Bill Text: CA AB2373 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Pupils with exceptional needs: adaptive sports hubs pilot program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2373 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2373-Amended.html
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Amended
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Assembly
April 19, 2022 |
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Amended
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March 28, 2022 |
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Amended
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March 17, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2373
| Introduced by Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia |
February 16, 2022 |
An act to add and repeal Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 56870) of Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to pupils with exceptional needs, and making an appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2373, as amended, Eduardo Garcia.
Pupils with exceptional needs: adaptive sports hubs pilot program.
Existing law provides that the Legislature finds and declares that all individuals with exceptional needs have a right to participate in free appropriate public education and special educational instruction and services for these persons are needed in order to ensure the right to an appropriate educational opportunity to meet their unique needs.
This bill would establish the Adaptive Sports Hubs Pilot Program in the Counties of Imperial and Riverside for adaptive sports hubs at centralized public schools for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in order to increase access to extracurricular sports programs for pupils with exceptional needs, and would appropriate $600,000 for the 2022–23 fiscal year for these purposes, as provided. The bill would require pilot programs to operate consistent with an applicable federal “Dear
Colleague” letter and to include specific strategies to overcome barriers to the participation of pupils with exceptional needs in extracurricular athletics and to incorporate a philosophy of personal empowerment for those pupils. The bill would authorize pilot programs to, at a minimum, provide specified activities, and would authorize pilot programs to contract with third-party entities that are adaptive sports organizations or that offer adaptive sports to provide those activities. The bill would require the State Department of Education to conduct an evaluation of the Adaptive Sports Hubs Pilot Program, on or before January 1, 2029, as provided. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2029. 2030.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Imperial and Riverside.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: YES Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 9 (commencing with Section 56870) is added to Part 30 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:CHAPTER 9. Adaptive Sports Hubs Pilot Program
56870.
The Adaptive Sports Hubs Pilot Program is hereby established for purposes of funding a five-year pilot program in the Counties of Imperial and Riverside for adaptive sports hubs at centralized public schools for pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in order to increase access to extracurricular sports programs for pupils with exceptional needs.56871.
(a) For the 2022–23 fiscal year, the sum of six hundred thousand dollars ($600,000) is hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the department for purposes of this chapter.(b) (1) The Superintendent shall allocate funds to selected applicant local educational agencies, consistent with Section 56870, on a per pupil basis.
(2) Local educational agency participation in the pilot program shall be voluntary.
(c) In selecting local educational agencies, the Superintendent may consult with the appropriate county offices of
education and special education local plan areas.
(d) For purposes of this chapter, “local educational agencies” means school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education.
(e) (1) The department shall conduct an evaluation of the Adaptive Sports Hubs Pilot Program provided in 2022–23 to 2027–28 fiscal years, inclusive. The department may select a contractor to conduct the evaluation. The evaluation shall include, but not be limited to, the number of pupils served, the number of grantees, a description of the use of the appropriation for the pilot, and a description of the impact of the pilot on both pupils with exceptional needs and the local educational agency grantees.
(2) A copy of the evaluation shall be submitted to the Governor and the relevant policy committees of both the Assembly and the Senate in compliance with Section 9795 of the Government Code.
(3) The evaluation required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be completed, and the copy of the evaluation required pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be submitted, on or before January 1, 2029.
(e)
(f) Notwithstanding any other law, funds appropriated pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be available for
encumbrance or expenditure until July 1, 2028.
56872.
(a) Pilot programs funded pursuant to this chapter shall do both of the following:(1) Operate consistent with the federal “Dear Colleague” letter on “Students with Disabilities in Extracurricular Athletics” issued by the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights on January 25, 2013, as it read on January 1, 2022.
(2) Include specific strategies to overcome barriers to the participation of pupils with exceptional needs in extracurricular athletics and incorporate a philosophy of personal empowerment for those pupils.
(b) Pilot
programs funded pursuant to this chapter may, at a minimum, do all of the following:
(1) Purchase and provide access to adaptive sports equipment, including, but not limited to, sports wheelchairs or cycles, for use by pupils. This equipment may be shared among hubs or local educational agencies.
(2) Hire and train staff.
(3) Provide transportation for pupils and coaches to the hubs, training sessions, and competitions.
(4) Establish adaptive sports days at participating schools.
(5) Establish sports teams and provide individual athlete training.
(6) Provide disability etiquette training and opportunities for pupils with exceptional needs who are athletes to share their stories.
(c) Pilot programs may be located in one or more local school schoolsite administrative hubs per local educational agency, and are not required to be located at every schoolsite in the local educational agency.
(d) Pilot programs may contract with third-party entities, including, but not limited to, a nonprofit public benefit corporation organized pursuant to Part 2 (commencing with
Section 5110) of Division 2 of Title 1 of the Corporations Code, that are adaptive sports organizations or that offer adaptive sports, to provide the activities described in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive, of subdivision (b).
