- Which programs are included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
The Pupil Retention Block Grant includes funding for:
- Elementary School Intensive Reading Program
- Intensive Algebra Instruction Academies Program
- Continuation High School Foundation Program
- High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety Program
- Tenth Grade Counseling
- Opportunity Classes and Programs (district programs only)
- Dropout Prevention and Recovery Programs (four programs)
- Early Intervention for School Success
- At-Risk Youth Program (Los Angeles Unified School District)
Two supplemental instruction programs -- Core Academic, and Intensive Supplemental Instruction for “low Standardized Testing and Reporting Program (STAR)” and pupils at risk of retention -- were removed from the block grant by the provisions of Assembly Bill 1136 (Chapter 402, Statutes of 2005). Funds for these programs will continue to be allocated through the principal apportionment process.
- Who is eligible for Pupil Retention Block Grant funding?
School districts and county offices of education are eligible for funding from the Pupil Retention Block Grant if they received funding in 2003-04 for any of the programs that were included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant and continued to participate in the program in 2004-05. In addition, local educational agencies may receive Block Grant funds if they received funds for the first time in 2004-05 from any of the programs that were included in the Block Grant.
Charter schools did not receive funding in 2003-04 or 2004-05 for the Intensive Algebra Instruction Academies program, Continuation High School Foundation program, or At-Risk Youth program. In 2003-04 and 2004-05, charter schools received funding that is in lieu of funding for the remaining programs in the Pupil Retention Block Grant through the Charter School Categorical Block Grant. Therefore, charter schools are not eligible to receive Pupil Retention Block Grant funding.
- How may Pupil Retention Block Grant funds be used?
With the Continuation High School Foundation program as an exception, Assembly Bill 825 repealed the Education Code sections governing the programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant. Local educational agencies may spend Pupil Retention Block Grant funds for any purpose authorized by the programs’ statutes as they read on January 1, 2004, with limits, as follows:
- Districts that received funding from the Dropout Prevention and Recovery programs in 2004-05 must use Block Grant funds to maintain the same number of state-funded outreach consultants that were maintained in 2004-05. A district is not required, however, to maintain positions or portions of positions that were funded in 2004-05 from other funding sources, e.g., Title I or local general fund. Therefore, in order to comply with Education Code Section 41506(f), a district must only maintain the full-time equivalent number of outreach consultants it employed with state dropout funds in 2004-05.
Outreach consultants must continue to meet the requirements of Education Code Section 52890. Outreach consultants must be placed in schools with at least 50 percent of pupils eligible for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program and that are eligible for funds under the federal Title I program (Education Code Section 41506(f)).
- Current law governing continuation education was not repealed by Assembly Bill 825. Thus, the minimum attendance requirement for continuation education for unemployed minors remains 15 hours per week and may be satisfied by any combination of attendance in continuation classes, and regional occupational centers or programs. New, approved continuation high schools may generate increased Block Grant funding, subject to the availability of state funds for this purpose. Funding will be rescinded for continuation high schools that close after 2003-04.
- Local educational agencies receiving funds for the Pupil Retention Block Grant must have a school-level advisory committee and a single school plan that incorporates the requirements of Education Code sections 52014 and 52015 as those sections read on January 1, 2004 (Education Code Section 41507).
This means that local educational agencies, within the limits defined above, may: (1) operate one or more of the programs included in this Block Grant regardless of whether they operated the program in 2003-04 or 2004-05; (2) decide to not operate a program they operated in 2003-04 or 2004-05; or (3) develop hybrid programs whose purposes are the same as one or more program included in this Block Grant.
- What are the purposes of the programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
Elementary School Intensive Reading Program. The purpose of this program is to provide multiple, intensive reading opportunities for pupils in kindergarten or any of grades one through four (K-4), increased instructional opportunities for K-4 pupils who are experiencing difficulty learning to read, and stimulating and enriching opportunities for all K-4 pupils to increase their reading skills and enhance their enjoyment of reading. Instruction is tied to the state-adopted pupil content standards and frameworks.
Intensive Algebra Instruction Academies Program. The purpose of this program is to provide multiple, intensive opportunities for pupils in grades seven and eight to practice skills in pre-algebra, algebra, or both. Instruction is tied to the state-adopted pupil content standards and frameworks.
Continuation High School Foundation Program. The purpose of this program is to provide support for district-operated continuation high schools. Continuation schools are intended to meet the needs of pupils aged sixteen through eighteen who have not graduated from high school, are not exempt from compulsory school attendance, are at-risk of not completing their schooling, or need a flexible school schedule with an emphasis on vocational or career goals.
High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety Program. The purpose of this program is to enhance educational opportunities and reduce juvenile crime and delinquency. The program is intended to serve two populations of pupils who are on probation: the first-time offender who is on probation for the first time, and the transitioning high-risk youth who has been sentenced to a detention facility.
Tenth Grade Counseling. The purpose of this program is to ensure that each pupil, upon reaching the age of sixteen or prior to the end of grade ten, whichever occurs first, has received a systematic review of his or her academic progress and counseling regarding the educational options available to the pupil during the final two years of high school.
Opportunity Classes and Programs. The purpose of this program is to provide an opportunity for pupils who are, or are in danger of becoming: (1) habitually truant from instruction for which they are lawfully required to attend; (2) irregular in attendance; or (3) insubordinate or disorderly while attending instruction to resolve their problems, so that they may maintain themselves in regular classes or return to regular classes or schools as soon as practicable.
Dropout Prevention and Recovery. The purposes of the four Dropout Prevention and Recovery programs are as follows:
- The purpose of the School-Based Pupil Motivation and Maintenance program is to prevent pupils from dropping out of school through the hiring and assigning of outreach consultants.
- The purpose of the Alternative Education and Work Center program is to prevent and recover dropouts through instruction in basic academic skills and employment orientation or reentry orientation. Outreach consultants provide direct services, such as educational referrals and counseling, to students.
- The purpose of the Educational Clinic program is dropout recovery; it is designed to return to an educational setting pupils who have been out of school 45 or more consecutive days or have been expelled from school.
- The purpose of the Dropout Prevention and Recovery Model program is to acquire and disseminate information about model dropout programs, instructional strategies, and effective practices for working with high-risk pupils.
Early Intervention for School Success. The purpose of this program is to provide school personnel with the training and skills necessary to identify early, assess, and provide appropriate, individualized instruction to pupils in order to obviate a later need to refer the pupils for special education services.
At-Risk Youth Program. The purpose of this program is to provide an early intervention program for at-risk pupils in grades six through eight who are otherwise eligible to be served by community day schools.
- Two Supplemental Instruction programs that were included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant -- Elementary School Intensive Reading and Intensive Algebra Instruction Academies -- were not funded in 2003-04. Can Pupil Retention Block Grant funds be used to support these programs beginning in 2005-06?
Yes.
- How much funding is available for the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
The Budget Act for 2005-06, as amended by Senate Bill 65 and Assembly Bill 128, includes $86,957,000 in funding for the Pupil Retention Block Grant.
- How much funding will local educational agencies receive from this Block Grant?
Each county office of education’s 2005-06 allocation is to be based on the proportion of funding it received, i.e. was awarded, for the programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant for 2003-04 relative to the total statewide funding for these programs for 2003-04. Each school district's 2005-06 allocation is to be based on the proportion of funding it received, i.e., was awarded for the programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant for 2003-04 relative to the total statewide funding for these programs for 2003-04, adjusted for changes in program participation (see FAQ 8) by school districts in 2004-05. In subsequent years, county offices of education and school districts will receive the level of funding they received in the 2005-06 fiscal year adjusted by the annual rate of growth in statewide average daily attendance and the cost-of-living adjustment on district base revenue limits.
- What constitutes a change in program participation in 2004-05?
A school district will be considered to have made a change in program participation in 2004-05 if it had participated in a program in 2003-04 and discontinued participation in 2004-05. In that event, the school district’s entitlement to funds from the block grant on account of this program will be zero. Similarly, if a school district did not participate in a program in 2003-04 but did in 2004-05, the school district will be considered to have made a change in program participation and its entitlement to block grant funding will be based on the amount it received in 2004-05. A change in program participation is not considered to have occurred if a school district changes its level of participation from 2003-04 to 2004-05. For example, if a school district received $10,000 from a program in 2003-04 and $20,000 in 2004-05, its entitlement to block grant funding will be based on the amount it received in 2003-04.
- When will Pupil Retention Block Grant funding be allocated?
The first 80 percent of Pupil Retention Block Grant funding will be allocated by the end of February. A second apportionment of up to 20 percent will be allocated in late spring. To the extent there are unallocated funds after the second apportionment, they will be allocated in a third apportionment by early August 2006.
- The Continuation High School Foundation program has been funded through the principal apportionment process. Will local educational agencies receive funding for this program in the 2005-06 advance apportionment or through the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
Local educational agencies will receive funding for the Continuation High School Foundation program through the Pupil Retention Block Grant. In 2005-06, a corresponding adjustment will be made to each local educational agency’s advance apportionment to reflect the fact that it has begun receiving funds for this program through the Block Grant instead of the principal apportionment process.
- Will local educational agencies receive annual funding adjustments for pupil growth and cost of living? If yes, at what rates?
Yes, each local educational agency’s allocation is to be adjusted each year, beginning in 2006-07, based on the rate of growth in statewide average daily attendance and the cost-of-living adjustment on district base revenue limits. Please note that in any year the statutory rates for growth and cost of living may be increased, reduced, or eliminated by provisions negotiated as part of the annual state Budget Act and related legislation.
- Can funds be transferred out of the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
No. The Pupil Retention Block Grant does not allow for the transfer of funds out of this Block Grant.
- Can funds be transferred to the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
Yes, funds may be transferred to the Pupil Retention Block Grant with the following limitations:
- The total funding received for any fiscal year for this Block Grant after transfers may not exceed 120 percent of the amount of state funding allocated to the local educational agency for the Block Grant for the same fiscal year.
- Prior to the expenditure of transferred funds, the local educational agency’s governing board is required to hold a noticed public meeting to discuss the matter.
- Local educational agencies must track transfers in and transfers out of the block grants. Assembly Bill 831, Chapter 118, Statutes of 2005 was recently enacted, striking the requirement in Assembly Bill 825 that Object Code 8998 be used to track the transfers. Please use Object Code 8995 to track the transfers into the Pupil Retention Block Grant.
- If a district was basic aid in 2003-04 and/or 2004-05 and chose to take its statutorily required categorical funding reduction in a program that is included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant, will that reduction be reflected in the amount of Block Grant funding the district receives?
No. For the purpose of establishing Block Grant funding for basic aid districts, Education Code Section 41501(a) holds basic aid districts harmless by not including the funding reductions made pursuant to statute (Chapter 227, Statutes of 2003, Section 38 or Chapter 216, Statutes of 2004, Section 31, or for a fiscal year subsequent to 2004-05) in the base year funding tallies, thereby making base year funding whole for each basic aid district.
- Has the Pupil Retention Block Grant been assigned a Resource Code?
Yes, the Pupil Retention Block Grant has been assigned Resource Code 7390.
- Has the Pupil Retention Block Grant been assigned a Revenue Object Code?
Yes, all six Block Grants should use Revenue Object Code 8590.
- Can indirect costs be charged to the Pupil Retention Block Grant? If yes, at which rate?
Yes, consistent with the California Department of Education’s existing indirect cost rate guidance, the Pupil Retention Block Grant may be charged for indirect costs, provided the amount charged does not exceed the local educational agency's approved indirect cost rate. Further information on indirect costs can be found on the California Department of Education’s Web site at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/ic/.
- How should carryover from programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant from fiscal years prior to 2005-06 be used?
Carryover funds for programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant from fiscal years prior to 2005-06 must be used according to the laws governing the original appropriation of such funds.
Continuation High School Foundation Program
- Districts may still apply to the California Department of Education to establish new continuation high schools. If an application to establish a new continuation high school is approved by the California Department of Education, will the district receive the supplemental add-on for that school?
Starting with 2005-06 the supplemental add-on will be used in determining the amount of the Pupil Retention Block Grant, rather than receiving the additional funds through the revenue limit add-on. In addition, Block Grant funding generated by the Continuation High School Foundation program will be rescinded for continuation high schools that close subsequent to receiving Block Grant funds. This is because, unlike for most other programs included in an Assembly Bill 825 Block Grant, the program statutes for new continuation high schools were not repealed by Assembly Bill 825; they remain in effect.
- Will the application process to establish a new continuation high school still be required under Assembly Bill 825?
Yes, districts still need to go through the application process to establish a new continuation high school.
High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety Program
- Are local educational agencies required to submit a J-12 form to receive Block Grant funding for the High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety program?
No. Local educational agencies will receive program funding for all of the component programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant based on the grant amount awarded in 2003-04; this funding will be distributed as part of the Pupil Retention Block Grant.
- Will the California Department of Education still require local educational agencies to submit the evaluation data for the High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety program on a quarterly basis?
No. Local educational agencies may continue to collect the data for their own information
- If a local educational agency previously operated only one program (either the First-Time Offender or Transitioning High-Risk Youth), may the local educational agency now serve both populations with funds from the Pupil Retention Block Grant?
Yes. A local educational agency can use Block Grant funds to establish a program that serves both populations.
- Is the local educational agency required to collaborate with probation while operating the High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety program?
No. This program was designed, however, to be a collaborative effort between probation and education. Both agencies are working with these youth and should be collaborating on the services needed for the youth to succeed.
- If a local educational agency did not receive funding to operate a High-Risk Youth Education and Public Safety program in 2003-04, can the local educational agency develop the program using Pupil Retention Block Grant funds?
Yes.
Opportunity Education (Classes, Schools, and Programs)
- Are districts eligible to receive funding through the Pupil Retention Block Grant if they did not receive funding for Opportunity Education in the 2003-04 base-year?
Yes. Recently enacted legislation, Assembly Bill 1136, amends the provisions guiding the Pupil Retention Block Grant funding allocation and requires adjustments to each district’s funding based on changes in program participation (see FAQ 8) in 2004-05. Hence, if a district received funding for Opportunity Education programs in 2004-05, but received no funds in 2003-04, it will receive Pupil Retention Block Grant funds based on the Opportunity Education funding the district received in 2004-05.
- Will districts that provided Opportunity Education services in 2004-05 be reimbursed for those programs, classes, or schools in 2005-06?
No. The 2005-06 Budget Act did not provide funds to reimburse districts for the cost of operating Opportunity Education programs, classes, and schools in 2004-05. In addition, there is no mechanism for districts to receive reimbursement for these costs through the Pupil Retention Block Grant.
- How will districts serve Opportunity Education students if districts decide to spend Opportunity Education funding on other programs?
Assembly Bill 825 gives local educational agencies the flexibility, with some limits as discussed above, to decide how to spend funds from the Pupil Retention Block Grant and respond to the needs of any pupils eligible to receive services from programs included in the Pupil Retention Block Grant. Districts are not required to continue operating Opportunity Education programs.
- Must school districts adhere to operational practices for pupil assignment and pupil progress review as specified in Education Code sections 48630 through 48637.3 as those sections read on January 1, 2004?
No. Education Code Section 41506 added by Assembly Bill 825, specifies that the Pupil Retention Block Grant shall include funding previously apportioned to school districts for the “purposes of” Opportunity Education as the Education Code for sections 48630 through 48637.3 read on January 1, 2004. The term “purposes of” defines who is to be served and toward what end, but does not require districts to abide by the specific Education Code rules governing program design, in particular, the operational practices for Opportunity Education.
Dropout Prevention and Recovery
- How will districts apply in the future for funding from any of the Dropout Prevention and Recovery programs?
There is no specific mechanism to fund new programs or program expansions beyond the block grant. A school district will receive Block Grant funds based on the amount it received for all Dropout Prevention and Recovery programs in 2003-04, adjusted for changes in program participation by school districts (see FAQ 8) in 2004-05. Because Pupil Retention Block Grant funding may be used for the purpose of any program included in the Block Grant, districts may use Block Grant funds originated from other programs to initiate or expand a dropout program. Likewise, within the limits described at the beginning of this Block Grant’s FAQs, former dropout program funds may be used for the purpose of any other program included in the Block Grant.
- If a school district received funds for any Dropout Prevention and Recovery program for the first time in 2004-05, does the school district qualify for Block Grant funds on account of these programs in 2005-06?
Yes. A school district will receive Block Grant funds based on the amount each school district received for all Dropout Prevention and Recovery programs in 2003-04, adjusted for changes in program participation in 2004-05. If a district received dropout prevention funding for the first time in 2004-05, its 2005-06 funding, therefore, will be based on what it received in 2004-05. Moreover, a district that received state dropout funds in 2003-04, but not 2004-05, will not receive Pupil Retention Block Grant funds on account of the dropout prevention and recovery programs.
- Will the same schools that received Pupil Motivation and Maintenance funds in 2004-05 receive Block Grant funds for outreach consultants in 2005-06 and thereafter?
Not necessarily. Recently enacted legislation, Assembly Bill 1136, requires school districts to place outreach consultants in schools that are eligible for funding under Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act and that have at least 50 percent of their pupils eligible for free and reduced-priced meals.
- Are districts required to retain a certain number of outreach consultants?
A school district that received state dropout funds in 2004-05 is required by Education Code Section 41506(f) to retain the same number of outreach consultants that it employed in 2004-05 using state dropout funds. A district is not required, however, to maintain positions or portions of positions that were funded in 2004-05 from other funding sources, e.g., Title I or local general fund. Therefore, in order to comply with Education Code Section 41506(f), a district must only maintain the full-time equivalent number of outreach consultants it employed with state dropout funds in 2004-05.
- Will the outreach consultants be employed to perform the same duties and have the same qualifications as was required on January 1, 2004?
Yes. The law stipulates that school districts which received funds for dropout prevention programs in 2003-04, the base year of the Pupil Retention Block Grant, must continue to use Pupil Retention Block Grant funds for outreach consultants as described in Education Code Section 52890.
- Will the Recovery Model program funds be available to send teams to the state dropout prevention conference?
Funds will no longer be labeled as Recovery Model program funds. All funding will come to districts as Pupil Retention Block Grant funds. If a district wishes to use the funding for the state dropout prevention conference, it may, but this is not required.
- Will the school district still generate Educational Clinic funding based on the $106.14 for the initial student diagnosis and $7.12 per hour of direct instruction?
No. Assembly Bill 825 repealed the statutes relating to the Educational Clinic program. Specifically, Assembly Bill 825 repealed Education Code Section 58554, which describes how Educational Clinics may claim a specific fee for services provided to students attending the clinic.
- Does the 75-day instructional limitation for providing services to students still apply?
No. Education Code Section 58555, which requires school districts operating Educational Clinic programs to petition the California Department of Education for continued reimbursement beyond the 75-day period, was sunset by Assembly Bill 825.
