School accountability: local educational agencies: required plans and reports., the official text

An act to add Section 33318.3 to the Education Code, relating to school accountability.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to adopt a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) using a template adopted by the State Board of Education. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to update its LCAP before July 1 of each year and requires that annual update to be developed using a template adopted by the state board.
This bill would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office to prepare a report that includes recommendations for (1) reducing and removing conflicting or redundant reports and reporting deadlines, as provided, (2) a statewide data submission portal, as provided, and (3) a statewide calendar that identifies the deadlines of all plans and reports required to be submitted by school districts, county offices of education, or charter schools, as provided. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst’s Office, on or before January 1, 2028, to submit the report to the appropriate budget and policy committees of the Legislature and to the Governor and, in preparing the report, to solicit and incorporate feedback from statewide organizations, as provided.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 33318.3 is added to the Education Code, to read:
33318.3.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:
(1) The multiplicity of procedures, portals, and timelines for submission of required compliance and expenditure reports and plans by local educational agencies imposes burdens on the time, human resources, and funding of public schools.
(2) Better aligned and coherent reporting mechanisms and methodologies will reduce these burdens, result in more complete, uniform, and quality data, and further the purposes of the statewide system of support.
(b) The purpose of this section is to accomplish both of the following goals:
(1) Reduce the duplication and burden of required plans and reports on local educational agencies.
(2) Improve coherence in the statewide system of support and the quality and utility of information.
(c) In order to accomplish the goals specified in subdivision (b), the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall prepare a report that includes recommendations for all of the following:
(1) Reducing and removing conflicting or redundant reports and reporting deadlines to allow local educational agencies sufficient time to plan, prepare for, and meet the reporting requirements.
(2) (A) A statewide data submission portal that would allow a local educational agency to enter plan or report information once, and that could be used to autopopulate fields of multiple plans or reports, including, but not limited to, all of the following:
(i) The data fields that should be included in the portal.
(ii) The reports that could be populated by data in the portal.
(iii) Which state entities are best suited to create, host, and maintain the portal.
(B) In preparing the recommendations pursuant to subparagraph (A), the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall confer with the department and other state agencies that operate similar data portals or may be able to create a data portal and shall research data submission portals in use in other states.
(3) A statewide calendar that identifies the deadlines of all plans and reports required to be submitted by local educational agencies. These recommendations shall include, but not be limited to, all of the following:
(A) The content that should be included in the calendar.
(B) Which entities are best suited to create, host, and maintain the calendar.
(C) The frequency and methods that should be used to update the calendar.
(d) In preparing the report described in subdivision (c), the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall solicit and incorporate feedback from statewide organizations, including, but not limited to, organizations representing the following:
(i) School boards.
(ii) County offices of education.
(iii) School administrators.
(iv) School business officers.
(v) Small school districts.
(vi) Medium-sized school districts.
(vii) Large school districts.
(viii) Labor unions.
(e) (1) On or before January 1, 2028, the Legislative Analyst’s Office shall submit the report prepared pursuant to subdivision (c) to the appropriate budget and policy committees of the Legislature and to the Governor.
(2) The report submitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be submitted in compliance with section 9795 of the Government Code.
(f) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.