Community colleges: funding.

Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law authorizes the establishment of community college districts under the administration of community college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at community college campuses throughout the state. Existing law requires the board of governors to develop criteria and standards, in accordance with specified statewide minimum requirements, for the purposes of making the annual budget request for the California Community Colleges to the Governor and the Legislature and allocating state general apportionment revenues. Those statewide minimum requirements include, among other things, a requirement that the calculations of each community college district's revenue level for each fiscal year be based on specified criteria, with revenue adjustments being made for increases or decreases in full-time equivalent students (FTES) for specified purposes. This bill would require the board of governors to adopt a stabilization formula for calculating a community college district's revenue level for each fiscal year, which would provide for revenue adjustments if certain conditions are met, including that the community college district or a campus of the district is subject to a probation or a "show cause" accreditation sanction, the district has identified a new funding source sufficient for the specified payment of any fund liability, and the district submits an improvement plan to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Under existing law, for credit and noncredit instruction, decreases in FTES are required to result in revenue reductions beginning in the year following the initial year of decrease in FTES, and at the district's marginal funding per FTES. This bill would require the adopted stabilization formula to provide that, for a qualifying community college district, decreases in FTES are required to result in prescribed adjustments in district revenues beginning in the year following the initial year in which the district qualifies for stabilization funding. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.