BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1851| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- CONSENT Bill No: AB 1851 Author: Bradford (D) Amended: 5/14/14 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 6/18/14 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Huff, Monning ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-1, 5/23/14 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : School attendance: interdistrict attendance SOURCE : Los Angeles County Office of Education DIGEST : This bill extends the sunset date, from July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2018, that authorizes county boards of education (CBEs), with countywide average daily attendance (ADA) greater than 180,000, to determine whether a pupil who has filed an interdistrict appeal should be permitted to attend in the district in which the pupil desires to attend, within 40 schooldays. ANALYSIS : Existing law provides for several means to authorize interdistrict attendance of a pupil who resides in one school district but wishes to attend public school in another school district. The main authorization provides for interdistrict attendance when both the district of residence and district of proposed attendance agree. This process allows the parent or guardian of a pupil requesting interdistrict attendance to appeal to the CBE in the event that either CONTINUED AB 1851 Page 2 district refuses the requested transfer. In addition, current law allows the governing board of a school district for a period not to exceed two school months to provisionally admit to their schools a pupil who resides in another district, pending a decision of the two boards, or by the CBE upon appeal, regarding the interdistrict attendance. The provisional attendance may be counted by the district of attendance for revenue limit and state apportionment purposes. Existing law, specifies if either district fails to approve the interdistrict attendance of a pupil, or in the case of the failure or refusal of the districts to enter into an agreement, the person having legal custody of the pupil may appeal to the CBE and, requires the CBE to determine, within 30 calendar days, whether the pupil should be permitted to attend in the district in which the pupil desires; and, specifies that the CBE in a Class 1 or Class 2 county shall, within 40 schooldays after the appeal is filed, determine whether the pupil should be permitted to attend in the district in which the pupil desires to attend and the applicable period of time. Specifies, in the event that compliance by the CBE within the time requirement for determining whether the pupil should be permitted to attend in the district in which the pupil desires to attend is impractical, the CBE or the county superintendent of schools, for good cause, may extend the time period for up to an additional five schooldays. Existing law defines "Class 1 County" to mean a county with 1994-95 countywide ADA of more than 500,000; and defines "Class 2 county" to mean a county with 1994-95 countywide ADA of at least 180,000 but less than 500,000 ADA. This bill extends the sunset date, from July 1, 2015 to July 1, 2018, that authorizes CBEs, with countywide ADA greater than 180,000, to determine whether a pupil who has filed an interdistrict appeal should be permitted to attend in the district in which the pupil desires to attend, within 40 schooldays. Prior Legislation AB 1085 (Davis, Chapter 87, Statutes 2011) authorized CBEs, with countywide ADA greater than 180,000, to determine whether a pupil who has filed an interdistrict appeal should be permitted CONTINUED AB 1851 Page 3 to attend in the district in which the pupil desires to attend, within 40-schooldays; and, specifies that it is the intent of the Legislature that school districts and CBEs make best efforts to process interdistrict attendance appeals in an expeditious fashion. This authorization will sunset as of July 1, 2015. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No Local: No SUPPORT : (Verified 6/19/14) Los Angeles County Office of Education (source) Fresno County Office of Education Orange County Department of Education San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools San Diego Office of Education Santa Clara Office of Education ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, this bill extends the sunset to July 1, 2018, the law that increased the timeline for CBE in Class 1 and Class 2 counties to determine, on appeal, whether a pupil should be permitted to attend school in the district in which the pupil desires. The Los Angeles County Office of Education handles more transfer appeals than any other county in the state. The original sunset is scheduled for July 1, 2015, and to-date it has been successful. The Los Angeles County Office of Education has maintained its internal goal of continuing to process each case in a timely, expeditious manner, with the 30 calendar days being the goal. Parents have also experienced more time to process their appeals packets, resulting in fewer parents missing the timelines than before. When there are a large number of cases, and when there are vacation days, family emergencies or other issues, the extra time can make it easier on everyone. The original sunset date was inserted with the belief that this law would no longer be necessary at some point. Unfortunately, this has not been the case, and the appeals have not decreased, but rather increased to over 1,100 in 2012-13. ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 74-1, 5/23/14 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth CONTINUED AB 1851 Page 4 Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins NOES: Donnelly NO VOTE RECORDED: Bonilla, Harkey, Roger Hernández, V. Manuel Pérez, Vacancy PQ:nl 6/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED