BILL NUMBER: AB 570	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 25, 2013
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 14, 2013

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Jones-Sawyer

                        FEBRUARY 20, 2013

   An act to  amend Section 46170 of, and to  add
Section 48432.3  to,   to  the Education
Code, relating to continuation schools.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 570, as amended, Jones-Sawyer. Continuation schools: 
minutes of attendance   policies and procedures  :
voluntary placement.
   (1) Existing law establishes continuation schools to provide
opportunities for pupils to complete the required academic courses of
instruction to graduate from high school, to provide a program of
instruction that emphasizes occupational orientation or a work-study
schedule and offers intensive guidance services to meet the special
needs of pupils, and to provide a program designed to meet the
educational needs of each pupil, as specified. Existing law requires
the governing board of each high school or unified school district
that assigns pupils to continuation schools to adopt rules and
regulations governing procedures for the involuntary transfer of
pupils to continuation schools. 
   Existing law requires the governing board of each school district
to fix the length of the schoolday for the several grades and classes
of the schools maintained by the district, subject to the provisions
as prescribed. Under existing law, in continuation high schools and
continuation education classes, a day of attendance is 180 minutes of
attendance, but no pupil is credited with more than 15 hours of
attendance per school week, proportionately reduced for those school
weeks having weekday holidays on which classes are not held.
 
   This bill would change the requirement of 180 minutes to 240
minutes for a day of attendance at a continuation high school or a
continuation education class. 
   This bill would require the governing boards of school districts
that operate high schools to establish and adopt policies and
procedures governing the identification, placement, and intake
procedures for pupils who voluntarily enroll in continuation schools,
based on a finding that the voluntary placement of the pupil will
promote his or her educational interests.  The bill would require
that voluntary placement in continuation school not be used as an
alternative to expulsion, except as specified, and would require that
these policies and procedures ensure that no specific group of
pupils, as specified, is disproportionately enrolled in continuation
schools within the school district.  The bill would require
these policies and procedures to be provided to pupils whose
voluntary transfer to a continuation school is under consideration,
and to the parents or legal guardians of those pupils. The bill would
require that copies of these policies and procedures be made readily
available to all pupils, and to all parents or legal guardians of
pupils, at schoolsites and on the school's or school district's
Internet Web site. The bill would require the State Department of
Education to develop model standards for guiding school districts
with respect to implementing the policies and procedures adopted
under this bill. Because this bill establishes new duties for school
districts, it would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (2) 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: yes.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Section 46170 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
   46170.  In continuation high schools and continuation education
classes, a day of attendance is 240 minutes of attendance, but no
pupil shall be credited with more than 15 hours of attendance per
school week, proportionately reduced for those school weeks having
weekday holidays on which classes are not held. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   Section 48432.3
is added to the Education Code, to read:
   48432.3.  (a) The governing board of a school district that
operates at least one high school shall establish and adopt policies
and procedures governing the identification, placement, and intake
procedures for pupils who voluntarily enroll in continuation schools.
These policies and procedures shall ensure that there is a clear
criterion for determining which pupils may voluntarily transfer or be
recommended for a transfer to a continuation school and that this
criterion is not applied arbitrarily, but is consistently applied on
a districtwide basis. Approval for the voluntary transfer of a pupil
to a continuation school shall be based on a finding that the
voluntary placement will promote the educational interests of the
pupil.
   (b) The policies and procedures adopted under this section shall
 ensure both of the following:  
   (1) That no specific group of pupils, including a group based on
race, ethnicity, language status, or special needs, is
disproportionately enrolled in continuation schools within the school
district. 
    (2)     That 
 ensure that  voluntary placement in a continuation school
will not be used as an alternative to expulsion unless alternative
means of addressing a pupil's behavior have been considered and
documented. 
   (c) The policies and procedures adopted under this section shall
strive to ensure that no specific group of pupils, including a group
based on race, ethnicity, language status, or special needs, is
disproportionately enrolled in continuation schools within the school
district.  
   (c) 
    (d)  A copy of the policies and procedures adopted under
this section shall be provided to a pupil whose voluntary transfer
to a continuation school is under consideration, and to the parents
or legal guardians of that pupil. Copies of these policies and
procedures shall also be made readily available to all pupils, and to
all parents or legal guardians of pupils, at schoolsites and on the
school's or school district's Internet Web site. 
   (d) 
    (e)  The department shall develop model standards for
guiding school districts with respect to implementing the policies
and procedures they adopt under this section to govern the
identification, placement, and intake procedures for pupils who
voluntarily enroll in continuation schools.
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.   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.