Bill Text: CA SB1369 | 2013-2014 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Community colleges: Disability Services Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-08-14 - Set, second hearing. Held under submission. [SB1369 Detail]
Download: California-2013-SB1369-Amended.html
BILL NUMBER: SB 1369 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 4, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 27, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 1, 2014
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 10, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Senator Block
FEBRUARY 21, 2014
An act to amend Section 78214 of, to amend, renumber, and add
Section 84850 of, to amend the heading of Article 6 (commencing with
Section 84850) of Chapter 5 of Part 50 of Division 7 of Title 3 of,
and to add Section 84852 to, the Education Code, relating to
community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 1369, as amended, Block. Community colleges: Disability
Services Program.
(1) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges,
under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary
education in this state. Existing law states the intent of the
Legislature that the public postsecondary institutions request, and
the state provide, through the state budget process, funds to cover
the actual cost of providing services and instruction, consistent
with specified principles, to disabled students in their respective
postsecondary institutions.
Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt rules and
regulations for the administration and funding of educational
programs and support services provided to disabled students by
community colleges for state-funded services. Existing law requires
these regulations to provide for the apportionment of funds to each
community college district to offset the direct excess cost, as
defined, of providing specialized support services or instruction, or
both, to disabled students enrolled in state-supported educational
programs or courses.
This bill would recast these requirements as the Disability
Services Program and would use the term "students with disabilities"
instead of disabled students. The bill would instead require the
regulations adopted by the board of governors to provide for the
apportionment of funds to each community college district to offset
the direct excess cost, as modified by the bill, of providing
students with disabilities enrolled in state-supported educational
programs operated by community college districts with academic
adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services, as appropriate, in
compliance with all applicable requirements of federal and state
nondiscrimination laws. In utilizing funds apportioned to a community
college district, the bill would require the district to give
priority to ensuring that requirements of federal and state
nondiscrimination laws have been satisfied with respect to students
with disabilities who enroll for specified purposes. The bill would
authorize a district to use these funds to provide other specialized
services or to offer educational assistance courses for students with
disabilities so long as specified conditions are met. The bill would
also prohibit a district from using these funds to provide services
for students with disabilities participating in classes, courses, or
educational programs that do not receive state support. As a
condition of receiving these funds, the bill would require a district
to cooperate in the conduct of program evaluations, as prescribed,
and to promptly take any corrective action required by the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges as a result of the program
evaluations. The bill would require the Office of the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges to request funding for the
Disability Services Program that is sufficient to carry out the
requirements of the program on a statewide basis in the annual budget
request to the Governor and the Legislature.
(2) Existing law requires all participating districts, with the
assistance of the chancellor, to establish and maintain institutional
research to evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success and
Support Program implemented under the Seymour-Campbell Student
Success Act of 2012. Existing law requires the research to include
certain metrics including, among others, disaggregated data by
ethnicity, gender, disability, age, and socioeconomic status, to the
extent the information is available.
This bill would require a district to report a student
participating in the Student Success and Support Program as having a
disability if the student participates in the Disability Services
Program.
To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community
college districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local
program.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 78214 of the Education Code is amended to read:
78214. (a) All participating districts shall, with the assistance
of the chancellor, establish and maintain institutional research to
evaluate the effectiveness of the Student Success and Support Program
described by this article and of any other programs or services
designed to facilitate students' completion of their educational
goals and courses of study.
(b) The metrics for this research shall include, but not be
limited to:
(1) Prior educational experience, including transcripts when
appropriate, as determined by the chancellor.
(2) Educational goals and courses of study.
(3) Criteria for exemption from orientation, assessment, or
required counseling or advisement, if applicable.
(4) Need for financial assistance.
(5) (A) Disaggregated data by ethnicity, gender, disability, age,
and socioeconomic status, to the extent this information is
available.
(B) For purposes of this paragraph, unless the chancellor
establishes a different approach for reporting disability status, a
district shall report a student as having a disability if the student
participates in the Disability Services Program established pursuant
to Article 6 (commencing with Section 84850) of Chapter 5 of Part
50.
(6) Academic performance, such as the completion of specified unit
thresholds, success in basic skills courses, grade point average,
course completion outcomes, transfer readiness, and degree and
certificate completion.
(7) Any additional information that the chancellor finds
appropriate.
(c) The evaluation provided for by this section shall include an
assessment of the effectiveness of the programs and services in
attaining at least the following objectives:
(1) Helping students to define their academic and career goals and
declare a course of study.
(2) Assisting institutions in the assessment of students'
educational needs and valid course placement.
(3) Helping support students' successful course completion and
goal attainment.
(4) Matching institutional resources with students' educational
needs.
SEC. 2. The heading of Article 6 (commencing with Section 84850)
of Chapter 5 of Part 50 of Division 7 of Title 3 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
Article 6. The Disability Services Program
SEC. 3. Section 84850 of the Education Code is amended and
renumbered to read:
84851. (a) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges shall adopt rules and regulations for the administration and
funding of educational programs and support services to be provided
to students with disabilities by community college districts pursuant
to Article 3 (commencing with Section 67310) of Chapter 14 of Part
40. This program shall be known and may be cited as the Disability
Services Program.
(b) As used in this article, a student with a disability is a
person who is enrolled, or has been admitted and is planning to
enroll, in one or more courses at a community college and has been
verified as being an individual with a disability within the meaning
of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (42 U.S.C.
Sec. 12101 et seq.).
(c) (1) The regulations adopted by the board of governors shall
provide for the apportionment of funds to each community college
district to offset the direct excess cost, as defined in paragraph
(2), of providing students with disabilities enrolled in
state-supported educational programs operated by community college
districts with academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, and services, as
appropriate, in compliance with all applicable requirements of
federal and state nondiscrimination laws, including, but not limited
to, all of the following:
(A) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended (42
U.S.C. Sec. 12101 et seq.).
(B) Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (29
U.S.C. Sec. 794).
(C) Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of
Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
(D) The Equity in Higher Education Act (Chapter 4.5 (commencing
with Section 66250) of Part 40 of Division 5).
(2) Direct excess costs are those actual fixed, variable, and
one-time costs, as defined in Section 67311, that exceed the combined
total of the following:
(A) The indirect cost to the community college district of
providing facilities and support for the administration of the
Disability Services Program.
(B) The revenue derived from full-time equivalent students
enrolled in educational assistance courses for students with
disabilities.
(C) The average cost to the community college district of
providing services to nondisabled students multiplied by the number
of students served by the Disability Services Program.
(D) Any other funds for serving students with disabilities that
the district receives from federal, state, or local sources.
(d) (1) In utilizing funds provided pursuant to this section, a
community college district shall give priority to ensuring that the
requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws have been
satisfied with respect to students with disabilities who enroll to
earn degrees, career technical certificates, transfer preparation, or
career development or advancement. However, the community college
district remains responsible for complying with the requirements of
federal and state nondiscrimination laws with respect to students
with disabilities pursuing other educational objectives.
(2) In addition, a community college district may also use funds
allocated pursuant to this section to provide other specialized
services or to offer educational assistance courses for students with
disabilities so long as these services or courses satisfy all of the
following conditions:
(A) They are consistent with the regulations adopted by the board
of governors.
(B) They further the goal established in Section 67310 of
promoting the independence of students with disabilities and the
maximum integration of these students with other students.
(C) They are provided in the most integrated setting possible.
(e) A community college district shall not use funds allocated
pursuant to this section to provide services for students with
disabilities participating in classes, courses, or educational
programs that do not receive state support.
(f) As a condition of receiving funds pursuant to this section,
each community college district shall do all of the following:
(1) The community college district shall certify that reasonable
efforts have been made to utilize all funds from federal, state, or
local sources that are available for serving students with
disabilities.
(2) The community college district shall provide the programmatic
and fiscal information concerning programs and services for students
with disabilities that the regulations of the board of governors
require.
(3) The community college district shall cooperate in the conduct
of program evaluations conducted pursuant to subdivision (g) and
promptly take any corrective actions required by the chancellor as a
result of those evaluations.
(g) The board of governors shall require the chancellor to use an
amount not less than one-half $300,000, or
one-quarter of 1 percent , whichever is less, of the
funds allocated annually pursuant to this section to
conduct, or to contract to
for the planning and conduct , of
an evaluation of program effectiveness as required pursuant to
Section 67312. In addition to addressing the requirements of Section
67312, the evaluations shall determine whether the requirements of
this article and those set forth in the regulations adopted by the
board of governors have been satisfied. Each
A plan for conduct of the evaluations shall be developed by the
chancellor, in consultation with appropriate stakeholder groups, and
be ready for implementation by June 30, 2016. Commencing in the 2016-
17 fiscal year, each community college operating a
program pursuant to this section shall be required to participate in
a peer-based onsite evaluation during the self-study year of each
accreditation cycle. Funds designated for program evaluation purposes
under this subdivision may be used to, among other things,
compensate and reimburse members of onsite evaluation teams.
(h) The board of governors may authorize the chancellor,
consistent with the requirements the board may impose, to designate
up to an additional 2 1/2
2 3/4 percent of the funds allocated pursuant to
this section for program development and program accountability.
SEC. 4. Section 84850 is added to the Education Code, to read:
84850. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. Sec.
12101 et seq.), and other federal and state nondiscrimination laws
require community college districts to ensure that students with
disabilities are not denied the benefits of, or excluded from
participating or otherwise subjected to discrimination in, any
program or activity operated by those community college districts due
to the absence of academic adjustments, auxiliary aids, or services,
as appropriate.
(b) The board of governors, the California Student Aid Commission,
and other state agencies are responsible for distributing state and
federal funding to community college districts.
(c) As a result, the state shares the responsibility with
community college districts for ensuring that students with
disabilities are able to fully participate in and benefit from the
programs and activities operated by community college districts in
accordance with the requirements of federal and state
nondiscrimination laws.
(d) By enacting the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012,
the Legislature has recognized the importance of ensuring that all
students, including students with disabilities, have the resources
and support services necessary to establish and achieve their
educational goals while attending a community college.
(e) The Legislature recognizes that programmatic adjustments,
auxiliary aids, and other services may be needed in order for
students with disabilities to be able to participate in and fully
benefit from the Student Success and Support Program and that
providing these adjustments and services will result in additional
costs and workload for community college districts.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that adequate funding
shall be provided to the Disability Services Program through the
annual budget process to ensure that each community college is able
to provide students with disabilities the services needed to meet the
requirements of federal and state nondiscrimination laws and to
further their participation in the Student Success and Support
Program.
(g) The board of governors needs adequate resources to oversee the
Disability Services Program evaluation and other administrative
functions specified in Section 84851, in order for the program to
meet the objectives set forth in this article. It is the intent of
the Legislature to provide adequate funding to the board of governors
through the annual budget process to enable the board to carry out
those functions.
SEC. 5. Section 84852 is added to the Education Code, to read:
84852. In its annual budget request for the California Community
Colleges to the Governor and the Legislature, the Office of the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall request funding
for the Disability Services Program sufficient to carry out the
purposes and requirements of this article on a statewide basis.
SEC. 6. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
