Before and after school programs: cost study and advisory group.

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. 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. This bill would require the State Department of Education to, on or before October 1, 2022, conduct a statewide cost study to determine adequate funding levels in order for expanded learning programs to meet current health and safety needs and state quality standards, establish a statewide expanded learning stakeholder advisory group, coordinate and support the statewide expanded learning stakeholder advisory group in developing recommendations on certain topics relating to funding and coordinating expanded learning programs, and publicly share on the department's internet website the results of the cost study and the statewide expanded learning stakeholder advisory group's recommendations. The bill would appropriate $600,000 from the General Fund to the department to perform those duties, and would authorize the department to use those moneys to contract with qualified local educational agencies or other entities to perform those duties. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.