BILL NUMBER: SB 680 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senators Romero and Huff
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to repeal Sections 48314.5 and 48315 of the
Education Code, An act to amend Sections 48301, 48306,
48307, 48310 and 48313 of, and to repeal Sections 48314.5
and 48315 of, the Education Code, relating to school
attendance, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect
immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 680, as amended, Romero. School attendance: interdistrict
transfers.
(1) Existing law requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18
years, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time
day school in the school district in which his or her parent or
guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing board
of a school district to accept interdistrict transfers by adopting a
resolution to become a school district of choice, as defined.
Commencing August 24, 2007, existing law prohibits the
governing board of a school district from electing to become a school
district of choice. Existing law requires each school
district that elects to become a school district of choice to keep
an accounting of all requests made for alternative attendance, as
specified, and to report this information to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction. Existing law requires the
Superintendent to annually make this information available to the
Governor, the Legislature, and the public on or before April 1.
Existing law prohibits a school district that has not elected to
become a school district of choice prior to August 24, 2007, from
becoming a school district of choice. Existing law makes the
provisions governing interdistrict transfers inoperative on July 1,
2009, and repeals these provisions on January 1, 2010.
This bill would delete the prohibition on becoming a school
district of choice. The bill also would delete the inoperative and
repeal dates of these provisions, thereby extending their operation
indefinitely. This bill would also delete the requirement that
the Superintendent annually make the information provided by school
districts available to the Governor, the Legislature, and
the public on or before April 1. This bill would require local school
districts who have adopted a resolution, or elect to become a school
district of choice, to publicly report information regarding
requests made for interdistrict transfers to adjacent school
districts and the county office of education in which the district is
located. The bill would also require any communication made by a
participating school district to parents or guardians to be factually
accurate and not target individual pupils as specified. The bill
would make other technical and clarifying changes.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48301 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48301. (a) The governing board of any school district may accept
interdistrict transfers. A school district that receives an
application for attendance under this article is not required to
admit pupils to its schools. If, however, the governing board elects
to accept transfers as authorized under this article, it may, by
resolution, elect to accept transfer pupils, determine and adopt the
number of transfers it is willing to accept under this article, and
ensure that pupils admitted under the policy are selected through a
random, unbiased process that prohibits an evaluation of whether or
not the pupil should be enrolled based upon his or her academic or
athletic performance. Any pupil accepted for transfer shall be deemed
to have fulfilled the requirements of Section 48204. If the
number of transfer applications exceeds the number of transfers the
governing board elects to accept under this article, approval for
transfer pursuant to this article shall be determined by a random
drawing held in public.
(b) Either the pupil's school district of residence, upon
notification of the pupil's acceptance to the school district of
choice pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48308, or the school
district of choice may prohibit the transfer of a pupil under this
article or limit the number of pupils so transferred if the governing
board of the district determines that the transfer would negatively
impact any of the following:
(1) The court-ordered desegregation plan of the district.
(2) The voluntary desegregation plan of the district.
(3) The racial and ethnic balance of the district.
(c) The school district of residence may not adopt policies that
in any way block or discourage pupils from applying for transfer to
another district.
(d) Communications to parents or guardians by districts electing
to enroll pupils under the choice options provided by this article
shall be factually accurate and not target individual parents or
guardians on the basis of their child's actual or perceived academic
or athletic performance.
SEC. 2. Section 48306 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48306. (a) A school district of choice shall give priority for
attendance to siblings of children already in attendance in that
district.
(b) A school district of choice may give priority for attendance
to children of military personnel , if the school district
elected to accept transfer pupils pursuant to Section 48301 by a
resolution adopted by the governing board of the school district
prior to April 1, 2005 .
SEC. 3. Section 48307 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48307. (a) A school district of residence with an average daily
attendance greater than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils
transferring out each year to 1 percent of its current year estimated
average daily attendance.
(b) A school district of residence with an average daily
attendance of less than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils
transferring out to 3 percent of its current year estimated average
daily attendance and may limit the maximum number of pupils
transferring out for the duration of the program authorized
by of the district pursuant to this article to
10 percent of the average daily attendance for that period
.
SEC. 4. Section 48310 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48310. (a) The average daily attendance for pupils admitted by a
school district of choice pursuant to this article shall be credited
to that district pursuant to Section 46607. The attendance report for
the school district of choice may include an identification of the
school district of residence.
(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, state aid for
categorical education programs for pupils admitted under this article
shall be apportioned to the school district of choice.
(c) For any school district of choice that is a basic aid
district, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall
calculate for that basic aid district an apportionment of state funds
that provides 70 percent of the district revenue limit calculated
pursuant to Section 42238 that would have been apportioned to the
school district of residence for any average daily attendance
credited pursuant to this section apportionment of
state funds for any average daily attendance credited pursuant to
this section shall be 70 percent of the district revenue limit
calculated pursuant to Section 42238 that would have been apportioned
to the district of residence . For purposes of this
subdivision, the term "basic aid district" means a school district
that does not receive from the state, for any fiscal year in which
the subdivision is applied, an apportionment of state funds pursuant
to subdivision (h) of Section 42238.
(d) The State Allocation Board shall develop procedures
to ensure that the average daily attendance of pupils
admitted by a school district of choice pursuant to this article
shall be credited to that school district for the purposes of any
determination under Article 2 (commencing with Section 17010) of
Chapter 12 of Part 10 that utilizes an average daily attendance
calculation.
SEC. 5. Section 48313 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48313. (a) Pursuant to this article, each school district
electing to accept transfer pupils shall keep an accounting of all
requests made for alternative attendance and records of all
disposition of those requests that may shall
include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) The number of requests granted, denied, or withdrawn. In the
case of denied requests, the records may indicate the reasons for the
denials.
(2) The number of pupils transferred out of the district pursuant
to this article.
(3) The number of pupils transferred into the district pursuant to
this article.
(b) The information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a)
may shall be reported to the governing
board of the school district at a regularly scheduled meeting of the
governing board. The No later than May 15th
of each year, the school district annually
shall report the information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a)
in addition to information regarding the district's status as a
school district of choice to in the upcoming
school year to each school district that is geographically adjacent
to the district electing to accept transfer pupils, the county office
of education in which the district is located, and the
Superintendent on or before a date designated by the
Superintendent. Commencing in 2008, the Superintendent annually shall
make the information available to the Governor, the Legislature, and
the public on or before April 1 .
(c) On or before November 1, 2008, the department shall prepare
and submit to the Legislature a report evaluating interdistrict
transfer options within the state with an emphasis on the
interdistrict transfer program established pursuant to this article.
The report shall include, but is not limited to, the information
described in paragraphs (1) to (3), inclusive, of subdivision (a) and
all of the following:
(1) The number and characteristics of pupils who use one of the
various interdistrict transfer options and other school choice
options within the state, with a specific focus on pupils who use the
interdistrict transfer program established pursuant to this article.
The characteristics reported on pursuant to this paragraph shall
include, but not be limited to, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic
status, English proficiency, and whether or not the pupil
participates in a special education program, the International
Baccalaureate Program, or another specialized instructional program.
(2) The Academic Performance Index scores of schools in school
districts of residence and school districts of choice for the
previous five years, including subgroup scores.
(3) The graduation rates of school districts of residence and
school districts of choice for the previous five years.
(4) The enrollment of school districts of residence and school
districts of choice for the previous five years.
(5) The fiscal health of school districts of residence and school
districts of choice, including, but not limited to, both of the
following:
(A) Whether or not the school district is experiencing a decline
in enrollment.
(B) Whether or not the school district received a negative or
qualified rating of its certification pursuant to Section 42131.
(6) Whether any school district has exceeded the transfer limits
in Section 48307 and the resulting implications for the impacted
district.
(7) Other information the department deems appropriate, including
information related to educational outcomes of school districts of
residence and school districts of choice.
(8) Recommendations regarding the extension of the interdistrict
transfer program pursuant to this article.
(d) To the extent practicable, the department shall survey school
districts of residence and school districts of choice to gather the
information described in paragraphs (1) to (7), inclusive, of
subdivision (c).
SECTION 1. SEC. 6. Section 48314.5
of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 2. SEC. 7. Section 48315 of the
Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 3. SEC. 8. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure that pupils continue to have the opportunity to
apply for interdistrict transfers, it is necessary that this act
take effect immediately.