1. Summary of Statutory Changes to Williams Settlement Made Between 2005 – 2007
Presented by:
Susan K. Burr
Executive Director
California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA)
May 7 & 9, 2007

2. Overview of Presentation
Review of Statutory Changes:
List of Eligible Schools Updated/Visit Requirements
Quarterly & Annual Reporting Requirements Changed
Instructional Materials Sufficiency Requirements Clarified
Facilities Inspection Forms Finalized/Follow-up on Site Findings
Uniform Complaint Process Modified
Goal of Training – Provide “refresher” course of County Superintendents Oversight Requirements

3. Background of Williams v California Settlement & Implementation Activities
May 2000: ACLU and other public interest advocates filed lawsuit against State of California. Suit claimed that State failed to provide poor and under privileged students with equal educational opportunities
August 2004: Settlement reached with Governor Schwarzenegger
September 2004: Governor signed 5 bills to implement settlement
2005 – 4 “clean-up” bills revising Williams statutes
Between : 5 additional bills passed, multiple regulations adopted

4. Statutory Changes: Eligible Schools/Visit Requirements
Beginning with academic year, schools scoring in deciles 1-3 on the 2006 base Academic Performance Index (API) must be visited and reviewed by County Superintendents.
Eligibility list now required to be updated every three (3) years – next update will be based on the 2009 base API for visits beginning in
County Superintendents now allowed to conduct a single, consolidated review visit or multiple visits based on factors to include cost-effectiveness, disruption to the school site and availability of qualified reviewers.

5. Statutory Changes: Quarterly & Annual Reporting Requirements
Beginning with academic year, County Superintendent annual reports shall be submitted at a “regularly scheduled” board meeting in November.
CCSESA is required to develop a standardized reporting template for use by county superintendents in reporting observations from each school visit related to facility conditions, sufficiency of instructional materials, as well as information related to teacher assignments and vacancies and the accuracy of the School Accountability Report Card (SARC). County Superintendents may use existing reporting templates, provided they include required topics for each school.

6. Statutory Changes: Quarterly & Annual Reporting Requirements (cont.)
County superintendents are required to provide quarterly reports to school district governing boards which describe the results on visits and/or reviews conducted each quarter on each topic area outlined in the annual report. If the county superintendent conducts no reviews or visits during a quarter, the report shall reflect that fact.

7. Statutory Changes: Instructional Materials
Clarifies that if a governing board declares an “insufficiency” of instructional materials, such declaration must be included in the public resolution adopted in a public hearing.
Eliminates the requirement that a county superintendent forward a copy of the “5 day” letter detailing a school’s instructional materials insufficiency to the state Superintendent of Public Instruction. County superintendents are still required to provide “5 day” letters to the school districts.

8. Statutory Changes: Instructional Materials (cont.)
Permits county superintendents in counties with more than 200 “Williams” schools to provide instructional materials insufficiency letters within 10 days of the determination.
Authorizes the SPI to immediately respond to county superintendent requests to purchase instructional materials to remedy a deficiency, without requiring State Board of Education approval.

9. Statutory Changes: Facilities Issues
The Emergency Repair Program is converted from a reimbursement program into a grant program.
The Office of Public School Construction (OPSC) was required to develop a “permanent” evaluation instruction to determine good repair of school facilities by January 1, 2007 and must develop a rating system by July 1, 2007 to provide an overall summary of the condition of facilities at each school site.

10. Statutory Changes: Facilities Issues (cont.)
County superintendents are authorized to conduct follow-up visits to school sites in which emergency conditions were initially identified and to prepare a report on the follow-up. If county superintendents opt to conduct follow-up and prepare a report, they are required to present the report publicly to the school district governing board and post the report on the county’s website.

11. Statutory Changes: Uniform Complaint Process (UCP)
Specifies that the classroom notice regarding the UCP, which is required to be posted in EVERY classroom, shall be directed to pupils and teachers, in addition to parents and guardians.
Allows complainants to use the UCP process to report violations of the Clean School Restroom Act.
Declares that parents whose students are enrolled in a school in which 15% or more of the students speak a primary language other than English and who file a complaint in a language other than English are entitled to a response written in the language in which the complaint was filed.

12. Other Statutory Changes
Williams Overview
Other Statutory Changes
Funding - Establishes a permanent funding allocation mechanism for county superintendent visits that reflects size and type of school visited and disproportionate impact of numbers of schools within counties. Allows county superintendents to seek additional funding for extraordinary costs.
Teacher Misassignments – In schools in which no teacher misassignments are reported for two consecutive years, county superintendents are authorized to conduct the subsequent review on the typical 4-year cycle.
SARCs – Specifies that the SARC must include the percentage of students who lack sufficient instructional materials and the reasons students do not have the materials.
CCSESA Williams Training - May 2007