SENATE BILL No. 959
Introduced by Senator Grayson
(Coauthors: Senators Archuleta, Arreguín, Ashby, Blakespear, Caballero, Cortese, Gonzalez, McNerney, Menjivar, Reyes, Wahab, and Weber Pierson)
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Wicks)
February 3, 2026
An act to amend Section 46392 of the Education Code, relating to education finance, and declaring the ur gency thereof, to tak e effect immediately.
legislative counsel’s digest
SB 959, as introduced, Grayson. Average daily attendance:
emergencies: major safety hazard.
For purposes of state apportionments based on a verage daily attendance, as pro vided, if the a verage daily attendance of a school district, county office of education, or charter school has been materially decreased during a fiscal year because of a specified emer gency, including, among others, the imminence of a major safety hazard as determined by a local la w enforcement agenc y, existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate the a verage daily attendance in a manner that credits to the school district, county office of education, or charter school approximately the total a verage daily attendance that would have been credited to the school district, county office of education, or charter school had the emergency not occurred.
This bill, for the above-described purposes, would additionally allow a local fire agency to make a determination of the imminence of a major safety hazard.
This bill w ould declare that it is to tak e effect immediately as an urgency statute.
99 Vote: 2⁄3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
line 1 SECTION 1. Section 46392 of the Education Code is amended line 2 to read:
line 3 46392. (a) If the average daily attendance of a school district, line 4 county office of education, or charter school during a fiscal year line 5 has been materially decreased during a fiscal year because of any line 6 of the following, the fact shall be established to the satisfaction of line 7 the Superintendent by affidavits of the members of the governing line 8 board or body of the school district, county office of education, or line 9 charter school and the county superintendent of schools:
line 10 (1) Fire.
line 11 (2) Flood.
line 12 (3) Impassable roads.
line 13 (4) Epidemic.
line 14 (5) Earthquake.
line 15 (6) The imminence of a major safety hazard as determined by line 16 the local law enforcement or fire agency.
line 17 (7) A strike involving transportation services to pupils provided line 18 by a nonschool entity.
line 19 (8) An order provided for in Section 41422.
line 20 (9) Snowstorm.
line 21 (b) (1) In the e vent a state of emer gency is declared by the line 22 Governor in a county , a decrease in a verage daily attendance in line 23 the county below the approximate total average daily attendance line 24 that would have been credited to a school district, county office line 25 of education, or charter school had the state of emer gency not line 26 occurred shall be deemed material. The Superintendent shall line 27 determine the length of the period during which a verage daily line 28 attendance has been reduced by the state of emergency. line 29 (2) The period determined by the Superintendent shall not extend line 30 into the next fiscal year follo wing the declaration of the state of line 31 emergency by the Governor, except upon a showing by a school line 32 district, county office of education, or charter school, to the line 33 satisfaction of the Superintendent, that e xtending the period into line 34 the next fiscal year is essential to alle viate continued reductions line 35 in average daily attendance attributable to the state of emergency. 99 — 2 — SB 959
line 1 (3) Notwithstanding an y other la w, the Superintendent shall line 2 extend through the 2018–19 fiscal year the period during which it line 3 is essential to alle viate continued reductions in a verage daily line 4 attendance attributable to a state of emer gency declared by the line 5 Governor in October 2017, for a school district where no less than line 6 5 percent of the residences within the school district or school line 7 district facilities were destroyed by the qualifying emergency. line 8 (c) (1) The a verage daily attendance of the school district, line 9 county office of education, or charter school for the fiscal year line 10 shall be estimated by the Superintendent in a manner that credits line 11 to the school district, county office of education, or charter school line 12 for determining the apportionments to be made to the school line 13 district, county office of education, or charter school from the State line 14 School Fund approximately the total average daily attendance that line 15 would have been credited to the school district, county office of line 16 education, or charter school had the emer gency not occurred or line 17 had the order not been issued.
line 18 (2) (A) From September 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022, inclusi ve, line 19 with the exception of a material loss of attendance for pupils who line 20 are individuals with exceptional needs, as that term is defined in line 21 Section 56026, whose individualized education program developed line 22 pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 56340) of Chapter line 23 4 of P art 30 does not specifically pro vide for participation in line 24 independent study or pupils who are enrolled in community day line 25 schools pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 48660) line 26 of Chapter 4 of P art 27, a school district, county office of line 27 education, or charter school shall not recei ve a verage daily line 28 attendance credit pursuant to this section for pupils that have been line 29 quarantined and are unable to attend in-person instruction due to line 30 exposure to, or infection with, COVID-19 pursuant to local or state line 31 public health guidance.
line 32 (B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), from September 1, 2021, line 33 to June 30, 2022, inclusi ve, a school district, county office of line 34 education, or charter school may receive average daily attendance line 35 credit pursuant to this section for school closures related to impacts line 36 from COVID-19 or material loss of attendance due to COVID-19 line 37 related staffing shortages if the following conditions are established line 38 to the satisf action of the Superintendent by affida vits of the line 39 members of the go verning board or body of the school district, 99 SB 959 — 3 —
line 1 county office of education, or charter school and the county line 2 superintendent of schools:
line 3 (i) The school district, county office of education, or charter line 4 school is unable to provide in person instruction to pupils due to line 5 staffing shortages as a result of staf f quarantine due to e xposure line 6 to, or infection with, COVID-19 pursuant to local or state public line 7 health guidance.
line 8 (ii) For certificated staff shortages, the school district, county line 9 office of education, or charter school has exhausted all options for line 10 obtaining staff coverage, including using all certificated staff and line 11 substitute teacher options, and has consulted with their county line 12 office of education and the Superintendent in determining that line 13 staffing needs cannot be met through any option. line 14 (iii) For classified staf f shortages, the school district, county line 15 office of education, or charter school has exhausted all options for line 16 obtaining staff coverage, including using all staff options, and has line 17 consulted with their county office of education and the line 18 Superintendent in determining that staffing needs cannot be met line 19 through any option.
line 20 (d) Notwithstanding any other law, for a school district or charter line 21 school physically located within a school district, where no less line 22 than 5 percent of the residences within the school district, or the line 23 school district’s facilities, were destroyed as a result of a state of line 24 emergency that was declared by the Governor in November 2018, line 25 all of the following shall apply:
line 26 (1) (A) In the 2020–21 fiscal year , for school districts, the line 27 Superintendent shall calculate the dif ference between the school line 28 district’s certified second principal apportionment local control line 29 funding formula entitlement pursuant to Section 42238.02 in the line 30 2020–21 fiscal year and the 2019–20 fiscal year and, if there is a line 31 difference, allocate the amount of that dif ference to the school line 32 district.
line 33 (B) In the 2021–22 fiscal year , for school districts, the line 34 Superintendent shall allocate an amount equal to 25 percent of the line 35 difference calculated in subparagraph (A) to the school district. line 36 (C) In the 2022–23 fiscal year , for school districts, the line 37 Superintendent shall allocate an amount equal to 12.5 percent of line 38 the difference calculated in subparagraph (A) to the school district. line 39 (2) (A) In the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years, for charter line 40 schools, the Superintendent shall calculate the difference between 99 — 4 — SB 959
line 1 the charter school’s certified second principal apportionment local line 2 control funding formula entitlement pursuant to 42238.02 in the line 3 current year and each respecti ve prior year and, if there is a line 4 difference, allocate the amount of that dif ference to the charter line 5 school.
line 6 (B) In the 2021–22 fiscal year, for charter schools that operate line 7 a minimum of 175 school days and report at least 75 percent of line 8 the total second period average daily attendance for the 2019–20 line 9 fiscal year, as described in Section 41601, the Superintendent shall line 10 allocate 25 percent of the dif ference calculated in subparagraph line 11 (A) to the charter school.
line 12 (3) For a county office of education funded pursuant to line 13 paragraph (1) of subdi vision (g) of Section 2575 that has within line 14 the boundaries of the county school districts or charter schools line 15 affected pursuant to this subdi vision and that has in the schools line 16 operated by the county office of education at least a 10-percent line 17 decrease in average daily attendance in the current fiscal year, in line 18 the 2019–20 and 2020–21 fiscal years, the Superintendent shall line 19 calculate the difference between the county office of education’s line 20 alternative education grant entitlement certified at the annual line 21 principal apportionment pursuant to Section 2574 in the current line 22 fiscal year and each respecti ve prior fiscal year and, if there is a line 23 difference, allocate the amount of that dif ference to the county line 24 office of education.
line 25 (4) A school district may transfer funds recei ved pursuant to line 26 paragraph (1) to the county office of education for the portion of line 27 the funds that represents pupils serv ed by the county office of line 28 education who are funded through the school district’s local control line 29 funding formula apportionment pursuant to Section 2576. line 30 (5) In each fiscal year , the allocations pursuant to this line 31 subdivision shall be made to school districts and charter schools line 32 by the Superintendent as soon as practicable after the second line 33 principal apportionment and to county offices of education as soon line 34 as practicable after the annual principal apportionment. The line 35 allocations made shall be final. The Superintendent may provide line 36 a preliminary allocation of up to 50 percent no sooner than the line 37 first principal apportionment.
line 38 (6) (A) The amounts described in this subdi vision shall be line 39 continuously appropriated from the General Fund to the line 40 Superintendent for these purposes.
99 SB 959 — 5 —
line 1 (B) For purposes of making the computations required by line 2 Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, the line 3 appropriation made by this subdi vision shall be deemed to be line 4 “General Fund re venues appropriated for school districts, ” as line 5 defined in subdivision (c) of Section 41202, for the fiscal year in line 6 which the y are appropriated, and included within the “total line 7 allocations to school districts and community college districts from line 8 General Fund proceeds of tax es appropriated pursuant to Article line 9 XIII B,” as defined in subdivision (e) of Section 41202. line 10 (e) Notwithstanding any other law, for a school district or charter line 11 school physically located within a school district, where no less line 12 than 5 percent of the residences within the school district, or the line 13 school district’s facilities, were destroyed as a result of a state of line 14 emergency that was declared by the Governor in September 2020, line 15 all of the following shall apply:
line 16 (1) For the 2021–22 fiscal year , for school districts, the line 17 Superintendent shall calculate the dif ference between the school line 18 district’s certified annual principal apportionment local control line 19 funding formula re venues pursuant to Section 42238.02 in the line 20 2021–22 fiscal year and the 2019–20 fiscal year , including local line 21 revenue, pursuant to subdivision (j) of Section 42238.02, and any line 22 additional funds recei ved pursuant to subdi vision (e) of Section line 23 42238.03 in excess of the entitlement calculated pursuant to Section line 24 42238.02 and 42238.03 and, if there is a dif ference, allocate the line 25 amount of that difference to the school district. line 26 (2) For the 2021–22 fiscal year, for charter schools that operate line 27 a minimum of 175 school days and report at least 75 percent of line 28 the total second period average daily attendance for the 2019–20 line 29 fiscal year, as described in Section 41601, the Superintendent shall line 30 calculate the dif ference between the charter school’ s certified line 31 second principal apportionment local control funding formula line 32 revenues pursuant to Section 42238.02 in the 2021–22 fiscal year line 33 and the 2019–20 fiscal year, and, if there is a difference, allocate line 34 the amount of that difference to the charter school. line 35 (3) School districts and charter schools shall notify the line 36 Superintendent of their eligibility pursuant to this subdivision by line 37 November 1, 2021, in the manner prescribed by the Superintendent. line 38 (4) Preliminary allocations made pursuant to paragraph (1) shall line 39 be made to school districts by the Superintendent through the line 40 principal apportionment be ginning with the 2021–22 fiscal year 99 — 6 — SB 959
line 1 first principal apportionment certification and shall be made final line 2 as of the annual principal apportionment.
line 3 (5) Allocations pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be made to line 4 charter schools by the Superintendent as soon as practicable after line 5 the second principal apportionment and shall be made final as of line 6 the annual principal apportionment. The Superintendent may line 7 provide a preliminary allocation of up to 50 percent no sooner than line 8 the first principal apportionment.
line 9 (f) Notwithstanding any other law, for a school district where line 10 a school eligible for funding pursuant to Article 4 (commencing line 11 with Section 42280) of Chapter 7 of P art 24 of Di vision 3 w as line 12 destroyed as a result of a state of emergency that was declared by line 13 the Governor in August 2021, the following shall apply:
line 14 (1) The school district may continue to report the amount of line 15 attendance generated by pupils enrolled in another school of the line 16 school district that w ould have otherwise attended the destro yed line 17 school, and the number of full-time teachers emplo yed by the line 18 school district that w ould have otherwise pro vided instructional line 19 services at the school, as if the school were operational in the line 20 2021–22, 2022–23, and 2023–24 fiscal years.
line 21 (2) The school shall be considered a necessary small school for line 22 the purpose of Section 42282 in the 2022–23 and 2023–24 fiscal line 23 years.
line 24 (g) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, paragraphs (2) and (3) line 25 shall apply for the follo wing charter schools identified in line 26 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) that were damaged, destro yed, or line 27 directly impacted, as a result of a state of emer gency that w as line 28 declared by the Governor in January 2025:
line 29 (A) Marquez Charter , P alisades Charter Elementary , and line 30 Palisades Charter High within the Los Angeles Unified School line 31 District.
line 32 (B) Aveson Global Leadership Academy, Aveson School of line 33 Leaders, Odyssey Charter, OCS - South, and P asadena Rosebud line 34 Academy in the Pasadena Unified School District. line 35 (C) Alma Fuerte Public in the City of Pasadena. line 36 (2) For the 2025–26 fiscal year , for charter schools identified line 37 in paragraph (1) that operate a minimum of 175 school days, as line 38 described in Section 41601, the Superintendent shall calculate the line 39 difference between the charter school’ s certified local control line 40 funding formula entitlement pursuant to Section 42238.02 as of 99 SB 959 — 7 —
line 1 the annual principal apportionment in the 2025–26 fiscal year and line 2 the first principal apportionment in the 2024–25 fiscal year , and, line 3 if there is a dif ference, allocate the amount of that dif ference to line 4 the charter school.
line 5 (3) Allocations pursuant to paragraph (2) shall be made final as line 6 of the annual principal apportionment. The Superintendent may line 7 provide a preliminary allocation no sooner than the first principal line 8 apportionment.
line 9 (h) This section applies to an y average daily attendance that line 10 occurs during any part of a school year.
line 11 SEC. 2. This act is an ur gency statute necessary for the line 12 immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within line 13 the meaning of Article IV of the California Constitution and shall line 14 go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are:
line 15 Due to the eminent danger of wildfires throughout the state and line 16 the need to address the safety of pupils on campuses in high line 17 wildfire danger areas, it is necessary for this act to tak e effect line 18 immediately.
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