BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 570
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 8, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 570 (Jones-Sawyer) - As Amended: April 25, 2013
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:6-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires the governing board of a school district that
operates at least one high school to establish and adopt
policies and procedures governing the identification, placement,
and intake procedures of pupils who voluntarily enroll in
continuation schools. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the policies and procedures to ensure there is a
clear criterion for determining which pupils may voluntarily
transfer, or be recommended for a transfer, to a continuation
school, and requires this criterion be consistently applied on
a districtwide basis.
2)Requires approval for the voluntary transfer of a pupil to a
continuation school to be based on a finding that the
voluntary placement will promote the educational interests of
the pupil.
3)Requires the policies and procedures to ensure 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.
4)Requires the policies and procedures to strive to ensure 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.
5)Requires a copy of the adopted policies and procedures to be
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provided to a pupil whose voluntary transfer to a continuation
school is under consideration and his or her parent/guardian.
Further requires copies of the policies/procedures to be made
readily available to all pupils and parents/guardians, at
schoolsites, and on the school or district's Internet website.
6)Requires the State Department of Education (SDE) to develop
model standards for guiding school districts in implementing
the policies and procedures they adopt to govern the
identification, placement, and intake procedures for pupils
who voluntarily enroll in continuation schools.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)One-time GF/98 state mandated reimbursable costs, likely in
excess of $5 million, to school districts to establish
policies and procedures governing the enrollment of pupils in
continuation schools and make copies available at schoolsites,
as specified.
2)One-time GF administrative costs, likely in excess of
$200,000, to SDE to develop model standards for guiding
districts in implementing the policies and procedures required
in this measure.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . Continuation schools are an alternative high school
education program for students who are at least 16 years of
age or older, have not graduated from high school, are still
required to attend school, and who are at risk of not
graduating. According to SDE, "Many students in continuation
education are behind in high school credits. Others may need a
flexible school schedule because they have jobs outside of
school. Some students choose continuation education because of
family needs or other circumstances."
In May 2012 the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on Law and
Social Policy (UC Berkeley, School of Law) and the John W.
Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities (Stanford
University) released a report entitled Raising the Bar;
Building Capacity: Driving Improvement in California's
Continuation High Schools (Ruiz De Valasco, Jorge and
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McLaughlin, Milbrey). The report states: "Continuation
schools are, however, more racially and ethnically
concentrated than the state's traditional comprehensive high
schools. Hispanic students comprise 55% of all students in
continuation schools, and although African American
enrollments in continuation schools approximate those of
comprehensive schools statewide, they tend to be
overrepresented in many districts."
The report makes numerous recommendations regarding improving
instruction and the overall purpose of continuation high
schools. One of the recommendations is to require school
districts to "articulate a coherent set of identification,
placement, and school intake procedures that are applicable to
all alternative school options in the district, including
continuation schools. [The procedures] should be written,
transparent, and available to all students and parents and
community stakeholders to promote greater parent
understanding, school accountability, and community
engagement." This bill implements this recommendation.
2)Existing law establishes continuation schools to provide an
opportunity for pupils to complete the required academic
courses of instruction to graduate high school and provide
instruction that emphasizes a work-study schedule. Statute
requires a minimum day of attendance in a continuation school
to be 180 minutes (three hours), but no pupil can be credited
with more than 15 hours of attendance per school week.
According to SDE, "many continuation programs provide a wide
spectrum of courses that exceed the minimum daily
requirement."
In October 2010, there were 499 continuation high schools
reporting an enrollment of 69,510 students. SDE demographic
reports from prior school years, however, indicate that the
total number of students served by these schools over the
entire year averaged over 116,500.
Current law requires the governing board of each high school
or unified school district to adopt rules and regulations
governing procedures for the involuntary transfer of pupils to
continuation schools. These rules/regulations include
requiring written notice be given to a pupil and his or her
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parent/guardian informing them of the opportunity to request a
meeting with the district superintendent prior to the
transfer, as specified.
Under existing law, an involuntary transfer of a pupil to a
continuation school is required to be based on a finding that
the pupil was suspended or has been habitually truant, as
specified. Statute prohibits an involuntary transfer from
extending beyond the end of the semester following the
semester during which the pupil committed the acts that lead
to the transfer, unless the governing board of the district
adopts a procedure for yearly review of the transfer, as
specified.
Statute requires a pupil who has voluntarily transferred to a
continuation school to have the right of return to the regular
high school at the beginning of the following year or any time
with the consent of a designee of the district superintendent.
This bill does not alter this provision; instead, it requires
policies and procedures to govern the initial voluntary
transfer to a continuation school.
Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081