitted to the department , the Assembly
Committee on Education, and the Senate Committee on Education
at the beginning of the second year of the school's operation.
(j) A school district that establishes a small school pursuant to
this chapter shall develop a process for interested stakeholders to
submit proposals for the establishment of a small school. The
proposal shall include all of the factors set forth in subdivision
(i).
(k) A school district that establishes one or more small schools
pursuant to this chapter shall adopt regulations that include the
small school or schools as part of an academic reform strategy
focused on the positive outcomes small schools are intended to
produce. The positive outcomes resulting from the adopted academic
reform strategy shall include, but are not limited to, any of the
following:
(1) A clearly defined mission and goals.
(2) High standards and expectations for pupils and staff.
(3) Personalization.
(4) Individual respect.
(5) Universal involvement in decisionmaking.
(6) Integrated learning.
(7) Multiple measures of pupil achievement.
(8) Antiracist and relevant curriculum.
(9) Differentiated instruction.
(10) Project-oriented learning.
(11) Heterogeneous pupil grouping.
(12) Pupil-centered classrooms.
(13) Connectedness with stakeholders.
(14) Diversity.
(15) A safe environment.
(16) A high-quality learning environment.
(17) Alignment of resources with goals.
(18) Maximizing community resources and partnerships.
(19) Lifelong professional development.
(20) A plan for continuous improvement, including data analysis.
(l) A small school may be located within an existing elementary,
middle, or comprehensive high school and may be newly constructed,
located on a single site, or located with other small schools or
learning communities. The total enrollment of a small school site
shall not exceed the recommendation of the department.
58531. A school district that establishes one or more small
schools pursuant to this chapter is encouraged to do any or all of
the following:
(a) Apply for new construction grants for unhoused pupils as a
vehicle for establishing small schools on, adjacent to, or separate
from existing campuses.
(b) Use modernization funding to modernize and reconfigure
existing campuses into small schools, either as part of a
comprehensive school complex or as a cluster of small schools.
(c) (1) Establish the small
school in order to provide the small school with the flexibility of a
charter school while allowing it to be located within the district.
(2) A small school shall not claim reimbursement for state
mandates, except for costs related to the administration of the high
school exit examination.
58532. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2017, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2017, deletes or extends
that date.