April 2026 Advisory Committee Minutes

Advisor Committee Meeting April 21, 2026 – 10:00 a.m. to 11:46 a.m.

Welcome and Introductions of Members

• Sandy McBrayer
• Chris Meza
• Jennifer Cisneros
• Tony Brown
• Julee Brooks
• Brad Lupien
• Cindy Haase
• Diane Ortiz
• Tiffany Gipson (virtual)

Others Present

• Michael Funk, California Department of Education (CDE), Expanded Learning Division (EXLD) Director
• Lindsey Castillo, CDE, EXLD Consultant
• Daniela Solley, CDE, EXLD Consultant
• Jen Taylor, CDE, EXLD Consultant
• Emily Romine, CDE, EXLD Supervisor I
• Kindred Bang, CDE, EXLD Supervisor I
• Jeff Davis (CAN) California Afterschool Network
• Laura Beebe California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance CA3
• Oliver – Staff member at Twin Rivers Unified School District (USD) Afterschool program
• Callista - Twin Rivers USD Coordinator, recent recipient of Lights on Afterschool Award

Members Absent:

• Olivia Kernen
• Tia Dwyer

Commencement:

• The meeting was called to order at approximately 10:00 a.m. by Sandra McBrayer, Chair

Review of Meeting Materials

• The January 20th meeting materials were reviewed by members.
• All members voted to approve the minutes.

Advisory Committee Chair Report

• Legislative Update
• Assembly Bill (AB) 2007 March 17th amendment of parental consent provides guidelines for limiting the use of images of youth in any school materials, and the need for parental consent. etc. Applies to non-school youth programs.
• AB 2107 Expanded Learning Opportunities Program (ELO-P) ensures priority access to Unduplicated pupils.
• New Federal Skinny Budget eliminates dedicated funding for 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), which reduces the amount of total funding in the block grant. It does not guarantee funding for 21st CCLC, it is not a final decision, this is a proposal. The public should be doing advocacy now and write letters to protect this funding. It is proposed that there may be a reduction from 6.5 billion annually to about 2 billion annually (there are other items in this bundle aside from 21st CCLC).

EXLD Announcements and Updates – Expanded Learning Division Staff

Grant Updates (Joshua Brady)

• 21st Century Community Learning Centers Supplemental Grant Updates
  • Grant Award Notifications were sent to grantees on March 19, 2026. Reminder the performance period is July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026.
• After School Education and Safety (ASES) Grant Updates
  • The ASES Universal 2025–26 Round 2 final Intent to Award was released to the field on April 10, 2026. A total of 374 sites were funded, including 261 new sites.
  • For the ASES 2nd Round, there were a total of 145 applications and $112,301,147.13 requested in funding with $45 million available.
  • ASES Universal Request for Application (RFA) 2026–27, there were a total of 100 applications for 584 school sites and $92,376,994.98 requested for funding.
  • ASES Round 2 2025–26 has not received their Grant. They will get a new award July 1st, 2026, regardless. The Reduction factor has also been highlighted. Calendar year 2026 for new sites, they will be held harmless for 2026 results.

Reductions (Kindred Bang)

• The total amount of reductions calculated for ASES, 21st CCLC elementary/middle school, and ASSETs funded sites totaled: $27,135,629.29.
• ASES Reduction: $11,411,042.80
• 21st CCLC elementary/middle school Reduction: $8,750,198.38
• ASSETs Reduction: $6,974,388.11

Unspent Funds Trend Data (Joshua Brady)

• Shared a one-page screen shot of unspent funds starting in 2017 through 2023–24.
• Mentioned the entire spreadsheet was shared with committee members which is broken down by region and program.
• Context provided - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) dollars and ELO-P were prioritized in 2022–23.

Questions and Comments

• Are there any trends within After School Safety and Enrichment for Teens (ASSETs) reductions. EXLD response – no trends within ASSETs reductions.
• A request was made for the next meeting to see the reductions per region to identify trends for reductions. Looking at it as a percentage could be helpful. Percentages are requested for each Program component.
• Unspent ASES funds around 1.4%, 21st CLCC 6%, ASSETs 4% annually.
• How does declining enrollment affect the trends of the data? One member suggested getting the data first, analyzing the data, and then assign conclusions based on data.
• Can unspent dollars go to Community Based Organizations? Response - Prop 98 funds are earmarked for local educational agencies (LEAs), Community Based Organizations are not able to apply for ASES. For 21st CCLC - Community Based Organizations may apply, provided they have a partnership with a LEA.
• What support is given to LEAs that are not spending their funds? Response – Regional Leads, Education Program Consultants, and Fiscal Analysts are tasked with providing Critical Support for LEAs that need it, prioritizing LEAs that need greater support.
• Kudos to the Supervisors and Analyst Team.

Expanded Learning Opportunities Update (Joshua Brady)

• ELO-P Reporting Window open to report expenditures and third-Party Provider will run July 1st – September 30th, 2026. Tony Brown – Will we know spent and unspent ELO-P Funds soon? Josh – We are working on it. Michael – ELO-P Data, spent and unspent can be broken down by region.
• Questions – FRPM stands for Free and Reduced Priced Meal Percentage. LSA – Large school adjustment. Information regarding this is in the Request for Application that is provided. There is no consequence for one day a week attendance, or early release. Districts themselves can add more requirements than the Education Code. ASES does not have more strict attendance requirements than ELO-P. Some districts have given up ASES Grants in favor of ELO-P for attendance.

Special Presentations

California Afterschool Network – Jeff Davis, Executive Director

• Update on the three-spring Expanded Learning Academy Workshops: The Science Behind the Quality Standards for ExL, Data, Compliance, and Alignment: Navigating CALPADS & PASE for ExL, and Making ELO-P Work for Your District: Collaboration Between Program, Finance, & Leadership.
• Office Hours Update with data provided for Winter and Spring and reflections on the number of questions in office hours for Attendance Recovery and One Comprehensive Program. Over 1,00 participants attended in 2026.
• Site Coordinator Symposium Updates - Over 700 participants experienced workshops, plenaries, receptions, and site visits. CDE, and approximately 30 other partners sponsor to keep affordable for participants. Next year’s symposium will be held in Fresno, CA.
• Ecosystem Plan Updates – Strategic Plan 3.0 are expected in the Fall 2026, Meeting #1 and #2 updates along with the timeline.
• Other Updates on cross-system work included Department of Labor Approved Apprenticeship Standards / Competencies! CA System of Support.
• Integrated Core Practices Model (ICPM) and Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) crosswalk.

Partnership for Children and Youth – Laura Beebe, Director of Policy

• Callista Galliher, TRUSD Coordinator, Youth Workforce and High School Development
• Oliver Quintana-Bravo, Recent Graduate of Creative Connections Academy,
• Staff Member, Sacramento Chinese Community Service Center
• Brief overview of CA3, and budget advocacy. Representative from the Sacramento Chinese Community Learning Center. Since 2009, this alliance advocates for Older Youth and Expanded Learning Opportunities for Youth. Older youth are an urgent priority. We know Expanded Learning works, and impacts absence, and many other factors. California allocates much funding towards Afterschool, but High School only accounts for 2% of the $5.5 billion annually. 5% is allocated towards middle school students. CA3 remains open to feedback and strategy. ELO-P could force some funding towards older youth. However, this leaves out High School only districts. Amending ASES may be difficult.
• AB 2430 – Bill introduced this year. Older Youth funding, as of now it is currently written to add high schools into the funding and appreciate that this is a meaningful increase and will help High School students. Also, a new daily $13.81 would be sought.
• Happy to be here and have rallied for Older Youth Afterschool Opportunities. In Twin Rivers USD all students, younger and older youth, have a chance to attend Expanded Learning Programs.
• 18 years old, interned at Twin Rivers. AB 2430 will expand the great older youth opportunities at Twin Rivers to more programs around California.

Open discussion for feedback on the bills

• How many sites would potentially be funded? Potentially, 160 sites approximately.
• There’s some equitable redistribution funding towards older youth that could potentially be corrected.
• This is a great bill that helps us reach out to our older youth, it’s overdue.
• Internships, recruiting High School as Expanded Learning Workers and it is a great opportunity for older youth. Gives youth an opportunity to be a great example for younger youth.
• Structurally, how is funding designed and utilized?
• High schoolers vote with their feet. Programs need an increase in order to offer more diverse programming and services to better entice students to attend.
• We need to get out of the deficit mindset. The data tells us not all the funding is being utilized.
• There is a natural reshuffling of funding. Kudos to Laura for clarity in her presentation.
• Sandra – Tony put a motion on the floor to support the current bill, Brad Lupien seconded the motion. The chair called for a vote with all members voting yes. Unanimous approval by the Advisory Committee members to support this bill in its current form, acknowledging there may be changes.

Emerging Issues and Opportunities – Open Discussion

• CALPADs bring a bigger opportunity to bring quality in.
• Insurability crisis in California, the cost of insurance has been increasing rapidly for both LEAs and CBO’s.
• Out of state service providers come in without a clear idea of how a California program operates.
• Local and state service providers should be prioritized to meet all necessary program requirements.

Topics to include in the August 18, 2026, meeting date:

• Unspent ELO-P Funds, with percentages
• Discussion around older youth and pending bill.
• Reductions sorted by region
• Draft of CAN’s Quality Assessment Tool.

Public Comment

• Quality tools for Expanded Learning. Kudos to CAN for presenting the Assessment tool at the next meeting in August.
• Representing Universal Pre-Kindergarten in Northern California. Is there any consideration to NON-LEA Universal Pre-K to give parents more options.
• Family Childcare Providers – Any information as to how they go through an RFP Process.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:46 a.m. by Chair Sandra McBrayer.

Next Meeting:
August 18, 2026 — 10:00 a.m.