BILL NUMBER: AB 203 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 21, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Brownley
JANUARY 27, 2011
An act to amend Section 53300 Sections
53300 an d 53301 of, and to add Section
53304 Sections 53304 and 53305 to, the Education
Code, relating to school intervention.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 203, as amended, Brownley. Public schools: parent empowerment:
school intervention.
Existing law requires a local educational agency to implement one
of several specified interventions for a school not identified as a
persistently lowest achieving
lowest-achieving school that, after one full school year, fails
to meet specified criteria and has a specified percentage of parents
and legal guardians of pupils sign a petition requesting the local
educational agency to implement at least one of 5 specified
interventions. Existing law requires a local educational agency
to implement the intervention option requested by the petition unless
the agency makes a specified finding in a regularly scheduled public
hearing.
This bill would also require interventions to be implemented
for a school that is identified as persistently lowest-achieving but
does not receive specified school improvement grant funding. The bill
would require a governing board of a local education agency to allow
parents and legal guardians who have objections to the intervention
option requested by the petition the opportunity to provide public
testimony regarding the reasons for their objections, consideration
of which would be required to be included in the gove
rning board's final disposition. To the extent these provisions would
impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill
would impose a state-mandated local program.
The bill would prohibit more than one parent or
legal guardian from signing a petition and would require any written
information provided to parents or legal guardians pursuant to these
provisions to meet specified language requirements. The bill would
require the State Department of Education to provide ,
specified information on its Internet Web site,
information in easy to understand terms ,
regarding that the petition
process and those , the 5
intervention options that parents and legal guardians may request
, and a sample petition that meets specified requirements
. The bill would also make clarifying changes to, and state
legislative intent regarding provide definition
s for , those intervention petition provisions.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no yes .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature
to enact legislation that would establish parameters for the Parent
Empowerment Program to ensure that parents and legal guardians of
pupils have access to appropriate and adequate information regarding
the program and the options for reforms, and to establish a uniform
process for gathering and verifying signatures.
SEC. 2. SECTION 1. Section 53300 of
the Education Code is amended to read:
53300. (a) For any school that is
not identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school
under Section 53201 which , or is identified
as a persistently lowest-achieving school but does not receive
funding under the federal School Improvement Grant Program pursuant
to Section 6303 of Title 20 of the United States Code, that ,
after one full school year , is subject to of
corrective action pursuant to paragraph (7) of Section 1116(b)
of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.) and , continues to
fail to make adequate yearly progress, and has an Academic
Performance Index score of less than 800, and where at least one-half
of the parents or legal guardians of pupils attending the school, or
a combination of at least one-half of the parents or legal guardians
of pupils attending the school and the elementary or middle schools
that normally matriculate into a middle or high school, as
applicable, sign a petition requesting the local educational agency
to implement one or more of the four interventions identified
pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of
Section 53202 or the federally mandated alternative governance
arrangement pursuant to Section 1116(b)(8)(B)(v) of the federal
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.),
the local educational agency shall implement the option requested by
the parents and legal guardians unless, in a regularly scheduled
public hearing, the local educational agency makes a finding in
writing stating the reason it cannot implement the specific
recommended option and instead designates in writing which of the
other options described in this section it will implement in the
subsequent school year consistent with requirements specified in
federal regulations and guidelines for schools subject to
restructuring under Section 1116(b)(8) of the federal Elementary and
Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and regulations
and guidelines for the four interventions identified pursuant to
paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive, of subdivision (a) of Section
53202.
(b) For purposes of this article, both of the following
requirements shall apply:
(1) No more than one parent or legal guardian per pupil may sign a
petition.
(2) Any written information provided to parents or legal
guardians, including a petition, shall meet the language requirements
of Section 48985.
SEC. 2. Section 53301 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
53301. (a) The local educational agency shall notify the
Superintendent and the state board upon receipt of a petition under
Section 53300 and upon its final disposition of that petition.
(b) If the local educational agency indicates in writing that it
will implement in the upcoming school year a different alternative
governance arrangement than requested by the parents, the local
educational agency shall notify the Superintendent and the state
board that the alternative governance option selected has substantial
promise of enabling the school to make adequate yearly progress as
defined in the federally mandated state plan under Section 1111(b)(2)
of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(c) In a regularly scheduled public hearing where the governing
board of a local educational agency determines whether to implement
the option requested by the petition, or implement another option,
the governing board shall allow parents and legal guardians who have
objections to the option requested in the petition the opportunity to
provide public testimony regarding the reasons for their objections.
The governing board shall include consideration of those objections
in the final disposition submitted to the Superintendent and the
state board.
SEC. 3. Section 53304 is added to the Education Code, to read:
53304. The department shall provide all of the following, in
easy to understand terms , on its Internet Web site,
information site:
(a) Information regarding the
petition process authorized pursuant to this article and the five
intervention options referenced in Section 53300 that parents and
legal guardians may request. The information provided on the
Internet Web site shall be written in easy to understand terms.
(b) A sample petition that can be used by interested petitioners.
The sample petition shall be available in other languages pursuant to
Section 48985. Petitioners shall not be required to use the sample
petition, but alternate petitions shall contain all components
required by law.
SEC. 4. Section 53305 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
53305. For purposes of this article, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) "Parents or legal guardians" means the natural or adoptive
parents, legal guardians, or other persons holding the right to make
educational decisions for the pupil pursuant to Section 56028 or
56055, or Section 361 or 727 of the Welfare and Institutions Code,
including, but not limited to, foster parents who hold rights to make
educational decisions on the date the petition is submitted.
(b) "A combination of at least one-half of the parents or legal
guardians of pupils attending the school and the elementary or middle
schools that normally matriculate into a middle or high school, as
applicable" means one-half of the total number of parents and legal
guardians of pupils who attend the school or an elementary or middle
school that normally matriculates into a middle or high school, as
applicable.
SEC. 5. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.