What does CA SB-117 mean for your local education agency?
Written by Aylin Cook
On March 17th, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB-117, an education budget trailer bill that primarily sought to protect the funding of California’s public school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools due to COVID-19 school closures.
The bill provides clarity on which stated education laws are to be waived or altered, and provides $100 million in funding for all of California Local Education Agencies (LEAs).
The legislation took effect immediately. alleviating many of school leaders’ concerns about the mandatory school closures.
The big takeaways from SB-117
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Local Education Agencies will not lose funding due to COVID-19 closures. School districts will continue to receive funding as if they met the instructional minutes and number of school days required under state law.
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Ensures that the local educational agency’s employees and contractors are compensated and paid during the period of time a school is closed due to the coronavirus.
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Waives average daily attendance relief and instructional minutes requirements.
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Waives attendance and reporting requirements for childcare and development programs.
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Extends timelines to assess pupils for english language proficiency by 45 days.
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Extends timelines for assessments.
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Extends timelines for uniform complaints.
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Extends timelines for proposed assessment plans for special education students.
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Extends timeline to respond to a request for student records by parents of students receiving special education services under special education statutes
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Allows for charter schools to add independent study or distance learning programs without material revision of charter school.
We hope this quick summary helps — keep in mind that it is not comprehensive but the most salient points. Here’s the full CA SB-117 bill.
While this is a difficult, and unprecedented, time for all, the funding and education experts on our team are here to help. We can talk you through the bill’s mandates and share information on how HopSkipDrive can partner with you to help support our community.
If you’d like to learn more about how we partner with schools, visit hopskipdrive.com/schools, where you can get a quote and contact us. You can also email partner@hopskipdrive.com.
