Section 52122.7.

(a) For each schoolsite that meets eligibility requirements pursuant to Section 52122.6, the school district shall submit to the State Board of Education, no later than the time of its application, a comprehensive plan for a permanent mitigation of the facilities problems that have prevented the implementation of class size reduction. This comprehensive plan to mitigate the facilities impact of class size reduction shall include all of the following:

(1) An assessment of what will be necessary to implement class size reduction for the current and projected pupils at the site in kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, inclusive, including the types of facilities that will be acquired, constructed, or leased to meet the need.

(2) An overall summary of how the school district will meet the facilities needs for pupils attending and projected to attend the schoolsite or schoolsites, including a reasonable timeframe for completion, and estimates of pupil population growth over the period of the plan.

(3) Annual measurable benchmarks of progress that will ensure that the project is completed within the timeframe specified in the plan.

(4) The total cost of the plan for acquiring or constructing the facilities needed, including, but not necessarily limited to, any site acquisition, relocation costs, site preparation, construction, cost of leases, and relocatable classrooms.

(5) A financial plan for completion of the project, including a range of realistically feasible sources of funding for meeting the facility needs. The means of financing the plan may include, but are not necessarily limited to, local general obligation bonds, state lease revenue bonds, certificates of participation, appropriate developer fees, and state general obligation bonds. However, the initial plan shall not include more than 50 percent state funding, excluding funds from state lease revenue bonds, unless a greater amount of state funding has been assured.

(b) The plan shall be reviewed by the State Department of Education and the State Board of Education to ensure that implementation of the plan would reasonably result in the ability of the school district to implement class size reduction for the pupils attending the schoolsite or schoolsites receiving the waiver. The State Department of Education shall make recommendations to the State Board of Education regarding the results of its review. The State Board of Education may grant a waiver to any complete plan that it deems to be feasible.

(c) For each subsequent year that the school district requests a continuation of the waiver, the district shall submit with its application an assessment of the district's progress toward meeting each of the annual benchmarks in the approved plan for each impacted site, and a description and review of the educational programs and configurations used in lieu of reduced class sizes at the site receiving the waiver as required in subdivision (a) of Section 52122.8.

(d) (1) The State Department of Education and the State Board of Education shall annually review the progress report and the plan to ensure that the school district is making progress to achieve the solution outlined in the plan and that annual benchmarks of progress have been achieved. The department shall make recommendations to the board regarding the results of its review of the annual progress report. The waiver may be continued for each year, not to exceed six years, that the board determines that the district has achieved the annual benchmarks for completion of the mitigation plan.

(2) The State Board of Education may require a school district to revise its plan if the board determines that elements of the original plan, including the financial plan, are no longer feasible. If the board determines that the district has not met the annual benchmarks in the facilities plan, or that the overall intent of the facilities plan is not being achieved, the waiver shall not be granted.

(Added by Stats. 1997, Ch. 285, Sec. 2. Effective August 18, 1997.)