Education finance: Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund: Learning Communities for School Success Program.

Existing law, the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act, enacted by Proposition 47, as approved by the voters at the November 4, 2014, statewide general election, among other things, established the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund, a continuously appropriated fund, which is funded by savings that accrue to the state from the implementation of the act. The act provides that, among other purposes, 25% of the funds shall be disbursed to the State Department of Education to administer a grant program to public agencies aimed at improving outcomes for public school pupils by reducing truancy and supporting pupils who are at risk of dropping out of school or are victims of crime. This bill would establish the Learning Communities for School Success Program for the purpose of implementing that grant program, subject to an appropriation to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Fund in the annual Budget Act or another statute for the purposes of the bill. The bill would specify the administrative duties and responsibilities of the department with respect to the program, including administering grants and coordinating assistance to local educational agencies, as defined. The bill would set forth criteria to guide the department in awarding grants under the program, and would specify the purposes for which grant funds may be used. The bill would require the department to submit a final evaluation of the program to the Legislature on or before January 31, 2020. These provisions would become operative only if SB 527 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is chaptered and becomes operative on or before January 1, 2017.