Education: omnibus bill.

(1) Existing law sets forth a method for providing special education and related services to pupils with exceptional needs. Existing law requires the allowable new building area for the purpose of providing special day class and Resource Specialist Program facilities for special education pupils to be negotiated and approved by the State Allocation Board, as provided. Existing law prescribes the maximum square footage for those facilities by special day class basic need, including, among other basic needs, the maximum square footage for mildly mentally retarded and severely mentally retarded special education pupils. This bill would change references in those provisions from mildly mentally retarded and severely mentally retarded to mildly intellectually disabled and severely intellectually disabled, respectively. (2) Existing law requires the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education to request the Instructional Quality Commission to review and revise, as necessary, the course requirements in the history-social science framework to ensure that minimum standards for courses in American government and civics include certain matters. This bill would additionally require the commission, when revising the history-social science framework, to ensure that those course requirements are also included in all history and social science courses and grade levels, as appropriate. The bill would, among other things, also require the commission, whenever the history-social science framework is revised, to receive input from civics learning experts for purposes of integrating civics learning content, concepts, and skills, at all appropriate grade levels, with the standards established by the state board in core curriculum areas, as specified, and ensure that voter education information is included in the American government and civics curriculum at the high school level, as specified. (3) Existing law specifies the circumstances under which the State Board of Education or a county committee on school district reorganization may approve proposals or petitions for the reorganization of school districts. After the state board has approved plans and recommendations, or a county committee has approved a petition for the unification or other reorganization of school districts, existing law requires the secretary of the state board or the county committee to give notice to a specified county superintendent of schools. Within 35 days of receiving notification from the state board, existing law provides for the county superintendent of schools to call an election, to be conducted at the next election of any kind, or in the case of a notice from a county committee, at the next regular election, in the territory of the districts as determined by the state board or the county committee. This bill would instead require a county superintendent of schools, if notified by a county committee, to call the election at next election of any kind, in accordance with specified requirements. (4) Existing law provides that a school district that has been organized for more than 3 years shall be lapsed, as defined, if certain conditions occur. Within 30 days after the close of each school year, existing law requires the county committee on school district reorganization to conduct a public hearing to determine if those conditions have been met. After the hearing, existing law requires the county committee to order the territory annexed to one or more adjoining districts, as specified. Existing law provides that an order of a county committee attaching the territory of a lapsed school district to one or more adjoining school districts shall be effective for all purposes on the date of the order. This bill would, among other things, instead require the county committee to conduct the public hearing within 45 days before the close of each school year, and would require the county committee to order the territory annexed after the hearing and at least 30 days before the end of the school year. The bill would, among other things, make the county committee's order effective on the July 1 after the date of the order, as specified. To the extent these changes would impose a higher level of service on local officials, the bill would create a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law requires each school district or county superintendent of schools maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide for each needy pupil one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils. Existing law provides that the School Lunch Program application is confidential and prohibits the information from being used in the application from being disclosed to any governmental agency, including the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Social Security Administration, or used for any purpose other than enrollment in the CalFresh program. Notwithstanding that restriction, existing law authorizes a public officer or agency to allow the use by certain school district employees of records pertaining to pupil participation in any free or reduced-price meal program solely for the purpose of, among other things, the disaggregation of academic data. This bill would, among other things, additionally authorize the release of eligibility information on enrolled pupils participating in the free or reduced-price meal program to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for purposes of determining funding allocations under the local control funding formula and for assessing the accountability of that funding, as provided, and, upon request, to other local educational agencies serving a pupil in the same household as an enrolled pupil for purposes related to free or reduced-price meal program eligibility and for data used in local control funding formula calculations. (6) Existing law requires that every individual with exceptional needs, as defined, who is eligible to receive special education instruction and related services be provided with that instruction and those services at no cost to his or her parent or guardian or, as appropriate, to him or her. A free appropriate public education is required to be made available to individuals with exceptional needs in accordance with specified federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Existing law authorizes local educational agencies to seek, either directly or through the pupil's parents or guardians, reimbursement from insurance companies to cover the costs of related services, in accordance with specified federal regulations. This bill would delete that authorization and would instead authorize a public agency, if an individual with exceptional needs is covered by public benefits or insurance, to use Medicaid, other public benefits, or insurance programs in which a pupil participates to provide or pay for certain services required by law if the agency provides written notification to the pupil's parents and obtains written parental consent, as provided. (7) Existing law sets forth a method for providing special education and related services to pupils with exceptional needs. Existing law also permits, under certain circumstances, contracts to be entered for the provision of those services by nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies, as defined. Existing law authorizes a master contract for special education and related services provided by a nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency only if the school or agency has been certified by the Superintendent of Public Instruction as meeting specified standards. Existing law also requires the nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency that is applying for certification to submit, on a form developed by the State Department of Education, a signed verification by local educational agency representatives that they have been notified of the intent to certify or renew certification. Existing law requires the department to mail renewal application materials to certified nonpublic, nonsectarian schools and agencies at least 120 days before the expiration date of their current certification. This bill would require the local educational agency to send the applicant an acknowledgment, rather than a signed verification, as specified. The bill would delete the provision requiring the department to mail renewal application materials and instead require the department to provide electronic notification of the availability of these materials to certified nonpublic, nonsectarian schools and agencies at least 120 days before the date their current certification expires. (8) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to review existing tests that assess the English language development of pupils whose primary language is a language other than English. Existing law requires pupils in kindergarten and first grade to be assessed in English listening and speaking, and, once an assessment is developed, early literacy skills. Existing law requires an early literacy assessment to be administered for a period of 4 years beginning after the initial administration of the assessment or until July 1, 2014, whichever occurs first. This bill would instead require this early literacy assessment to be administered for a period of 4 years beginning after the initial administration of the assessment or until July 1, 2017, whichever occurs last. (9) This bill also would make various nonsubstantive changes, delete obsolete provisions, and update cross-references. (10) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 33540 of the Education Code proposed by SB 897 that would become operative if this bill and SB 897 are both enacted on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is enacted last. The bill also would incorporate additional changes to Section 52060 of the Education Code proposed by AB 2512 that would become operative if this bill and AB 2512 are both enacted on or before January 1, 2015, and this bill is enacted last. (11) 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.