BILL NUMBER: AB 644 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 29, 2012
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 30, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 24, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 8, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Blumenfield and Atkins
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to add and repeal Section 46300.8 of the Education Code,
relating to schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 644, Blumenfield. Schools: average daily attendance: online
instruction.
Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary
school system in this state, and further establishes a funding system
pursuant to which the state apportions funds to local educational
agencies based on, among other factors, the average daily attendance
of pupils at the schools operated by those agencies. Numerous
statutes and regulations govern the calculation and reporting of
average daily attendance.
This bill, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, would
authorize, for purposes of computing average daily attendance, the
inclusion of pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, under the immediate
supervision and control of a certificated employee of the school
district or county office of education who is delivering synchronous,
online instruction, as defined, provided that this instruction meets
specified criteria. The bill would require, if a school district or
county office of education elects to offer synchronous, online
instruction, that the school district or county office of education
provide all pupils who choose to enroll in an online course access to
the computer hardware or software necessary for the pupil to
participate in the course. The bill would require the Superintendent
of Public Instruction to establish rules and regulations for purposes
of implementing these provisions and require those rules and
regulations to, at a minimum, address specified matters. The bill
would also authorize the Superintendent to provide guidance regarding
the ability of a school district or county office of education to
provide synchronous, online instruction. The bill would make all of
these provisions inoperative on July 1, 2019, and repeal them on
January 1, 2020.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 46300.8 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
46300.8. (a) Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, attendance
of pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, under the immediate
supervision and control of a certificated employee of the school
district or county office of education who is delivering synchronous,
online instruction shall be included in computing average daily
attendance, provided that all of the following occur:
(1) The certificated employee providing the instruction confirms
pupil attendance through visual recognition during the class period.
A pupil logon, without any other pupil identification, is not
sufficient to confirm pupil attendance.
(2) The class has regularly scheduled starting and ending times,
and the pupil is scheduled to attend the entire class period. Average
daily attendance shall be counted only for attendance in classes
held at the regularly scheduled time.
(3) An individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section
56026, may participate in synchronous, online instruction only if his
or her individualized education program developed pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with Section 56340) of Chapter 4 of Part 30
specifically provides for that participation.
(4) If a school district or county office of education elects to
offer synchronous, online instruction pursuant to this paragraph, the
school district or county office of education shall not deny
enrollment to a pupil based solely on the pupil's lack of access to
the computer hardware or software necessary to participate in the
synchronous, online course. If a pupil chooses to enroll in a
synchronous, online course and does not have access to the necessary
equipment, the school district or county office of education shall
provide, for each pupil who chooses to enroll in a synchronous,
online course, access to the computer hardware or software necessary
to participate in the synchronous, online course.
(5) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online
pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to school district
full-time equivalent certificated employees responsible for
synchronous, online instruction, calculated as specified by the
department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to
full-time certificated employees for all other educational programs
operated by the school district, unless a higher or lower ratio is
negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
(6) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online
pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to county office of
education full-time equivalent certificated employees who provide
synchronous, online instruction, to be calculated in a manner
prescribed by the department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio
of pupils to full-time certificated employees for all other
educational programs operated by the high school or unified school
district with the greatest average daily attendance of pupils in that
county, unless a higher or lower ratio is provided for in a
collective bargaining agreement. The computation of the ratios
specified in paragraph (5) and this paragraph shall be performed
annually by the reporting agency at the time of, and in connection
with, the second principal apportionment report to the
Superintendent.
(b) The Superintendent shall establish rules and regulations for
purposes of implementing this section that, at a minimum, address all
of the following:
(1) How school districts and county offices of education include
pupil attendance in online courses in the calculation of average
daily attendance pursuant to Section 46300.
(2) How to ensure a pupil meets minimum instructional time
requirements pursuant to the following:
(A) Section 46141 and Section 46201, 46201.5, or 46202, as
applicable, for pupils enrolled in a noncharter school in a school
district or county office of education.
(B) Section 46170, for pupils enrolled in a continuation school.
(C) Section 46180, for pupils enrolled in an opportunity school.
(3) Require statewide testing results for online pupils to be
reported and assigned to the school in which the pupil is enrolled
for regular classroom courses, and to any school district or county
office of education within which that school's testing results are
aggregated.
(4) Require attendance accounted for pursuant to this section to
be subject to the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(c) The Superintendent may provide guidance regarding the ability
of a school district or county office of education to provide
synchronous, online instruction.
(d) For purposes of this section, "synchronous, online instruction"
means a class or course in which the pupil and the certificated
employee who is providing instruction are online at the same time and
use real-time, Internet-based collaborative software that combines
audio, video, file sharing, and other forms of interaction.
(e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2019, and, as
of January 1, 2020, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.