Bill Text: CA SB155 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Student financial aid: State Nursing Assumption Program
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-01 - Returned to Secretary of Senate pursuant to Joint Rule 56. [SB155 Detail]
Download: California-2009-SB155-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 155 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 27, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 26, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wright
(Coauthors: Senators Alquist, Wiggins, and Wyland)
FEBRUARY 12, 2009
An act to add and repeal Article 3 (commencing with Section 70130)
of Chapter 3 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education
Code, relating to student financial aid.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 155, as amended, Wright. Student financial aid: State Nursing
Assumption Program of Loans for Education: school nurses.
Existing law establishes within the State Nursing Assumption
Program of Loans for Education (SNAPLE), a program under which any
person who is enrolled in an eligible institution, and who agrees to
work full time as a registered nurse in a state-operated 24-hour
facility, including a prison, psychiatric hospital, or veterans home,
that employs registered nurses, is eligible to receive a conditional
loan assumption agreement, to be redeemed upon becoming employed as
a clinical registered nurse in an eligible facility.
This bill would establish a program within the SNAPLE, under which
a student who is enrolled in an eligible program, and who agrees to
be employed as a school nurse in an eligible school or school
district, would be eligible to receive a conditional loan assumption
agreement, to be redeemed upon becoming employed as a school nurse in
an eligible public elementary school or secondary
school. The bill would provide for a progressive assumption of the
amount of a qualifying loan over 4 consecutive years of qualifying
employment as a school nurse, up to a total loan assumption of
$11,000. The program would be repealed on January 1, 2016.
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. Article 3 (commencing with Section 70130) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 42 of Division 5 of Title 3 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 3. School Nurses
70130. As used in this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Commission" means the Student Aid Commission.
(b) "Eligible institution" means a postsecondary institution that
is determined by the Student Aid Commission to meet both of the
following requirements:
(1) The institution is eligible to participate in state and
federal financial aid programs.
(2) The institution maintains a program of professional
preparation for the clear school nurse services credential that has
been approved by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing.
(c) "Eligible school" means a school that meets any of the
following criteria:
(1) It serves a large population of pupils from low-income
families, as designated by the Superintendent.
(2) The institution has 20 percent or more teachers holding
emergency-type permits including, but not limited to, any of the
following:
(A) Provisional internships.
(B) Short-term staff permits.
(C) Credential waivers.
(D) Substitute permits.
(3) It is a school that is ranked in the lowest two deciles on the
Academic Performance Index.
(4) It is a school that serves a rural area.
70131. (a) Program participants shall meet all of the following
eligibility criteria prior to selection in the program and shall
continue to meet these criteria, as appropriate, during the payment
periods:
(1) The applicant is enrolled in a program to complete training or
coursework in order to obtain a clear school nurse services
credential and agrees to work as a school nurse in an eligible
school.
(2) The applicant is currently enrolled in, or has been admitted
to, a program in which he or she will be enrolled on at least a
half-time basis, as determined by the participating institution. The
applicant shall agree to maintain satisfactory academic progress and
a minimum of half-time enrollment, as defined by the participating
eligible institution.
(A) Except as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), if a person
participating in the program fails to maintain at least half-time
enrollment, as required by this article, under the terms of the
agreement pursuant to paragraph (2), the loan assumption agreement
shall be invalidated and the participant shall be fully liable for
all student loan obligations. This subparagraph shall not apply if
the participant is in his or her final semester or quarter in school
and has no additional coursework required to obtain his or her
professional clear school nurse services credential.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if a program participant is
unable to maintain at least half-time enrollment due to serious
illness, pregnancy, or other natural causes, or is called to active
military duty status, the participant is not required to assume full
liability for the student loan obligation for a period not to exceed
one calendar year, unless approved by the commission for a longer
period.
(C) If a natural disaster prevents a program participant from
maintaining at least half-time enrollment due to the interruption of
instruction at the eligible institution, the term of the loan
assumption agreement shall be extended for a period not to exceed one
calendar year, unless approved by the commission for a longer
period.
(3) The applicant has been judged by his or her postsecondary
institution, school district, or county office of education to have
outstanding ability on the basis of criteria that may include, but
need not be limited to, any of the following:
(A) Grade point average.
(B) Test scores.
(C) Faculty evaluations.
(D) Interviews.
(E) Other recommendations.
(4) The applicant has received, or is approved to receive, a loan
under one or more of the following designated loan programs:
(A) The Federal Family Education Loan Program (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1071
et seq.).
(B) Any educational loan program approved by the commission.
(5) The applicant has agreed to be employed full time, for at
least four consecutive academic years after obtaining a clear school
nurse services credential, in a public elementary or secondary school
in this state that, at the time that the school nurse is hired, is
an eligible school, or in a public elementary or secondary school
district in this state that has within it at least one school, that
is in the school nurse's service territory, that at the time the
school nurse is hired, is an eligible school.
(b) For the purpose of calculating eligible years of school nurse
service for the redemption of an award, the designation by the
Superintendent of a newly opened school pursuant to Section 52056
shall apply retroactively from the date the school first opened.
(c) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not enter into more than one agreement.
(d) A person participating in the program pursuant to this section
shall not owe a refund on any state or federal educational grant nor
have defaulted on any student loan.
70132. The commission shall commence loan assumption payments, as
specified in Section 70133, upon verification that the applicant has
fulfilled all of the following:
(a) The applicant has received a California clear school nurse
services credential, or an equivalent credential from another state,
authorizing school nurse services for kindergarten or any of grades 1
to 12, inclusive.
(b) The applicant has provided full-time employment as a school
nurse, or the equivalent on a part-time basis, in a public elementary
or secondary school for the equivalent of one school year.
(c) The applicant has met the requirements of the agreement and
all other pertinent conditions of this article.
70133. (a) The terms of a loan assumption granted under this
article shall be as follows, subject to the specific terms of each
agreement:
(1) After a program participant has completed one school year of
employment as a school nurse pursuant to Section 70132, the
commission shall assume up to two thousand dollars ($2,000) of the
participant's outstanding liability under one or more of the
designated educational loan programs.
(2) After a program participant has completed two consecutive
school years of employment as a school nurse, the commission shall
assume up to an additional three thousand dollars ($3,000) of the
participant's outstanding liability under one or more of the
designated educational loan programs, for a total loan assumption of
up to five thousand dollars ($5,000).
(3) After a program participant has completed three consecutive
school years of employment as a school nurse, the commission shall
assume up to a maximum of an additional three thousand dollars
($3,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated educational loan programs, for a total loan
assumption of up to eight thousand dollars ($8,000).
(4) After a program participant has completed four consecutive
school years of employment as a school nurse, the commission shall
assume up to a maximum of an additional three thousand dollars
($3,000) of the participant's outstanding liability under one or more
of the designated educational loan programs, for a total loan
assumption of up to eleven thousand dollars ($11,000).
(b) For purposes of this section, "school year" means at least 175
school days or its equivalent.
(c) An applicant who is employed on less than a full-time basis
may participate in the program, but shall not be eligible for loan
repayment until that person completes employment as a school nurse
for the equivalent of a full-time academic year.
70134. (a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), if a program
participant fails to complete a minimum of four consecutive school
years of employment as a school nurse on a full-time basis, or the
equivalent on a part-time basis, as required by this article, under
the terms of the agreement pursuant to paragraph (5) of subdivision
(a) of Section 70131, the participant shall be fully liable for all
student loan obligations remaining after the commission's assumption
of loan liability for the last year of qualifying service pursuant to
Section 70131.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), if a program participant
becomes unable to complete one of the four consecutive years of
employment as a school nurse on a full-time basis, or the equivalent
on a part-time basis, due to serious illness, pregnancy, or other
natural causes, or is called to active military duty status, the
participant shall receive a deferral of the resumption of full
liability for the loan for a period not to exceed one calendar year,
unless approved by the commission for a longer period. The commission
shall make no further payments under the loan assumption agreement
until the applicable requirements specified in Section 70132 have
been satisfied.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a program participant
shall receive a deferral of the resumption of full liability for the
loan for a period not to exceed one calendar year, unless approved by
the commission for a longer period, if the participant becomes
unable to complete one of the four consecutive years of employment as
a school nurse due to being laid off, reassigned, or other reasons
beyond the control of the participant, as determined by the
commission.
(2) The commission shall make no further payments under the loan
assumption agreement until the applicable requirements specified in
Section 70132 have been satisfied.
(d) If a program participant fails to redeem an agreement for
student loan assumption within 10 years of the agreement's issuance,
the participant shall be fully liable for all student loan
obligations.
70135. (a) The commission shall administer this article, and
shall adopt rules and regulations for that purpose. The rules and
regulations shall include, but need not be limited to, provisions
regarding the period of time during which an agreement shall remain
valid, the reallocation of resources in light of agreements that are
not utilized by program participants, the failure, for any reason, of
a program participant to complete a minimum of four consecutive
years of employment as a school nurse, and the development of
projections for funding purposes.
(b) The commission shall solicit the advice of representatives
from postsecondary education institutions, the State Department of
Education, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, school districts,
and county offices of education regarding proposed rules and
regulations.
70137. The commission shall report annually to the Legislature on
the program established under this article. The report shall
include, but shall not be limited to, all of the following:
(a) The total number of loan assumption agreements offered, by
education level and institution.
(b) The number of loan assumption agreements paid out, by
education level and institution.
(c) The number of loan assumption agreements that are redeemed, by
year of service.
(d) The annual and cumulative attrition rate of participants, by
education level and institution.
70139. (a) It is the intent of the Legislature that, in any
fiscal year, the commission should award the number of loan
assumption agreements authorized by the Governor and the Legislature
in the annual Budget Act for that year for the assumption of loans
pursuant to this article.
(b) It is further the intent of the Legislature that funding for
the award of loan assumption agreements pursuant to the
undersubscribed loan assumption program in Article 2 (commencing with
Section 70120) should be shifted to the loan assumption program in
this article, and that an authorization to award loan assumption
agreements pursuant to this article should not result in a decrease
in the number of loan assumption agreements authorized for purposes
of Article 5 (commencing with Section 69612) of Chapter 2.
70140. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2015,
and, as of January 1, 2016, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2016, deletes
or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is
repealed.
