San Diego County Receives 25% of $70 Million Total Funds Allocated Statewide Each Year

To ensure that school districts across California have the resources they need to educate our neediest student populations, Assemblymember Marty Block (AD-78) has introduced legislation which provides statutory authority for the California Department of Education (CDE) to give school districts their 2009-10 Special Disabilities Adjustment (SDA) funds. This action would prevent CDE from taking back prior year special education funds that school districts have already received and used to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.

“School districts in San Diego and across the state rely on Special Disabilities Adjustment funds in order to provide a quality education for some of our neediest students, including those with autism, brain injuries and other severe disabilities. These are funds that have already been put to good use in the classroom this last school year,” said Assemblymember Block. “Now, without my AB 184, needy districts would have to refund these already spent dollars to the state. This legislation will ensure that cash-strapped school districts, already struggling in these tough economic conditions, continue to have the means to provide valuable instruction and other critical resources necessary to meet the needs of their students.”

Each year, $70 million in SDA funds are allocated statewide to assist school districts with high concentrations of students with certain costly disabilities including autism, emotional disturbance, visual impairment, hearing impairment, brain trauma and multiple disabilities.

Last month, CDE announced that it did not have the authority to distribute these funds in 2009-10. Furthermore, without emergency legislation CDE would start taking back the SDA funds from school districts that were already received and spent. On July 1, school districts started to see their special education funding taken back retroactively by the state.

This legislation will allow school districts to retain last year’s SDA allocation, money that has already been used to educate students in special education programs. Without it, school districts that are already struggling financially to survive will be shorted significant amounts of cash that they depend on to meet payroll, provide summer school services and start shovel-ready school facilities projects.

AB 184 is sponsored by the San Diego Unified School District. San Diego County is one of the counties in the state with an elevated concentration of special education students that require particularly high-cost education services.  Districts in the county receive $17 million or 25% of the total Special Disabilities Adjustment funds allocated each year.

The school districts that will benefit from AB 184 include small, medium and large districts throughout San Diego County.  For example:

• Cajon Valley Union SD budgeted the receipt of $1,090,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10;
• Chula Vista ESD budgeted the receipt of $950,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10;
• Grossmont Union HSD budgeted the receipt of $1,250,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10;
• La Mesa-Spring Valley SD budgeted the receipt of $700,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10;
• San Diego USD budgeted the receipt of $9,000,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10; and
• Sweetwater Union HSD budgeted the receipt of $1,400,000 in SDA funds for 2009-10.

Contact: Mike Naple (916) 202-0003