Senate Bill No. 451

Introduced by Senator Huff

February 21, 2013

An act to amend Sections 48352, 48354, and 48356 of the Education Code, relating to school enrollment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 451, as introduced, Huff. Open Enrollment Act: expansion to all school districts of residence.

Existing law, the Open Enrollment Act, authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school, as defined, to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment, as defined, as specified.

This bill would expand the act to authorize the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence, as defined, to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district other than their school district of residence.

The Open Enrollment Act requires a school district of enrollment to ensure that pupils enrolled pursuant to the act are enrolled in a school with a higher Academic Performance Index (API) than the school in which the pupil was previously enrolled and are selected through a random, unbiased process, except that pupils applying for transfer are required to be assigned specified priorities for approval.

This bill would add a third priority for approval for pupils transferring from a school ranked in decile 2 on the API.

To the extent the bill would expand the duties of school districts under the Open Enrollment Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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 48352 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

48352.  

For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:

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(a) “Low-achieving school” means any school identified by the
Superintendent pursuant to the following:

end delete begin delete

(1) Excluding the schools, and taking into account the impact
of the criteria in paragraph (2), the Superintendent annually shall
create a list of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing API with the
same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in
decile 1 in the 2008-09 school year.

end delete begin delete

(2) In constructing the list of 1,000 schools each year, the
Superintendent shall ensure each of the following:

end delete begin delete

(A) A local educational agency shall not have more than 10
percent of its schools on the list. However, if the number of schools
in a local educational agency is not evenly divisible by 10, the
Superintendent shall round up to the next whole number of schools.

end delete begin delete

(B) Court, community, or community day schools shall not be
included on the list.

end delete begin delete

(C) Charter schools shall not be included on the list.

end delete begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (a) end insert  “Parent” means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian
of a dependent child.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  “School district of enrollment” means a school district other
than the school district in which the parent of a pupil resides, but
in which the parent of the pupil nevertheless intends to enroll the
pupil pursuant to this article.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  “School district of residence” means a school district in
which the parent of a pupil resides and in which the pupil would
otherwise be required to enroll pursuant to Section 48200.

SEC. 2.  

Section 48354 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

48354.  

(a) The parent of a pupil enrolled in a begin delete low-achieving
school end delete begin insert school district of residence end insert may submit an application for
the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment
pursuant to this article.

(b) (1) Consistent with the requirements of Section
1116(b)(1)(E) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), on or before the first
day of the school year, or, if later, on the date the notice of program
improvement, corrective action, or restructuring status is required
to be provided under federal law begin insert , end insert the begin insert school end insert district of residence
shall provide the parents and guardians of all pupils enrolled in a
school begin delete determined in subdivision (a) of Section 48352 end delete begin insert in the district end insert
with notice of the option to transfer to another public school served
by the school district of residence or another school district.

(2) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article
shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the school district of
enrollment begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert January 1 of the school year preceding
the school year for which the pupil is requesting to transfer. The
school district of enrollment may waive the deadline specified in
this paragraph.

(3) The application deadline specified in paragraph (2) does not
apply to an application requesting a transfer if the parent, with
whom the pupil resides, is enlisted in the military and was relocated
by the military within 90 days begin delete prior to end delete begin insert before end insert submitting the
application.

(4) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a
specific school or program within the school district of enrollment.

(5) A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district of
enrollment in the school year immediately following the approval
of his or her application.

(6) In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for
pupils residing in the school district, a school district of enrollment
shall establish a period of time for resident pupil enrollment begin delete prior
to end delete begin insert before end insert accepting transfer applications pursuant to this article.

SEC. 3.  

Section 48356 of the Education Code is amended to
read:

48356.  

(a) A school district of enrollment may adopt specific,
written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications
pursuant to this article. The standards may include consideration
of the capacity of a program, class, grade level, school building,
or adverse financial impact. Subject to subdivision (b), and except
as necessary in accordance with Section 48355, the standards shall
not include consideration of a pupil’s previous academic
achievement, physical condition, proficiency in the English
language, family income, or any of the individual characteristics
set forth in Section 200.

(b) In considering an application pursuant to this article, a
nonresident school district may apply its usual requirements for
admission to a magnet school or a program designed to serve gifted
and talented pupils.

(c) Subject to the rules and standards that apply to pupils who
reside in the school district of enrollment, a resident pupil who is
enrolled in one of the district’s schools pursuant to this article shall
not be required to submit an application in order to remain enrolled.

(d) A school district of enrollment shall ensure that pupils
enrolled pursuant to standards adopted pursuant to this section are
enrolled in a school with a higher Academic Performance Index
than the school in which the pupil was previously enrolled and are
selected through a random, unbiased process that prohibits an
evaluation of whether or not the pupil should be enrolled based
on his or her individual academic or athletic performance, or any
of the other characteristics set forth in subdivision (a), except that
pupils applying for a transfer pursuant to this article shall be
assigned priority for approval as follows:

(1) First priority for the siblings of children who already attend
the desired school.

(2) Second priority for pupils transferring from a program
improvement school ranked in decile 1 on the Academic
Performance Index begin delete determined pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 48352 end delete .

begin insert

(3) Third priority for pupils transferring from a school ranked
in decile 2 on the Academic Performance Index.

end insert begin delete

(3)

end delete

begin insert (4) end insert  If the number of pupils who request a particular school
exceeds the number of spaces available at that school, a lottery
shall be conducted in the group priority order identified in
paragraphs (1) begin delete and (2) end delete begin insert to (3), inclusive, end insert to select pupils at random
until all of the available spaces are filled.

(e) The initial application of a pupil for transfer to a school
within a school district of enrollment shall not be approved if the
transfer would require the displacement from the desired school
of any other pupil who resides within the attendance area of that
school or is currently enrolled in that school.

(f) A pupil approved for a transfer to a school district of
enrollment pursuant to this article shall be deemed to have fulfilled
the requirements of Section 48204.

SEC. 4.  

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.