BILL ANALYSIS Ó ------------------------------------------------------------ |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 207| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ------------------------------------------------------------ THIRD READING Bill No: AB 207 Author: Ammiano (D) Amended: 6/8/11 in Senate Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-2, 6/15/11 AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Price, Vargas NOES: Blakeslee, Huff NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Simitian, Vacancy ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-23, 4/25/11 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : School attendance: residency requirements SOURCE : Author DIGEST : This bill requires school districts to accept reasonable evidence that a pupil meets the residency requirements for school attendance in that district, and specifies which documentation schools must accept as proof of residency. ANALYSIS : Existing Law 1.Requires pupils to attend school in the district in which the residency of either the parent or legal guardian is located. CONTINUED AB 207 Page 2 2.Provides that a pupil meets residency requirements under the following circumstances: A. A pupils is placed in a regularly established licensed children's institution, or a licensed foster home, or a family home. B. A pupil for who interdistrict attendance has been approved. C. A pupil whose parent or legal guardian is relieved of responsibility, control and authority through emancipation. D. A pupil who lives in the home of a caregiving adult (an affidavit under penalty of perjury is required). E. A pupil residing in a state hospital. F. Until July 1, 2012, a pupil with at least one parent or legal guardian who is physically employed within the boundaries of that district. 3.Authorizes school districts adjacent to an international boarder to accept a wide range of documents and representations as reasonable evidence that the pupil meets the residency requirements for school attendance within the district. Documentation of residency for these districts may include, but are not limited to: A. Property tax payment receipts. B. Rent payment receipts. C. Utility service payment receipts. D. Declaration of residency executed by the parent or guardian of the pupil. 4.Requires a school district that is adjacent to an international border to make reasonable efforts to determine that the pupil actually meets the residency requirements if any employee of the district reasonably CONTINUED AB 207 Page 3 believes that the parent or guardian has provided false or unreliable evidence of residency. This bill requires school districts to accept reasonable evidence that a pupil meets the residency requirements for school attendance in that district, and specifies which documentation schools must accept as proof of residency. Specifically, this bill: 1.Requires a school district to accept from the parent or guardian of a pupil reasonable evidence that the pupil meets the residency requirements for school attendance in the district. 2.Requires reasonable evidence of residency for a pupil living with his or her parent or guardian to be established by documentation showing the name and address of the parent or guardian within the school district, including, but not limited to, any of the following documentation: A. Property tax payment receipts. B. Rental property contract, lease, or payment receipts. C. Utility service contract, statement, or payment receipts. D. Pay stubs. E. Voter registration. F. Correspondence from a government agency. G. Declaration of residency executed by the parent or guardian. 3.Prohibits anything in this bill from being construed to require a parent or guardian to show all of the documents listed above. 4.Authorizes a school district to make reasonable efforts to determine that the pupil actually meets the residency CONTINUED AB 207 Page 4 requirements if any employee of a district reasonably believes that the parent or guardian has provided false or unreliable evidence of residency. 5.Prohibits anything in this bill from being construed as limiting access to pupil enrollment in a school district as otherwise provided by federal and state statutes and regulations. This specifically includes immediate enrollment and attendance guaranteed to a homeless child or youth without any proof of residency or other documentation pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. 6.Prohibits a school district from requiring proof of residency for an unaccompanied youth (the definition of which includes homeless and foster youth), consisted with the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. A school district must accept a declaration of residency executed by the unaccompanied youth in lieu of a declaration of residency executed by his or her parent or guardian. 7.Deletes existing law relative to reasonable evidence of residency in school districts that are adjacent to an international boarder. Background The California Department of Education (CDE) has issued legal advisories intended to assist school districts and county offices of education regarding the information they may rely on to determine that a pupil is a resident for purposes of school attendance, including, in the context of homeless pupils, advising districts to accept any kind of document, including a parental declaration of intent to remain in the district for an indefinite period. In Legal Advisory LO:1-95, (March 3, 1995) the CDE states that the general rule is that districts may accept a wide range of documents and parent representation regarding residency, there is no particular list of documents that may be accepted, and that any reasonable evidence of residence is sufficient. Comments CONTINUED AB 207 Page 5 Local Control . This bill essentially prohibits school districts from refusing to accept certain documents as proof of residency, thereby diminishing the discretion of school districts to determine which documents to accept. While this bill does allow districts to accept documents not listed in the bill, districts would be required to accept documents listed in this bill as reasonable evidence of residency. Prior Legislation AB 1854 (Ammiano), 2009-10 Session, was nearly identical to this bill. Passed the Senate with a vote of 21-11 on 8/18/10. The bill was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read: "This bill would undermine and potentially limit a local district's current residency verification process. Determining what proofs of residency should be accepted should continue to remain a local decision. Nothing in current law prohibits a school district from using any type of documentation that fits its local circumstances." SB 1735 (Romero), 2007-08 Session, was very similar to this bill. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 23-14 on 8/21/08. The bill was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto message read: "The historic delay in passing the 2008-09 State Budget has forced me to prioritize the bills sent to my desk at the end of the year's legislative session. Given the delay, I am only signing bills that are the highest priority for California. This bill does not meet that standard and I cannot sign it at this time." FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/16/11) American Civil Liberties Union American Federation of State, County and Municipal CONTINUED AB 207 Page 6 Employees Asian Law Alliance California Association for Bilingual Education California Federation of Teachers California Immigrant Policy Center California Teachers Association Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles Evergreen School District Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund Public Advocates Public Counsel Services Immigrant Rights & Education Network OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/16/11) Greater South Bay Education Coalition ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, "Without uniform guidelines on the procedures school districts need to perform to verify student residency, school districts across the state have created inconsistent and sometimes overly burdensome requirements on students and their parents or guardians to establish their residence in the school district. Some families, including victims of domestic violence, immigrant and low wage workers, and the homeless, often have difficulty in providing proof to establish residency within a school district." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-23, 4/25/11 AYES: Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford, Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Davis, Dickinson, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Gordon, Hall, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill, Hueso, Huffman, Lara, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Portantino, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NOES: Achadjian, Bill Berryhill, Conway, Cook, Donnelly, Fletcher, Garrick, Gatto, Grove, Halderman, Harkey, Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Mansoor, Miller, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Valadao, Wagner NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Furutani, Gorell, CONTINUED AB 207 Page 7 Hagman, Huber, Jones, Norby, Olsen, Vacancy CPM:cm 6/16/11 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED