Senate Bill (SB) 1112 (Chapter 515, Statutes of 2008) authored by Senator Jack Scott, was signed on September 28, 2008, and extended through the 2013-14 school year the provisions of Education Code Section 52124(e), as originally enacted by SB 311 (Chapter 910, Statutes of 2004), that provide fiscal relief to school districts and charter schools when a K-3 CSR class exceeds the maximum average of 20.44 pupils. Specifically, these measures provide reduced funding for class sizes in excess of 20.44 but less than 21:9.
SB 311 also provided fiscal relief to Southern California school districts that were affected by the October 2003 fires.
Provisions for Reduced Funding - Education Code Section 52124(e)
Reduced funding for classes under 21.9 will be calculated on a sliding scale as follows:
Classes greater than or equal to 20.5 but less than 21.0 lose 20 percent of the funding otherwise paid for a class of 20 (i.e., funding is paid for 16 pupils rather than 20 pupils).
Classes greater than or equal to 21.0 but less than 21.5 lose 40 percent of the funding otherwise paid for a class of 20 (i.e., funding is paid for 12 pupils).
Classes greater than or equal to 21.5 but less than 21.9 lose 80 percent of the funding otherwise paid for a class of 20 (i.e., funding is paid for 4 pupils).
Classes greater than or equal to 21.9 lose 100 percent of funding.
The following is a more detailed breakdown with the decimals carried out two places. Conventional rounding, up or down to the nearest tenth, must be used. For example, 20.45 rounds up to 20.5, and 20.94 rounds down to 20.9. If a class of 20:1 earns $21,420, reduced funding will be calculated as follows:
Classes of 20.45 to 20.94 will receive $17,136 (80 percent of funding for a class of 20 pupils).
Classes of 20.95 to 21.44 will receive $12,852 (60 percent of funding).
Classes of 21.45 to 21.84 will receive $4,284 (20 percent of funding).
Classes of 21.85 and over round to 21.9 and lose 100 percent of funding.
The Form J-7CSR contains three lines at the bottom of each section to report classes of 20.45 to 20.94, 20.95 to 21.44, and 21.45 to 21.84. The calculations for the reduced funding are incorporated into Column 3 of each section, and for those using the Excel file, entitlements for those classes will be automatically calculated as the data is entered into Column 2. For example, one class of 20.5 to 20.9 will actually total 16 pupils such that the district will receive funding for 80 percent of the funding for a class of 20pupils.
Please note that small school districts and charter schools using the "small school district flexibility", which provides funding for classes that average up to 22.44 pupils, provided the district-wide average is 20.44 pupils or fewer, will not be affected by the reduced funding provided in Education Code Section 52124(e). School districts and charter schools will continue to receive 100 percent of eligible funding provided the requirements in Education Code Section 52122(h) are met.
