SECTIONS 52255 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 52255

52255. In any fiscal year in which funds are appropriated for
technology installation grants for the Digital High School Education
Technology Grant Program, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall administer the application process for the award of grants as
follows:
(a) Six groups shall be created as follows for the purpose of
establishing funding categories:
(1) Four groups shall consist of all unified and high school
districts in the state, that have a total district enrollment in
grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in October of the prior fiscal year, of
more than 200 pupils. The school districts shall be grouped into
quartiles based upon the districts' enrollment in grades 9 to 12,
inclusive, in October of the prior fiscal year, excluding the
enrollment in high schools having fewer than 201 pupils, but
including the enrollment in any high school having fewer than 201
pupils when that high school is located on the same property as, on a
site adjacent to, or across the street from, a comprehensive high
school. Each quartile shall include roughly the same number of
pupils, but no school district shall be split between quartiles.
(2) Excluding schools having an enrollment of less than 201 pupils
that have been included in the enrollment of a comprehensive high
school in the quartiles established pursuant to paragraph (1), the
fifth group shall consist of schools having an enrollment in grades 9
to 12, inclusive, in October of the prior fiscal year, of no more
than 200 pupils. Schools operated by county offices of education
shall not be included in the fifth group.
(3) The sixth group shall consist of schools operated by county
offices of education that enroll pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
(b) The superintendent shall divide the funds appropriated for
technology installation grants in a fiscal year among the six groups
on the basis of equal dollars per pupil in enrollment in grades 9 to
12, inclusive, in October of the prior fiscal year.
(c) School districts and county offices of education shall submit
eligibility applications for high schools seeking an installation
grant to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine
initial eligibility. A high school shall be granted initial
eligibility by the Superintendent of Public Instruction if, in its
application, the governing board of the school district or county
office of education certifies its commitment to meeting program
requirements, including the local match requirements related to a
technology installation grant for the high school. This is the only
criterion that shall be applied to determine initial eligibility.
(d) (1) Each school district and county office of education shall
submit to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, no later than 45
days after the annual Budget Act has been enacted for the fiscal
year, a list of schools under its jurisdiction that have met the
initial eligibility requirement and an estimate of each listed school'
s October enrollment for the current year. Schools shall be listed in
order of priority for funding. A school district that has schools in
the fifth group shall separately list those schools in order of
funding priority. Any locally determined method of prioritizing
schools, including a random draw, may be used.
(2) The superintendent shall identify from the applicants all
schools in each group that meet the initial eligibility requirement.
A school district or county office of education may appeal to the
State Board of Education, on behalf of a school, a disapproval of
initial eligibility.
(e) Within each of the six groups and from all school districts
and county offices of education that have schools that have been
granted initial eligibility, the Superintendent of Public Instruction
shall select school districts or county offices of education for
funding eligibility by random drawing, one by one, until all funds
available for allocation within the group are allocated, except that
5 percent of the funds shall be held in reserve and not allocated
until the October enrollments have been certified. In making the
random selection within groups, school districts and county offices
of education shall be weighted according to the number of schools on
their priority lists of initial eligibility. Funds shall be allocated
to schools in accordance with the priority list submitted by the
school district or county office of education. The amount of funds
allocated to a school shall be based on current year enrollment and
as determined pursuant to Section 52260 and criteria established
pursuant to Section 52254.
(f) Schools selected pursuant to subdivision (e) to be eligible
for funding shall have funds set aside for them to be allocated based
on final approval by the State Board of Education pursuant to
subdivision (h). Schools that are eligible for funds shall receive
those funds only if the requirements of subdivisions (g) and (h) are
met.
(g) Each school selected pursuant to subdivision (e) to be
eligible for funding shall develop a project application as required
pursuant to Section 52256 and in accordance with criteria developed
pursuant to Section 52254. Upon request by a school district or
county office of education, the existing technology regional
consortia or the State Department of Education, or both, shall
provide technical assistance to school districts and county offices
of education in the development of their initial eligibility and
project applications. The regional consortia shall review and comment
on the application submitted by the schools in their respective
regions within 30 days of the date that it is submitted by the
school. The school shall submit its application, with changes based
on the comments of the regional consortia, to the Education Council
for Technology in Learning. The application shall also include a
certification by the governing board of the school district or county
office of education that a majority of the certificated staff of the
high school indicate their support for participation in the program
established by this chapter.
(h) (1) Within 30 days of receiving an application from a school,
the Education Council for Technology in Learning shall make a
recommendation to the State Board of Education on whether to fund the
application. If the council does not submit a recommendation to the
board within 30 days, the school may submit its application directly
to the board. If the council makes a recommendation that the
application should not be funded, the council shall include the
reasons in writing along with its recommendation.
(2) Within 30 days of receiving the recommendation from the
Education Council for Technology in Learning or at its next regularly
scheduled meeting after those 30 days, the State Board of Education
shall make the final determination that a school's project
application, submitted pursuant to subdivision (g), substantially
meets the requirements of Section 52256 and the criteria developed
pursuant to Section 52254 and that it shall be funded.
(3) The State Board of Education shall provide an applicant whose
application has not been recommended for funding an opportunity to
address any reasons given by the Education Council for Technology in
Learning for that negative recommendation.
(i) If funds are available after the determinations made by the
State Board of Education pursuant to subdivision (h), the procedures
in subdivisions (e) to (h), inclusive, shall be followed to allocate
the available funds and that process shall be repeated until all
funds available in each fiscal year are exhausted.
(j) If the amount of funds appropriated for installation grants is
insufficient to fully fund the last school chosen in a group for
which any funds are available, the unfunded portion shall be funded
first when any additional funds become available for installation
grants.