Before and after school programs: maximum grant amounts.

The After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002, an initiative statute approved by the voters as Proposition 49 at the November 5, 2002, statewide general election, establishes the After School Education and Safety (ASES) Program under which participating public schools receive grants to operate before and after school programs serving pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 9, inclusive. The act provides that each school establishing a program pursuant to the act is eligible to receive a renewable 3-year grant for after school programs, as provided. The act prohibits an after school grant from exceeding $112,500 for each regular school year for each elementary school or $150,000 for each regular school year for each middle or junior high school. The act authorizes the Legislature to amend the provisions containing that prohibition only by a statute enacted by a 23 vote of each house and signed by the Governor that furthers the purposes of the act. The act also establishes 3-year renewable grants for schools with a before school program component, as provided. The act sets the maximum total grant amount awarded annually for those grants at $37,500 for each regular school year for each elementary school and $49,000 for each regular school year for each middle or junior high school. Existing law establishes the 21st Century High School After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (High School ASSETs) program to create incentives for establishing after school enrichment programs to provide academic support and safe, constructive alternatives for high school pupils in the hours after the regular schoolday and to support college and career readiness. Existing law makes a high school that meets certain requirements eligible to receive a 5-year grant of up to $250,000 per year per site. Existing federal law establishes the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program to provide pupils with academic enrichment and other activities during nonschool hours or periods when school is not in session, as provided. Under the program, the State Department of Education is required to provide after school grants of $50,000 or more to sites serving elementary and middle school pupils. This bill would repeal the maximum grant amounts for the ASES and High School ASSETs programs and the minimum grant amount for the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program. The bill would instead require the department to determine the grant amounts and daily rate of funding per pupil per day for those programs on the basis of the amount of funding available for each program. The bill would require the department to establish an annual process and methodology for determining those amounts and rates by July 1, 2022, as provided. The bill would require the department to biennially report to the Legislature on the impact of the department's new process and methodology on expanded learning programs. The bill would express a legislative finding that the bill furthers the purposes of the After School Education and Safety Program Act of 2002.