(1)Existing law requires school districts to employ persons for positions not requiring certification qualifications and to classify, as defined, these persons. Under existing law, these employees make up the classified service. Existing law exempts a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position. Existing law requires that a position not defined as requiring certification qualifications and not specifically exempted from the classified service is a part of the classified service.

This bill would delete the provision exempting a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position, thereby making that person a part of the classified service. To the extent this bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(1)Existing law requires school districts to employ persons for positions not requiring certification qualifications and to classify, as defined, these persons. Under existing law, these employees make up the classified service. Existing law exempts a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position. Existing law requires that a position not defined as requiring certification qualifications and not specifically exempted from the classified service is a part of the classified service.

This bill would delete the provision exempting a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position, thereby making that person a part of the classified service. To the extent this bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

(1)Existing law requires school districts to employ persons for positions not requiring certification qualifications and to classify, as defined, these persons. Under existing law, these employees make up the classified service. Existing law exempts a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position. Existing law requires that a position not defined as requiring certification qualifications and not specifically exempted from the classified service is part of the classified service.

This bill would delete the provision exempting a person employed in a part-time playground position from the classified service, where the person is not otherwise employed in a classified position, thereby making that person part of the classified service. To the extent this bill would impose new duties on school districts, it would constitute a state-mandated local program.

(2)The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 670

Author:

:

Vote:

SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 7/12/17

AYES: Bradford, Atkins, Jackson, Mitchell

NOES: Stone

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 9/1/17

AYES: Lara, Beall, Bradford, Hill, Wiener

NOES: Bates, Nielsen

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-22, 5/31/17 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT:

SOURCE: California School Employees Association

DIGEST:

This bill removes the provision of law exempting playground positions from the classified service within school districts if the person is not also employed in a classified position.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Defines “classification” within a school district as having a designated title, a regular minimum number of assigned hours per day, days per week, and months per year, a specific statement of the duties required to be performed by the employees in each such position, and the regular monthly salary ranges for each such position, as well as associated benefits (Education Code §45100-§45101).
2. Allows school districts and community college districts to employ and classify non-academic employees who do not require certification, and requires those employees be placed in the “classified service” (Education Code §45103).
3. Prohibits part-time playground positions from being part of the classified service, when the employee is not otherwise employed in the same school district in a classified position (Education Code §45103).

This bill:

1. Removes the provision exempting part-time playground positions from the classified service where the employee is not employed in a classified position.
2. Makes clarifying and technical changes related to the governing board of school districts.

Comments

Need for this bill? According to the author, employees who work in these part-time playground positions are referred to by varying titles, such as noon-duty aides, yard aides, noon-time assistants and playground aides. However, since part-time playground positions are excluded from the classified service, these employees do not receive the same benefits. This includes sick leave, vacation, holidays, and any other rights for the hours worked in part-time playground positions. The one exception to this rule is when an existing classified employee also works in a playground position, in effect, an employee who is working in two positions.

The author states that then, and only then, is their service as a playground aide considered part of the classified service. This bill will place part-time playground aides into the classified service, allowing them to receive the same statutory rights and protections under the Education Code as classified employees.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: Fiscal Com.: Local:

According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill would lead to increased administrative and payroll costs for school districts, at a minimum in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually (General Fund, Proposition 98).

Additionally, by creating an additional set of classified employees, this bill creates a state-mandated local program related to collective bargaining costs. To the extent the Commission on State Mandates determines that the provisions of this bill create a new program or impose a higher level of service on local agencies, local agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs (General Fund). The amount is unknown, but potentially significant.

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/1/17)

California School Employees Association (source)

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

California Federation of Teachers

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California Teachers Association

LIUNA, Local 777

Service Employees International Union

OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/1/17)

Association of California School Administrators

California Association of Joint Powers Authorities

California Association of School Business Officials

School Employees Association of California

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: Proponents state that these part-time playground positions are occupied predominantly by women who often work five days a week for two or three hours, and are often the lowest wage earners on campus. Proponents add that the duties they perform on school campuses are similar to services provided by classified employees. They directly supervise students during the lunch and breakfast periods. They escort students to the playground areas where they monitor student behavior and provide corrective direction as needed.

Proponents contend that playground aides help keep the playground safe. They notify teachers of conflicts between students, make sure kids play safely, and help respond when a child is injured. Proponents claim that AB 670 would provide a basic level of fairness and equity in compensation and benefits for employees who work in part-time playground positions.

ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION: Opponents believe that if a noon-duty aide receives classified status, this will restrict a district’s utilization of the noon-duty aide as a supervisor of children. Opponents state that schools must be able to make use of these critically-important individuals at a moment’s notice in order to meet student needs, and that AB 670 would hamper this ability. Additionally, opponents claim that some noon-duty aides are full-time parents who want to participate in their child’s educational process. Opponents contend that the salary those in this position receive would become obsolete because of union dues if they are forced to join a union.

Furthermore, opponents claim that AB 670 would mandate substantial increased costs for school districts such as ongoing administrative and payroll costs, including vacation, holidays and sick leave. Opponents are concerned that requiring school districts to designate all part-time playground monitors as classified employees would usurp the ability of local school districts to set personnel policies that best meet their staffing needs. Opponents contend that to require positions that are currently exempt be included in the classified service fails to recognize the fiscal constraints this proposal imposes on Local Education Agencies, and will ultimately limit school districts’ ability to provide necessary support and services that improve students’ academic success.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 54-22, 5/31/17

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Arambula, Berman, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Burke, Caballero, Calderon, Cervantes, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Frazier, Friedman, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gomez, Gonzalez Fletcher, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Reyes, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Wood, Rendon

NOES: Acosta, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chávez, Chen, Cunningham, Dahle, Flora, Fong, Gallagher, Harper, Kiley, Lackey, Mathis, Mayes, Obernolte, Patterson, Steinorth, Voepel, Waldron

NO VOTE RECORDED: Choi, Eggman, Melendez, Rubio

Prepared by:

9/3/17 17:41:15

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON

Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular Session

AB 670 (Thurmond) - Classified employees: part-time playground positions

This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.

Bill Summary:

AB 670 would remove the provision exempting part-time playground positions at school districts from classified service.

Fiscal Impact:

This bill would lead to increased administrative and payroll costs for school districts, at a minimum in the hundreds of thousands of dollars annually (General Fund, Proposition 98, see Staff Comments).

Additionally, by creating an additional set of classified employees, this bill creates a state-mandated local program related to collective bargaining costs. To the extent the Commission on State Mandates determines that the provisions of this bill create a new program or impose a higher level of service on local agencies, local agencies could claim reimbursement of those costs (General Fund). The amount is unknown, but potentially significant (See Staff Comments).

Background:

Under current law, nonacademic school employees are generally part of classified service, with specified exceptions. One such exception is employees in a part-time playground position, otherwise referred to as noon duty aides, yard aides, noon-time assistants and playground aides. Since part-time playground positions are excluded from the classified service, these employees do not receive the same benefits, including sick leave, vacation, holidays, and any other rights for the hours worked in part-time playground positions. The one exception to this rule is when an existing classified employee also works in a playground position, in effect, an employee who is working in two positions.

Proposed Law:

This bill would remove the provision exempting part-time playground positions from the classified service where the employee is not employed in a classified position.

Related Legislation:

AB 1780 (Washington, 2000) would have deleted the exemption that prohibited part-time playground positions from classified service. The bill vetoed by the Governor.

Staff Comments:

This bill would provide vacation, holiday, and sick leave benefits to part-time playground positions, of which there are assumed to be 1,500 across all school districts. This estimate assumes that these part-time employees work two hours per day (10 hours per week). The estimate further assumes that the employees earn prorated vacation time, sick time, and holiday time (a total of six holidays). Based on these assumptions, the benefit costs resulting from the bill would be $525 per employee, an aggregate cost of $788,000 annually. Benefit costs are not likely to generate significant costs for any individual school district.

Staff notes that the minimum wage is scheduled to rise by 43 percent, to $15 dollars per hour, by 2023. Because playground positions generally earn minimum wage, costs from the bill will rise by a commensurate percentage over the same time span. Additionally, to the extent that part-time playground employees work longer (for example, three hours per day instead of two hours per day), costs resulting from the bill would be higher.

Finally, this bill is likely to result in a state mandate with reimbursable costs of unknown magnitude for school districts to collectively bargain with the increased number of classified employees that would result from the bill.

However, drawing on case law with respect to state reimbursement of state-mandated workers' compensation benefit payments (County of Los Angeles v. State of California, [1987] 43 Cal. 3d), the Commission on State Mandates has found that, for other school employee leave programs, while paid leave may result in increased cost to school districts, an increase in benefits or compensation for a particular group of public employees did not result in an increased level of service to the public by local governments, and thus was not state-reimbursable.

-- END --

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Senator Steven Bradford, Chair

2017 - 2018 Regular

Bill No: AB 670 Hearing Date: July 12, 2017

Subject: Classified employees: part-time playground positions

KEY ISSUE

Should the Legislature remove the provision exempting playground positions from the classified service within school districts if the person is not also employed in a classified position?

ANALYSIS

Existing law

1. Defines “classification” within a school district as having a designated title, a regular minimum number of assigned hours per day, days per week, and months per year, a specific statement of the duties required to be performed by the employees in each such position, and the regular monthly salary ranges for each such position, as well as associated benefits (Education Code §45100-§45101).
2. Allows school districts and community college districts to employ and classify non-academic employees who do not require certification, and requires those employees be placed in the “classified service” (Education Code §45103).
3. Prohibits part-time playground positions from being part of the classified service, when the employee is not otherwise employed in the same school district in a classified position (Education Code §45103).

This Bill

1. Removes the provision exempting part-time playground positions from the classified service where the employee is not employed in a classified position.
2. Makes clarifying and technical changes related to the governing board of school districts.

COMMENTS

1. Need for this bill?

According to the author, employees who work in these part-time playground positions are referred to by varying titles, such as noon-duty aides, yard aides, noon-time assistants and playground aides. However, since part-time playground positions are excluded from the classified service, these employees do not receive the same benefits. This includes sick leave, vacation, holidays, and any other rights for the hours worked in part-time playground positions. The one exception to this rule is when an existing classified employee also works in a playground position, in effect, an employee who is working in two positions.

The author states that then, and only then, is their service as a playground aide considered part of the classified service. This bill will place part-time playground aides into the classified service, allowing them to receive the same statutory rights and protections under the Education Code as classified employees.

2. Proponent Arguments:

Proponents state that these part-time playground positions are occupied predominantly by women who often work five days a week for two or three hours, and are often the lowest wage earners on campus. Proponents add that the duties they perform on school campuses are similar to services provided by classified employees. They directly supervise students during the lunch and breakfast periods. They escort students to the playground areas where they monitor student behavior and provide corrective direction as needed.

Proponents contend that playground aides help keep the playground safe. They notify teachers of conflicts between students, make sure kids play safely, and help respond when a child is injured. Proponents claim that AB 670 would provide a basic level of fairness and equity in compensation and benefits for employees who work in part-time playground positions.

3. Opponent Arguments:

Opponents believe that if a noon-duty aide receives classified status, this will restrict a district’s utilization of the noon-duty aide as a supervisor of children. Opponents state that schools must be able to make use of these critically-important individuals at a moment’s notice in order to meet student needs, and that AB 670 would hamper this ability. Additionally, opponents claim that some noon-duty aides are full-time parents who want to participate in their child’s educational process. Opponents contend that the salary those in this position receive would become obsolete because of union dues if they are forced to join a union.

Furthermore, opponents claim that AB 670 would mandate substantial increased costs for school districts such as ongoing administrative and payroll costs, including vacation, holidays and sick leave. Opponents are concerned that requiring school districts to designate all part-time playground monitors as classified employees would usurp the ability of local school districts to set personnel policies that best meet their staffing needs. Opponents contend that to require positions that are currently exempt be included in the classified service fails to recognize the fiscal constraints this proposal imposes on Local Education Agencies, and will ultimately limit school districts’ ability to provide necessary support and services that improve students’ academic success.

4. Prior Legislation:

AB 500 (Goldberg), Chapter 867, Statutes of 2002 required the governing board of a school district and of a community college district, before employing a short-term employee to specify the service required to be performed by the employee.

AB 2849 (Washington), Chapter 1100, Statutes of 2002 required that employees engaged in part-time playground positions be included as part of the classified service if they also work part-time in existing classified positions.

AB 1780 (Washington), 2000, Vetoed would have deleted the exemption that prohibited part-time playground positions from classified service.

Governor Davis’ Veto Message:

While I appreciate this bill's effort to provide better benefits for part-time playground monitors, this bill would mandate substantial increased costs to school districts. I am

concerned that requiring school districts to designate all part-time playground monitors as classified employees would usurp the ability of local school districts to set personnel policies that best meet their individual needs.

SUPPORT

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

California Federation of Teachers

California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

California School Employees Association

California Teachers Association

LIUNA, Local 777

Service Employees International Union

OPPOSITION

Association of California School Administrators

California Association of Joint Powers Authorities

California Association of School Business Officials

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 670

Author:(Thurmond)

As Introduced Ver:February 15, 2017

Majority vote

SUMMARY: Removes the provision exempting playground positions at school districts from classified service. Specifically, this bill:

1. Makes clarifying and technical changes to existing law related to the governing board of school districts.
2. Removes the provision exempting playground positions from classified service where the employee is not employed in a classified position.
3. Removes the provision requiring playground positions to be considered a part of the classified service when the employee in the position works in the same school district in a classified position.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Authorizes school districts and community college districts to employ nonacademic employees, and requires those employees to be placed in the classified service.
2. Prohibits, generally, the following from being part of the classified service:
   1. Substitute and short-term employees employed and paid for less than 75% of a school year.
   2. Apprentices and professional experts.
   3. Full-time and part-time students employed part-time in a college work study or work experience program.
   4. Part-time playground positions where the employee is not otherwise employed in a classified position.

FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill will have ongoing administrative and payroll costs, including vacation, holidays and sick leave, for school districts in excess of $150,000 (Proposition 98/General Fund) per year for placing approximately 1,500 part-time playground employees in classified service. These employees work part-time, sometimes two to three hours per week, so benefit costs such as paid leave are not likely to generate significant costs for school districts. However, it can be reasonably assumed that the costs associated with classified service will exceed $100 per employee.

COMMENTS: Under existing law, nonacademic employees are generally part of the classified service, with certain exceptions. One such exception is an individual employed in a part-time playground position, otherwise referred to as a noon duty aide or yard aide.

Prior Legislation:

AB 500 (Goldberg), Chapter 867, Statutes of 2002

AB 2849 (Washington), Chapter 1100, Statutes of 2002

AB 1780 (Washington) of 2000, vetoed by the Governor

Analysis Prepared by: Michael Bolden / P.E.,R., & S.S. / (916) 319-3957 FN: 0000509

Date of Hearing: May 10, 2017

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 670

Author:(Thurmond) – As Introduced Ver:February 15, 2017

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes

SUMMARY:

This bill removes the provision exempting part-time playground positions at school districts from classified service.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Ongoing administrative and payroll costs, including vacation, holidays, and sick leave, for school districts in excess of $150,000 (Proposition 98 / General Fund) per year for placing approximately 1,500 part-time playground employees in classified service. These employees work part-time, sometimes 2 to 3 hours per week, so benefit costs such as paid leave are not likely to generate significant costs for school districts. However, it can be reasonably assumed that the costs associated with classified service will exceed $100 per employee.

COMMENTS:

1. Background and Purpose. Under existing law, nonacademic employees are generally part of classified service, with certain exceptions. One such exception is someone employed in a part-time playground position, otherwise referred to as a noon duty aide or yard aide.

According to supporters, AB 670 will ensure that part-time playground workers are treated the same as positions that do similar work but are included in classified service. The California School Employees Association (CSEA) notes that noon duty aides supervise and escort students, notify teachers of conflict, and monitor the overall safety of playgrounds.

1. Previous Legislation. AB 1780 (Washington), of the 1999-00 Legislative Session, which was substantively similar to this bill, was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message stated:

“While I appreciate this bill's effort to provide better benefits for part-time playground monitors, this bill would mandate substantial increased costs to school districts. I am concerned that requiring school districts to designate all part-time playground monitors as classified employees would usurp the ability of local school districts to set personnel policies that best meet their individual needs."

Analysis Prepared by: Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916) 319-2081