BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 216|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 216
Author: Stone (D) and Maienschein (R)
Amended: 9/3/13 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/12/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff,
Monning, Torres
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : High school graduation requirements: foster youth
SOURCE : Children Now
DIGEST : This bill provides clarification and reconciles
inconsistencies between existing statutes relative to exempting
foster youth from local graduation requirements and extending
eligibility for foster care beyond age 18, as specified.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Requires a pupil to pass both the English language arts and
mathematics portions of the California High School Exit Exam
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and complete the following courses as a condition of
graduating from high school:
A. Three years of English.
B. Two years of mathematics.
C. Two years of science, including biological and physical
sciences.
D. Three years of social studies, including United States
history and geography; world history, culture, and
geography; one semester of American government and civics,
and one semester of economics.
E. One year of visual or performing arts, foreign language,
or until July 1, 2017, career technical education.
F. Two years of physical education.
1.Requires one of the two years of mathematics to meet or exceed
the rigor of the content standards for Algebra I.
2.Authorizes school districts to impose additional coursework
requirements as a condition of graduation from high school.
3.Requires school districts to exempt a pupil in foster care
from district graduation requirements that exceed state
requirements if the pupil transfers into the district, or
transfers from one high school to another within a district,
while in the 11th or 12th grade, unless the district makes a
finding that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the
additional requirements in time to graduate from high school
while he/she remains eligible for foster care.
4.Requires school districts to notify a pupil who has been
granted an exemption, and the person holding the right to make
educational decisions for the pupil, if the exemption will
affect the pupil's ability to gain admission to a
postsecondary institution. The notification must also include
information about transfer opportunities available through the
California Community Colleges (CCCs).
5.Beginning January 1, 2012, foster youth are eligible to
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receive support up to 19 years of age; effective January 1,
2013, up to 20 years of age; and effective January 1, 2014, up
to 21 years of age, as long as certain conditions are met,
including when one or more of the following conditions exist:
A. The youth is completing secondary education or a program
leading to an equivalent credential.
B. The youth is enrolled in an institution which provides
postsecondary or vocational education.
C. The youth is participating in a program or activity
designed to promote, or remove barriers to employment.
D. The youth is employed for at least 80 hours per month.
E. The youth is incapable of doing any of the activities
described above due to a medical condition, and that
incapability is supported by regularly updated information
in the case plan of the youth.
This bill provides clarification and reconciles inconsistencies
between existing statutes relative to exempting foster youth
from local graduation requirements and extending eligibility for
foster care beyond age 18. Specifically, this bill:
1.Clarifies that the existing exemption from local graduation
requirements applies to a pupil who meets both of the
following criteria:
A. The pupil has been removed from his/her home and placed
in temporary custody, is the subject of a petition for
dependency (foster care) or delinquency (ward of the
court), or has been removed from his/her home and is
subject to a petition for dependency or delinquency.
B. The pupil transfers between schools any time after the
completion of the pupil's second year of high school.
1.Provides that a school district may determine that a pupil is
reasonably able to complete the local graduation requirements
within the pupil's fifth year of high school, and if such a
determination is made, requires the district to:
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A. Inform the pupil of the option to remain in school for a
fifth year to complete the local graduation requirements.
B. Inform the pupil and the person holding the right to
make educational decisions for the pupil, about how
remaining in school for a fifth year will affect the
pupil's ability to gain admission to a postsecondary
educational institution.
C. Provide information to the pupil about transfer
opportunities available through the CCCs.
D. Permit the pupil to stay in school for a fifth year to
complete the local graduation requirements upon agreement
with the pupil (if over age 18) or the person holding the
right to make educational decisions (if the pupil is under
age 18).
1.Provides that, to determine whether a pupil is in the third or
fourth year of high school, either the number of credits the
pupil has earned to the date of transfer or the length of the
pupil's school enrollment may be used, whichever will qualify
the pupil for the exemption.
2.Limits the duration of time that a foster youth may have to
complete local graduation requirements, as determined by the
school district, from the duration of the pupil's eligibility
for foster care (which may now extend beyond age 18) to the
end of the pupil's fourth year of high school.
3.Requires, within 30 calendar days of the date that a pupil who
may qualify for the exemption transfers into a school, the
school district to notify the pupil, the person holding the
right to make educational decisions for the pupil, and the
pupil's social worker of the availability of the exemption and
whether the pupil qualifies for the exemption.
4.Requires a school district to exempt a pupil at any time if an
exemption is requested and the pupil qualifies for the
exemption (if the pupil was not previously exempted or
declined the exemption).
5.Prohibits a school district from revoking the exemption.
6.Provides that a pupil who is exempted from local graduation
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requirements and would otherwise be entitled to continue
attending school is not to be required to accept the exemption
or be denied enrollment in or the ability to complete courses
for which he/she is otherwise eligible, including courses
necessary to attend a four-year university, regardless of
whether those courses are required for statewide graduation
requirements.
7.Prohibits a school district from requiring or requesting the
pupil to graduate before the end of his/her fourth year of
high school if the pupil is exempted from local graduation
requirements, and completes the statewide graduation
requirements and would otherwise be entitled to continue
attending school.
8.Clarifies that the exemption is to continue to apply after the
termination of the court's jurisdiction over the pupil while
he/she is enrolled in school or if the pupil transfers to
another school or school district.
9.Prohibits a school district from requiring or requesting that
a pupil transfer schools in order to qualify for an exemption.
10.Prohibits the person from holding the right to make
educational decisions for the pupil, the pupil's social
worker, or the pupil's probation officer shall not request a
transfer solely to qualify the pupil for an exemption pursuant
to this bill.
11.Expands existing notification requirements to describe how,
rather than if, any waived graduation requirements will affect
the pupil's ability to gain admission to a postsecondary
educational institution.
12.Prohibits a school district from withdrawing the exemption
after it is granted.
Comments
According to the author's office, "This bill seeks to resolve a
conflict in the Education Code created by two measures adopted
one year after the other. Initially proposed to allow a foster
youth to be exempted should they not be reasonably able to
complete the school district's graduation requirement by the age
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of 19, AB 167 (Adams, 2009) was amended in anticipation of the
adoption of AB 12 (Beall) in 2010. AB 12 opted the state into
two provisions of the federal Fostering Connections to Success
and Increasing Adoptions Act of 2008. One of the provisions
allows states to extend the eligibility definition for foster
care beyond the age of 18, to age 21. This has resulted in
misunderstandings about whether a school district should or
should not retain a youth eligible for foster care services
beyond their fourth year of high school in order to allow them
to meet the district's local graduation requirements. This has
raised concerns that foster youth presented with having to
pursue a fifth, sixth or even seventh year to achieve a diploma
could have the unintended consequence of incentivizing rather
than dis-incentivizing a foster youth to drop out of high
school."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Mandate: Potentially significant costs to expand a statutory
mandate on LEAs. Costs would likely be minor for each LEA,
but would likely exceed $100,000 General Fund statewide.
ADA: Likely minor increase in enrollment and ADA funding, to
the extent that students in foster care decide to continue to
attend high school for a 5th year as a result of this bill.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/3/13)
Children Now (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
ASPIRAnet
Association of California School Administrators
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
California Probation, Parole, and Correctional Association
California School Boards Association
California Welfare Directors Association
Chief Probation Officers of California
Children's Law Center of California
Children's Rights Project
East Bay Children's Law Offices
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Junior League of Orange County
Junior League of San Diego
Junior Leagues of California
Juvenile Court Judges of California
Laborers' Locals 777 and 792
National Center for Youth Law
San Francisco Unified School District
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/18/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones,
Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor,
Medina, Melendez, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian,
Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Torres, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams,
Yamada, John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Lowenthal, Mitchell, Vacancy
PQ:ej 9/3/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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