AB 2496: Local educational agencies: reports: school accountability report card: California School Dashboard: local control accountability plan: local control funding formula budget overview.

The Classroom Instructional Improvement and Accountability Act, an initiative approved by the voters as Proposition 98 at the November 8, 1988, statewide general election, amended the California Constitution to, among other things, require school districts maintaining an elementary or secondary school to adopt a school accountability report card for each school. The act also requires, by statute, the governing boards of school districts maintaining an elementary or secondary school to annually issue a school accountability report card that includes certain information for each school in the school district, publicize those reports, and notify parents and guardians of pupils that a hard copy of those reports is available upon request, as specified. The act authorizes its statutory provisions to be amended by a bill that further its purposes and is enacted by a vote of ²/₃ of the Legislature and signed by the Governor.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in collaboration with, and subject to the approval of, the executive director of the State Board of Education, to develop and maintain the California School Dashboard, a web-based system for publicly reporting performance data on the state and local indicators included in evaluation rubrics.

Existing law requires a local educational agency to develop annually a summary document known as the local control funding formula budget overview for parents. Existing law requires, before the governing board or body of a local educational agency considers the adoption of a local control and accountability plan (LCAP) or an annual update to the LCAP, certain things to occur, including that the superintendent of the school district, the county superintendent of schools, or the charter school present a report on the annual update to the LCAP and the local control funding formula budget overview for parents on or before February 28 of each year at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board or body of the local educational agency, as specified.

This bill would eliminate the school accountability report card set forth in statute by Proposition 98, and instead state that the California School Dashboard is the school accountability report card for purposes of the California Constitution. The bill would require the department to maintain an internet website that includes a history of the school accountability report card and a crosswalk that indicates where information comparable to what was included in the school accountability report card can be found on the California School Dashboard or another internet website, webpage, or system managed by the department. The bill would require school districts to publicize the California School Dashboard and notify annually parents or guardians of pupils when the California School Dashboard is released. The bill would make conforming changes. By imposing new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

This bill would also eliminate the above-described requirement to present a report on the annual update to the LCAP and the local control funding formula budget overview on or before February 28 of each year.

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.