What Is AB 126? California’s New Community Schools Funding, Explained

Part 1 of a 3-Part AB 126 Series

Part 1: What Is AB 126? (you are here)

Part 2: AB 126 and Expanded Learning

Part 3: Your AB 126 Checklist

AB 126 creates permanent, formula-based funding for community schools in California. If your school qualifies, you could get $75,000 to $400,000 per site, every year. Not a grant you reapply for. Ongoing money.

If you run an afterschool or expanded learning program at a qualifying school, this affects your work directly. Here’s what you need to know, without the policy jargon.

The Short Version

Governor Newsom signed AB 126 on July 9, 2026. It’s an education budget trailer bill that, among other things, creates the new California Community Schools Partnership Program (Ed. Code § 8903). The old model gave out competitive, time-limited grants. AB 126 replaces that with a formula. If your site is eligible, you get funded. Every year. Adjusted for inflation starting in 2027-28 (Ed. Code § 8903(c)(1)(B)(ii)).

California put $1 billion behind this for 2026-27 (Ed. Code § 8903(b)(1)(A)). That’s not a pilot. That’s a commitment.

How Much Funding Per Site?

It depends on enrollment. Here’s the breakdown (Ed. Code § 8903(c)(1)(B)(i)):

These are per-site amounts. A district with multiple qualifying schools can receive funding for each one.

Who’s Eligible?

Two ways a school qualifies (Ed. Code § 8901(h)(1)):

Option A: Your school has an unduplicated pupil percentage (UPP) of 65% or more and at least 10 students enrolled. UPP counts students who are low-income, English learners, or foster youth. That number comes from your prior year Fall 1 CALPADS data. Nonclassroom-based charter schools are excluded for now.

Option B: Your school already has a CCSPP implementation grant under the old program (Ed. Code § 8902).

If you’re thinking “that 65% threshold sounds familiar,” you’re right. It overlaps heavily with the population already served by ELOP (Expanded Learning Opportunities Program). Many of the same schools qualify for both.

The Deadline That Matters: November 1, 2026

Here’s the part you can’t sit on.

If your district has eligible sites and wants to receive funding for 2026-27, you must notify CDE (the California Department of Education) by November 1, 2026 (Ed. Code § 8903(c)(1)(E)(i)).

The notification requires two things:

1. An attestation that your district commits to implementing the community schools model.
2. Assurances that you’ve gathered signed commitment letters from the superintendent, site principals, and representatives of teachers, classified staff, students, and parents.

Miss November 1? Your next window is June 1 of the following year, and your sites join a later cohort (Ed. Code § 8903(c)(1)(E)(ii)). That’s a full year of funding you don’t get back.

This isn’t a 50-page application. But it does require your board and site leaders to make a decision and collect those letters before the deadline. Start now.

What Happens After You Opt In?

Once you’re in, your site goes one of two directions (Ed. Code § 8903(e)):

Planning phase (up to 2 years): If your site is new to community schools, you get up to 24 months to plan. That means needs assessments, hiring a coordinator, building partnerships, drafting an implementation plan. But the clock starts when funds hit. If you don’t submit a satisfactory plan to CDE within 24 months, you lose the funding for that site (Ed. Code § 8903(e)(1)(C)).

Implementation phase: If your site is ready to go, you move straight into implementation. That means shared decision-making teams, site-level plans, expenditure reporting, and annual attestations (Ed. Code § 8903(e)(2)(A)-(F)).

What This Is Not

AB 126 does not merge community schools with afterschool programs. ELOP is still ELOP. ASES (After School Education and Safety Program) is still ASES. 21st CCLC (21st Century Community Learning Centers) is still a federal program. Each keeps its own rules and funding.

But AB 126 does build new connections between community schools and expanded learning. We’ll break those down in the next post.

Bottom Line

AB 126 is real money, it’s ongoing, and the first deadline is less than three months away. If your district has schools with 65% or higher UPP and at least 10 students, you should be talking about this now.

Sources

1. AB 126 (2025-2026), Chapter 65, Education finance: education omnibus trailer bill. Approved by Governor July 9, 2026. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB126

2. California Education Code § 8901, Definitions, California Community Schools Partnership Act. As amended by AB 126 § 16.

3. California Education Code § 8903, California Community Schools Partnership Program (ongoing apportionments). Added by AB 126 § 19.

4. California Education Code § 8902, California Community Schools Partnership Program (one-time grants). As amended by AB 126 § 18.