BILL NUMBER: AB 160 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 28, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
JANUARY 19, 2011
An act to amend Sections 48800, 48800.5, 48802, and 76001 of the
Education Code, relating to public schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 160, as amended, Portantino. Concurrent enrollment in secondary
school and community college.
Existing
(1) Existing law authorizes the
governing board of a school district to allow pupils whom the
district has determined would benefit from advanced scholastic or
vocational work to attend community college as special part-time
students, subject to parental permission. Existing law makes the
authority of a school principal to recommend a pupil for community
college summer session contingent upon a determination that the pupil
meets various criteria and prohibits the principal from recommending
more than 5% of the total number of pupils from any particular grade
level who completed that grade immediately prior to the time of
recommendation for summer session attendance, except as specified.
This bill instead would authorize the governing board of a school
district to enter into a partnership with a community college
district to allow secondary school pupils to attend a community
college during any session or term as a special part-time or
full-time student and undertake one or more courses of instruction
offered at the community college, subject to specified conditions.
The bill would delete the existing law provisions regarding summer
session. The bill would require the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, on or before January
March 1, 2012, and each year thereafter, to report to the
Department of Finance and the Legislature the number of pupils who
enroll in community college pursuant to these provisions, the courses
these pupils enroll in, and the number of these pupils who receive a
passing grade. The bill would prohibit a community college district
from receiving an allowance or apportionment for an instructional
activity for which a school district has been, or will be, paid.
(2) Existing law requires the governing board of a community
college district to assign a low enrollment priority to the pupils
recommended under this provision in order to ensure that these
pupils, admitted as special students, do not displace regularly
admitted students.
This bill would delete this requirement, and instead prohibit the
governing board of a community college district from assigning an
enrollment priority to these students to ensure that they do not
displace continuing students.
The bill also would make conforming changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Campuses of the California Community Colleges are located
throughout California and provide an educational resource for all
communities.
(b) Existing law allows certain high school pupils to take classes
at community colleges. These pupils are known as special-admits and
the programs in which they participate are known as concurrent
enrollment programs. The main target of these programs is advanced
education and the work completed in them is primarily defined as
college-level work.
(c) Existing law imposes strict limits on concurrent enrollment
programs. Only 5 percent of the pupils in any high school class may
enroll in a community college during summer sessions. In addition,
the types of classes pupils may take pursuant to these programs are
generally limited to advanced education classes.
(d) A serious abuse of concurrent enrollment programs by a few
school districts and community college districts several years ago
resulted in statutory reform and restrictions on this type of
enrollment.
(e) The current restrictions inhibit the ability of school
districts and their pupils to make maximum use of community college
facilities and opportunities. The time has come to encourage and
expand these valuable programs, but with appropriate statutory
prohibitions to guard against a repeat of the abuses of the past.
(f) Allowing high school pupils to take community college courses
could provide benefits to pupils and to the state in numerous ways,
including more opportunities for advanced scholastic work,
career-technical partnerships and coursework, basic skills
remediation, preparation for the high school exit examination,
English as a second language, and dropout prevention.
(g) Exposure to college classes and the college environment while
in high school improves college participation rates.
(h) Concurrent enrollment saves money for both the state and the
pupils and provides for more effective use of facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 48800 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48800. (a) (1) The governing board of a school district may enter
into a partnership with a community college district to provide
secondary school pupils who have exhausted all opportunities to
enroll in an equivalent course at the high school of attendance,
adult education program, continuation school, regional occupational
center or program, or any other programs offered by the local
governing board with the opportunity to benefit from advanced
scholastic or vocational work. scholastic,
career-technical, or other coursework at a campus of the California
Community Colleges. The intent of this section is to provide a
smoother transition from high school to college for pupils by
providing them with greater exposure to the collegiate atmosphere,
and to maximize the educational opportunities available to California'
s secondary school pupils by encouraging programs and partnerships
between school districts and community college districts, including,
but not limited to, advanced scholastic, college-level, and
career-technical coursework, summer school opportunities, high school
exit examination preparation, English as a second language, basic
skills remediation, and dropout intervention.
(2) A secondary school pupil , may attend a
community college during any session or term as a special part-time
or full-time student and undertake one or more courses of instruction
offered at the community college upon notification of the principal
of the pupil's school of attendance that the pupil has exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at the high school of
attendance, adult education program, continuation school, regional
occupational center or program, or any other program offered by the
local governing board, and with parental consent if the pupil is
under 18 years of age.
(b) A pupil shall receive credit for community college courses
that he or she completes at the level determined appropriate by the
governing boards of the school district and community college
district.
(c) On or before January March 1,
2012, and on or before January 1 of each year thereafter, the
Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall report to the
Department of Finance the number of pupils who enrolled in a
community college pursuant to subdivision (a), the courses that these
pupils enrolled in, and the number of these pupils who received a
passing grade. The information in this report may be submitted with
the report required by subdivision (c) of Section 76002.
SEC. 3. Section 48800.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48800.5. (a) A parent or guardian of a pupil, regardless of the
pupil's age or class level, may petition the governing board of the
school district in which the pupil is enrolled to authorize the
attendance of the pupil at a community college as a special full-time
student on the ground that the pupil would benefit from the
instruction that would thereby be available. If the governing board
denies the petition, the pupil's parent or guardian may file an
appeal with the county board of education, which shall render a final
decision on the petition in writing within 30 days.
(b) A pupil who attends a community college as a special full-time
student pursuant to this section is exempt from compulsory school
attendance under Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 46100) of Part
26.
(c) A parent or guardian of a pupil who is not enrolled in a
public school may directly petition the president of any community
college to authorize the attendance of the pupil at the community
college as a special part-time or full-time student on the ground
that the pupil would benefit from the instruction that would thereby
be available.
(d) Any pupil authorized to attend a community college as a
special full-time student shall, nevertheless, be required to
undertake courses of instruction of a scope and duration sufficient
to satisfy the requirements of law.
(e) For purposes of allowances and apportionments from the State
School Fund, a community college shall be credited with additional
units of average daily attendance attributable to the attendance of
special full-time students at the community college.
SEC. 4. Section 48802 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48802. (a) For purposes of allowances and apportionments from
Section B of the State School Fund, a community college shall be
credited with additional units of average daily attendance
attributable to the attendance of pupils at the community college as
special part-time students pursuant to this article and as set forth
in Section 76002.
(b) A school district whose pupils attend a community college as
special part-time students pursuant to this article shall, for
purposes of allowances and apportionments from Section A of the State
School Fund, continue to receive credit for attendance by those
pupils computed in the manner prescribed by law, and a pupil's
attendance at school for the minimum schoolday shall be deemed a day
of attendance for purposes of making the computation.
(c) A community college district shall not receive an allowance or
an apportionment for an instructional activity for which a school
district has been, or shall be, paid an allowance or an
apportionment.
SEC. 5. Section 76001 of the Education Code is amended to read:
76001. (a) The governing board of a community college district
may admit to any community college under its jurisdiction as a
special part-time or full-time student in any session or term any
student who is eligible to attend community college pursuant to
Section 48800 or 48800.5.
(b) The attendance of a pupil at a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student pursuant to this section is authorized
attendance, for which the community college shall be credited or
reimbursed pursuant to Sections 48802 and 76002, provided that no
school district has received reimbursement for the same instructional
activity. Credit for courses completed shall be at the level
determined to be appropriate by the school district and community
college district governing boards.
(c) For purposes of this section, a special part-time student may
enroll in up to, and including, 11 units per semester, or the
equivalent thereof, at the community college.
(d) The governing board of a community college district shall
assign a low enrollment priority to not
assign an enrollment priority to pupils admitted as special
part-time or full-time students described in subdivision (a)
, as described in subdivision (a), in order to
ensure that these students do not displace regularly
admitted continuing students.