December 15, 2021
Workers at California’s universities are frustrated. Days after the UC leaders reached a contract with its lecturers in mid-November, two more of its unions authorized a strike. CSU faculty is at an “impasse” in its negotiation with the system for a new contract. Resident assistants at the USC and Stanford, two of CA’s top private…
A decision four years ago to install special lockdown locks on classroom doors at Oxford High School likely saved lives during the shooting spree last week. The locks were specifically made for classrooms by a Michigan company named Nightlock. They have sold door locks to about 10,000 districts across the country. Oxford started installing the…
The California Court of Appeal has held that school districts must exclude maintenance and operations costs from their calculations when determining the pro rata fees of a charter school that pays for its own maintenance and operations. (Mt. Diablo Unified School District v. Clayton Valley Charter High School (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 1004.) “Pro rata fees”…
December 15, 2021
Similar to many of the other programs that were included in the 2021 Budget Act, districts and charter schools that receive ELO-P funds must develop a plan for the program. The CDE recently released the Expanded Learning Opportunities Program Plan Guide which includes a template for LEAs to use in developing the plan. The ELO-P…
December 15, 2021
From SSC posted December 2, 2021 Starting January 1, 2022, the state minimum wage increases once again—this time to $15 per hour for employers with more than 25 employees. Employers with 25 employees or fewer are required to comply with the $14 per hour minimum wage starting January 1, 2022. An increase in the state…
A California Court of Appeal has held that a school district and its employees are not responsible for the safety of a student when the student is not on school property, unless the student is involved in activities undertaken or supervised by the school district. In reaching its decision, the court interpreted Education Code section…
December 15, 2021
By SSC’s Michelle McKay Underwood In its December 2021 forecast, the UCLA Anderson School of Management captured the moment the whole country is in—uncertain about the potential impact of the COVID-19 Omicron variant. At a glance, UCLA’s forecast is for continued strong economic growth and labor market recovery, with a lessening of supply constraints and…
December 15, 2021
By Gary L. Jones, EH&A Senior Associate School systems persistently struggle to accurately collect and maintain high quality data. If school leaders viewed data like they view dollars, seated next to the Chief Business Official in superintendents’ cabinets would be the Chief Data Officer. Those in the school data world talk about the “system of…
CA’s smallest school districts face big hurdles in planning for next school year. Some small districts don’t have enough computers or reliable internet service in their communities to provide distance learning to all their students and many don’t have enough money to reopen campuses without difficulty, according to a survey of 185 superintendents. The Small…
School funding in California has long adhered to the guiding principle that the money follows the student. But under this year’s education budget, lawmakers and education advocates warn, the state will abandon its traditional allocation formula in favor of a system that harms the very schools — disproportionately, charter schools and personalized education programs —…