SECTIONS 74292-74296 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 74292-74296

74292. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the following
steps shall be taken to address the imminent risk that Compton
Community College's accreditation will be terminated by the regional
accrediting body recognized by the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges:
(a) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges is
authorized to oversee all actions at the Compton Community College
District related to the loss of the college's accreditation and
efforts described in this article to address that situation. The
Compton Community College District shall reimburse the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges for any expenses
incurred by the chancellor or his or her staff in carrying out this
oversight responsibility.
(b) The Compton Community College District shall complete the
provision of instruction for all classes for which it intends to
claim apportionment prior to the date of its loss of accreditation.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Compton
Community College District shall continue to be eligible to receive
state funding as provided in this article even if its accreditation
is terminated.
(d) (1) The Compton Community College District shall identify a
partner district that will agree to provide accredited instructional
programs to students residing in the Compton Community College
District. The special trustee assigned to the Compton Community
College District pursuant to Section 71093 and the partner district
are authorized to enter into one or more agreements to provide
instructional services or other services, and to make any other
necessary preparations to implement the educational programs
described in this article, as well as any related necessary
administrative or support services, in a timely manner so as to
ensure that services to Compton Community College students will not
be interrupted and that those students will remain eligible for
federal financial assistance. The agreement or agreements shall
provide that the partner district is entitled to receive a reasonable
administrative fee to be fixed by the mutual agreement of the
parties.
(2) The partner district shall be a district in good standing with
the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
(ACCJC), and shall have successfully completed the accreditation
cycle and secured accreditation for its colleges. A district with a
college that is on warning, probation, or show-cause status with the
ACCJC, or that is being monitored for fiscal stability by the
chancellor's office is not considered a district in good standing for
the purposes of this article.
(e) The partner district may offer any programs or courses for
which it has secured applicable approvals. In addition, any programs
and courses that were previously approved by the board of governors
to be offered by the Compton Community College District may continue
to be offered by the partner district in the territory of the Compton
Community College District without additional state approval until
June 30, 2011.
(f) No later than 30 days after Compton Community College's loss
of accreditation, the board of governors shall approve the facilities
of Compton Community College as an off-campus educational center of
the partner district. The center shall be known as the Compton
Community Educational Center. The board of governors shall give
notice of its approval to the county committee and county
superintendent having jurisdiction over any territory affected by the
action.
(g) The board of governors may permanently or temporarily waive
any of its regulatory requirements necessary to effectuate this
article, including, but not necessarily limited to, its regulations
regarding educational centers.
(h) The partner district is eligible to provide instruction at the
center without the recommendation of the California Postsecondary
Education Commission under Section 66904 until the district secures
the commission's recommendation for the facility to operate as an
off-campus educational center or until June 30, 2011, whichever
occurs first.
(i) The partner district shall comply with all federal
requirements to ensure that students taking classes offered by the
partner district at the Compton Community Educational Center remain
eligible for federal financial assistance.
(j) Students enrolled in the Compton Community College District as
of January 31, 2006, shall be subject to the following conditions:
(1) The partner district shall ensure that any student who, by the
end of the Spring 2006 term, has completed at least 75 percent of
the courses required for the degree or certificate he or she is
pursuing will be able to complete that program. Every reasonable
effort shall be made to allow other students who have begun work
toward a certificate or degree, but who have not completed 75 percent
of the required coursework, to continue and complete their programs.
(2) Students enrolling in classes provided by the partner district
pursuant to this section shall be considered students of the partner
district, shall receive credit from the partner district for classes
they successfully complete, shall receive certificates or degrees
they earn from the partner district, and shall receive financial aid
through the partner district if they meet all applicable eligibility
requirements.
(3) The partner district shall maintain student records related to
the attendance of students in classes it offers pursuant to this
section in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws.
(4) The partner district shall consider each student who enrolls
for classes no later than the Spring 2007 term to be a continuing
student for purposes of enrollment priorities.
(5) Any regulations of the board of governors relating to minimum
residence at the college granting a degree shall not be applicable.
(k) The board of governors shall adopt any regulations necessary
to implement this article. These regulations may be adopted as
emergency regulations that may remain in effect for up to one year
from the date of adoption, and shall not be subject to paragraph (5)
or (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 70901.5 or to Chapter 3.5
(commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
(l) (1) The partner district shall provide the services described
in this article for a minimum of five years from the date those
services commence pursuant to subdivision (d), and shall thereafter
provide the services for any additional period determined necessary
by the board of governors. In addition, the board of governors may
require, in its sole discretion, that the services described herein
be modified or terminated at an earlier date based on the best
interests of the California Community Colleges system and its
students.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), either the partner district or
the special trustee appointed pursuant to Section 71093 may initiate
termination of the agreements described in subdivision (d) by giving
180 days' written notice to the other party and to the board of
governors. No termination pursuant to this subdivision may take
effect until the end of the semester following the notice provided
under this paragraph, so as to protect students from a mid-term
interruption of educational services. Should the partner district
provide notice of a desire to terminate any agreements at a time when
the trustee determines that services provided under those agreements
are still necessary to serve the interests of Compton students and
residents or at a time when the Compton Community College District is
not fully accredited and bonds issued pursuant to Section 41329.52
are outstanding, the partner district shall continue the services
until it can secure a district to provide uninterrupted comparable
services to the satisfaction of the special trustee.
(m) (1) The Compton Community College District shall continue to
be responsible for ensuring that all of its permanent records are
retained and stored as required by state law and that all records
related to its administration of programs under Title IV of the
federal Higher Education Act are retained for a minimum of three
years after the conclusion of its participation in those programs.
(2) The Compton Community College District shall be responsible
for institutional actions related to the loss of accreditation,
including actions that are required under Section 688.26 of Title 34
of the Code of Federal Regulations, related to the ending of the
participation of the Compton Community College District in programs
under Title IV of the federal Higher Education Act, refunding any
students' unearned tuition and fees, refunding to the federal
government any unexpended federal student financial aid funds,
returning to lenders any loan proceeds not distributed to students,
or the collection of outstanding student debts to the Compton
Community College District.
(n) In addition to addressing the ongoing educational needs of the
students of the Compton Community College District, the partner
district and the special trustee appointed pursuant to Section 71093
shall take steps aimed at achieving the goal of seeking renewed
accreditation for Compton Community College at the earliest feasible
date. Progress toward achieving this goal shall be periodically
reported to the board of governors.
(o) No person, firm or organization shall, without the permission
of the Compton Community College District, use the name "Compton
Community College," or any name of which these words are a part, or
any abbreviation thereof.

74292.5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, so long as any
bond issued pursuant to Section 63049.67 of the Government Code for
the Compton Community College District is outstanding, all real
property leases securing those bonds shall be leased by the Compton
Community College District, and not the Compton Community Educational
Center or any partner district.

74292.7. Cal Grant awards to students of the Compton Community
College District shall not be adversely affected by this article.

74293. Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
(a) The partner district shall provide educational programs, as
described in Section 74292, at the Compton Community Educational
Center on the following terms:
(1) To the extent determined necessary by agreement between the
Compton Community College District and the partner district, the
Compton Community College District shall assign its current
employees, or reemploy former employees, to provide educational or
support services to students under the instructional services or
other agreements described in Section 74292. The Compton Community
College District has no obligation to assign or to reemploy persons
who occupy or previously occupied administrative or supervisory
positions to those positions. Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, a person who provides services pursuant to this paragraph shall
not be deemed to be an employee of the partner district or gain any
status with the partner district for any purpose.
(2) Individuals providing educational or support services pursuant
to paragraph (1) who serve as academic employees or educational
administrators shall meet applicable minimum qualifications
established by the Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges as well as any other job-related qualifications for service
that are established by the partner district.
(3) The partner district shall have the primary right to direct
activities under the contract or contracts in a manner that is
consistent with the role of Compton Community College District as the
employer of the individuals who are assigned duties under the
agreements by the partner district. The partner district shall
provide performance assessments to the special trustee appointed
pursuant to Section 71093 regarding the services provided by
employees of the Compton Community College District.
(b) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
ability of the Compton Community College District to employ employees
of any type or class as otherwise authorized by law as needed to
provide necessary services.
(c) The Compton Community College District shall continue to be
responsible for all retiree benefits that it offered its employees
prior to the date of its loss of accreditation and for retirement and
other benefits for its employees assigned to provide services
pursuant to subdivision (a). The partner district shall have no
responsibility for any retiree or other benefits for persons provided
by the Compton Community College District to serve under
instructional services or other agreements described in this article.
(d) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the
ability of the partner district to assign its existing personnel to
oversee or manage services provided under instructional services or
other agreements described in Section 74292 or to employ employees of
any type or class as otherwise authorized by law as needed to
provide oversight and management of those services. Any person who
provides services pursuant to this subdivision shall not be deemed to
be an employee of the Compton Community College District or gain any
status with that district for any purpose, and that person shall not
lose any rights, benefits, or status that he or she had previously
acquired with the partner district.
(e) Nothing in this article shall be construed to interfere with,
or require any change in, the existing bargaining units and
collective bargaining agreements of the Compton Community College
District.
(f) All existing statutory due process protections for employees
of the Compton Community College District shall remain in effect
including, but not necessarily limited to, the provisions governing
layoff or dismissal, acquisition of tenure, and all other provisions
of the Education Code except as expressly provided in this article.
(g) Nothing in this article shall be construed to interfere with
or preclude negotiations with employee organizations in either of the
districts over the effects, if any, of the partner district's
operation of the Compton Community College District.

74295. Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
(a) The Compton Community College District shall receive
apportionment for courses provided at the Compton Community
Educational Center by the partner district pursuant to Section 74292,
subject to the transfer of moneys described in Sections 41329.53 and
41329.55 and in accordance with the following schedule:
(1) For the 2005-06 fiscal year, an amount not less than the
amount that was received by the Compton Community College District
for the attendance of full-time equivalent students for the 2004-05
fiscal year.
(2) For the 2006-07 fiscal year, an amount not less than 90
percent of the amount that was received by the Compton Community
College District for the attendance of full-time equivalent students
for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
(3) For the 2007-08 fiscal year, an amount not less than 80
percent of the amount that was received by the Compton Community
College District for the attendance of full-time equivalent students
for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
(4) For the 2008-09 fiscal year, an amount not less than 70
percent of the amount that was received by the Compton Community
College District for the attendance of full-time equivalent students
for the 2004-05 fiscal year.
(b) In allocating funds for categorical aid to the Compton
Community College District, the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges shall treat the Compton Community Educational
Center as a separate college.
(c) The Compton Community College District shall not be subject to
Section 84362 for the 2003-04 fiscal year to the 2008-09 fiscal
year, inclusive.
(d) Should the loss of accreditation by the Compton Community
College result in a lapse of federal financial assistance to
otherwise eligible students before their eligibility is recognized
through the partner district, the Compton Community College District
may use a portion of the proceeds from the loan described in Section
41329.58 to provide comparable amounts of assistance to eligible
students. This replacement funding shall not extend beyond the end of
the term during which the lapse of federal funding occurred.
(e) The provisions of subdivision (a) shall be used solely to
determine the apportionment funding to be allocated to the Compton
Community College District. In computing statewide entitlements to
funding based upon the attendance of full-time equivalent students,
neither the Compton Community College District nor its partner
district shall be credited with more full-time equivalent students
for the Compton Community College District than were actually
enrolled in attendance. It is the intent of the Legislature that any
amounts necessary to make the apportionments required pursuant to
subdivision (a) shall be drawn from the total statewide funding
available for community college apportionments.

74296. Notwithstanding any other provision of law:
(a) In any action in which a court finds that any provision of
this article is unlawful, or in any action challenging the
implementation of this article, the Board of Governors of the
California Community Colleges, the partner district, the Compton
Community College District, and their respective officers, employees,
and agents, are immune from the imposition of any award of money
damages, including the award of attorney's fees, except to the extent
that any liability for those claims arises from the gross negligence
or willful misconduct of the party claiming the immunity.
(b) The state shall, from funds specifically appropriated for that
purpose, indemnify and defend the partner district from and against
any claims, other than claims based upon gross negligence or willful
misconduct, arising out of its participation in the activities
specified in this article.