SECTIONS 54480-54486 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 54480-54486

54480. From moneys specially appropriated therefor by the
Legislature, grants shall be made to school districts pursuant to
this article for projects approved by the Director of Compensatory
Education involving a particular school or schools to be expended for
the employment and in-service education of teachers in grades
kindergarten or 1 through 6, with special emphasis on kindergarten
and primary grades, and any needed teacher materials and supplies to
the end that the number of pupils in these grades in relation to each
full-time equivalent classroom teacher in the particular school will
be reduced to a ratio of 25 to 1.
For purposes of this article a full-time equivalent classroom
teacher is a person employed in a position requiring certification
qualifications and whose duties require him to teach pupils in
regular day classes for the full time for which he is employed during
the regular schoolday. In computing the total number of full-time
equivalent classroom teachers, there shall be included, in addition
to the employees defined in the preceding sentence, the full-time
equivalent of all fractional time for which employees in positions
requiring certification qualifications are required to devote to
teaching pupils in regular day classes during the regular schoolday.

54481. It is the intent and purpose of the Legislature that the
money appropriated for the purposes of this article be expended
primarily for the employment of teachers to the end that the number
of pupils in the designated grades in relation to each full-time
equivalent classroom teacher be reduced to and sustained at a ratio
of 25 to 1. Emphases shall be placed on kindergarten and primary
grades for the purpose of continuing to provide small classes for
children with preschool experiences. The Director of Compensatory
Education shall consider this intent in approving projects submitted
pursuant to this article. In the event an applicant district is
unable to employ the number of teachers necessary to effect the
purposes of this article, the Director of Compensatory Education,
notwithstanding the provisions of Section 54480, is authorized to
approve projects that provide for the employment of noncertificated
teachers' aides for grades kindergarten or 1 through 6, inclusive, to
the end that the number of pupils in those grades in relation to the
number of both classroom teachers and teachers' aides employed for
such grades shall not exceed 20 to 1. All teachers' aides shall be
trained in a specially designed in-service education program. Not
more than 25 percent of the total allocated to a school district
shall be devoted to the employment of teachers' aides. The use of any
portion of the total allocated shall be approved for the employment
of noncertificated teachers' aides by the Director of Compensatory
Education only upon certification of the applicant district, approved
by the county superintendent of schools which has jurisdiction over
the applicant district, that teachers are unavailable for employment
in accordance with the primary legislative intent of this article.

54482. Noncertificated teachers' aides employed under this article
shall be under the immediate supervision and direction of
certificated classroom teachers and shall not be utilized to carry
out administrative duties other than those administrative duties
which may be assigned by the classroom teacher.
A school district may employ as a teachers' aide any person
determined to be qualified, including pupils in attendance in grades
11 and 12 in high schools, and students in attendance in community
colleges and in colleges and universities. The employment may be on a
regular full-time, or on a part-time basis. The employment of pupils
in attendance in grades 11 through 14, in public high schools and
community colleges, shall be arranged so that no reduction in
attendance credit and State School Fund apportionments results
therefrom. Teachers' aides shall be compensated by the employing
school district at a rate no lower than the federal minimum hourly
wage for time in which service was actually performed. A person
employed as a teachers' aide shall be under the direct supervision of
a certificated employee of the school district for no less than 75
percent of the time for which he is engaged in the performance of the
duties during any day. The employment of college and university
students as teachers' aides may, where appropriate, be undertaken for
student teaching credit purposes.

54483. The Director of Compensatory Education, acting pursuant to
rules and regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, upon
the advice of the Directors of the Departments of Finance, Social
Services, Employment Development, and Industrial Relations, shall
designate the most concentrated areas of poverty and social tension
in the state, taking into consideration such factors, among others,
as the high incidence of poverty and low family and per capita
incomes, unemployment, juvenile delinquency, persons receiving
assistance under the program of aid to families with dependent
children, and especially the low level of academic achievement by
pupils in the public schools.
The Director of Compensatory Education shall allocate the funds
available for programs under Section 54480 proportionately by public
school population among the areas designated by him. He shall then
approve projects proposed to be undertaken by school districts within
such areas at particular schools with the highest concentration of
low-income children and with the lowest records of academic
achievement. Funds not fully utilized in one designated area may be
reallocated to the other designated areas. Upon the request of a
school district, the Director of Compensatory Education may authorize
funds to be used outside the designated areas to serve children from
the designated areas.

54484. Apportionments for purposes of this article shall be made
upon order of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and by warrant
of the State Controller. Moneys apportioned shall be expended
precisely as directed by the Director of Compensatory Education, with
not more than five percent (5%) of the total apportionments expended
for in-service education.

54485. Apportionments to a school district shall be in the form of
grants, no part of which shall be required to be matched by a
district as a condition to receiving state aid under this article.
In making allocations pursuant to this article the Director of
Compensatory Education shall use an allocation factor equivalent to
the average statewide teacher salary per full-time equivalent
classroom teacher.

54486. The Director of Compensatory Education shall require that
the class size reduction project undertaken pursuant to this article
be coordinated with and be an integral part of the school district's
overall compensatory education plan and evaluation report, and that a
significant portion of all funds which may be received by a district
for purposes of this chapter shall be devoted to the purposes of
this article.