BILL NUMBER: SB 714 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 7, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 15, 2013
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 1, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Block
FEBRUARY 22, 2013
An act to add and repeal Sections 46308 and 46309
to of the Education Code, relating to
schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 714, as amended, Block. Schools: average daily attendance:
online instruction.
Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary
school system in this state, and further establishes a funding system
pursuant to which the state apportions funds to local educational
agencies based on, among other factors, the average daily attendance
of pupils at the schools operated by those agencies. Existing law
authorizes, commencing with the 2014-15 school year, for purposes of
computing average daily attendance, the inclusion of pupils in grades
9 to 12, inclusive, under the immediate supervision and control of a
certificated employee of the school district or county office of
education who is delivering synchronous, online instruction, as
defined, provided that this instruction meets specified criteria.
This bill, separate from the authority related to online
instruction described above , subject to the adoption
by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of implementing rules
and regulations on or before January 1, 2015, and commencing
with the 2014-15 2015-16 fiscal year,
would authorize school districts, county offices of education, and
charter schools that offer high-quality online education courses, as
defined, to claim attendance toward average daily attendance
up to 10% of the total average dai ly
attendance of pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, on
the basis of a pupil's satisfactory pupil progress toward obtaining a
high school diploma by earning course credit through attendance in
online educational learning programs, as defined. The bill
would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to adopt
emergency regulations, on or before June 30, 2014, authorizing a
school district, county office of education, or charter school to
receive state apportionments for pupils enrolled in an online course
or courses. The bill would cap, as specified, the number of
pupils a school district, county office of education, or charter
school may enroll in an online course or courses , but would
authorize an increase in that cap if the enrolled pupils are
achieving or exceeding satisfactory pupil progress . The
bill would also require a school district, county office of
education, or charter school that did not offer an online course or
courses in the 2013-14 2014-15 school
year but chooses to enroll pupils in an online course or courses, to
offer the course or courses at the beginning of the school year and
to submit semiannual reports to the State Department of Education
comparing the course credits earned by pupils enrolled in an online
course or courses to the course credits earned by pupils enrolled in
classroom-based courses.
The bill would authorize a school district, county office of
education, or charter school that operates an online educational
learning program to receive state apportionments for up to 10%
of the total average daily attendance of pupils enrolled
in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, for 3 consecutive years and for
an additional 3 years if semiannual reports are submitted, as
described above, and the enrolled pupils are achieving satisfactory
pupil progress. The bill would require a school district, county
office of education, or charter school that enrolls pupils in an
online course or courses to develop and adopt policies that evaluate
if a pupil is achieving satisfactory pupil progress and if a pupil
should be allowed to continue to enroll in the online educational
learning program. The bill would require a participating school
district, county office of education, or charter school to submit
pupil records for review by the department that compare the course
completion rate of pupils participating in the online educational
learning program to the overall course completion rate for pupils
enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, if the pupils participating in
the online educational learning program are earning less than 75% of
the course credits earned by pupils enrolled in classroom-based
courses. The bill would require the department to develop a process
authorizing a school district, county office of education, or charter
school to reduce the state apportionment it receives for the online
educational learning program if projected pupil enrollment or
satisfactory pupil progress is not being achieved. The bill would
authorize the department to reduce or eliminate the apportionments a
school district, county office of education, or charter school
receives for pupils participating in the online educational learning
program if the participating pupils have not achieved satisfactory
pupil progress or the semiannual reports are not submitted. The bill
would authorize a school district, county office of education, or
charter school to appeal a decision of the department to reduce or
eliminate the state apportionments received for pupils participating
in the online educational learning program.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 46308 is added to the Education Code, to read:
46308. (a) Commencing Subject to
subdivision (k) and commencing with the 2014-15
2015-16 fiscal year, a school district, county
office of education, or charter school may claim , for up to 10
percent of the total average daily attendance of pupils enrolled in
grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in the school district, county
office of education, or charter school, state apportionments
pursuant to Section 46309, on the basis of a pupil's satisfactory
pupil progress toward obtaining a high school diploma by earning
course credit through attendance in online educational learning
programs. Online educational learning programs may include one online
course, multiple online courses, or a combination of online
coursework and classroom-based coursework. Online educational
learning programs shall be separate from online courses offered
pursuant to Section 46300.8. Pupils shall be eligible to participate
in online educational learning programs if all of the following
apply:
(1) The pupil is enrolled in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12.
(2) The pupil is a California resident.
(3) The pupil is enrolled in classes that include courses in a
classroom-based setting, courses that are offered through an online
program, or both.
(4) The pupil is not enrolled in a community day school or
juvenile court school.
(5) The pupil meets minimum instructional time requirements
pursuant to:
(A) Section 46141 and Section 46201, 46201.5, or 46202, as
applicable, for pupils enrolled in a noncharter school in a school
district or county office of education.
(B) Section 46170, for pupils enrolled in a continuation school.
(C) Section 46180, for pupils enrolled in an opportunity school.
(D) Subdivision (e) of Section 47612.5, for pupils enrolled in a
charter school.
(6) Each online course in which the pupil is enrolled is a
high-quality online course.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a "high-quality online
course" is defined as an online course that meets all of the
following requirements:
(1) The online course is approved by the governing board of the
school district or county office of education, or by the governing
body of the charter school.
(2) The online course is certified to meet the requirements of
this subdivision, through board resolution, by the governing board of
the school district or county office of education, or by the
governing body of the charter school.
(3) The online course is certified by the governing board of the
school district or county office of education, or by the governing
body of the charter school, as being as rigorous as a classroom-based
course and meeting or exceeding all relevant state content
standards.
(4) (A) A teacher teaching an online course or courses operated
pursuant to this section shall be accessible to each pupil enrolled
in the online course or courses to respond to pupil queries, assign
tasks, and dispense information. A teacher teaching an online
course shall provide timely feedback on communications for pupils
within 24 hours and timely feedback for assessing pupils' work within
72 hours for minor assignments and within one week for major
assignments, including, but not limited to, midterm and final
examinations, major projects, and compositions. A
teacher teaching an online course shall employ at least one
all of the following:
(i) Periodic proctored examinations.
(ii) Direct teacher-pupil meetings, in person, no less than twice
per calendar month.
(iii) A visual connection, including, but not limited to, an
Internet Web camera.
(iv) Timely feedback on communications for pupils within 24 hours
and timely feedback for assessing pupils' work within 72 hours for
minor assignments and within one week for major assignments,
including, but not limited to, midterm and final examinations, major
projects, and compositions.
(B)
(5) Specific minimum standards for teacher-pupil
contact may shall be determined through
a collective bargaining agreement.
(5)
(6) (A) The ratio of pupils enrolled in the online
course who are 18 years of age or younger to school district
full-time equivalent certificated employees who provide online
instruction, to be calculated in a manner prescribed by the
department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to
full-time certificated employees for all other educational programs
operated by the school district, unless a higher or lower ratio is
negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
(B) The ratio of pupils enrolled in the online course who are 18
years of age or younger to county office of education full-time
equivalent certificated employees who provide online instruction, to
be calculated in a manner prescribed by the department, shall not
exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to full-time certificated
employees for all other educational programs operated by the high
school or unified school district with the greatest average daily
attendance of pupils in that county, unless a higher or lower ratio
is negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
(C) The Superintendent may adopt rules and regulations for
purposes of implementing this paragraph.
(C) The computation of the ratios in subparagraphs (A) and (B)
shall be performed annually by the reporting agency at the time of,
and in connection with, the second principal apportionment report to
the Superintendent.
(6)
(7) When a classroom-based course of the same course
title exists within the school district, county office of education,
or charter school, the subject matter content of the online course
shall meet or exceed the content standards applied to the
classroom-based course.
(7)
(8) The teacher of the online course holds the
appropriate subject matter credential and meets the requirements for
a highly qualified teacher pursuant to the federal No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(8)
(9) (A) Statewide testing results for pupils enrolled
in an online course or courses are reported and assigned to the
school in which the pupil is enrolled for classroom-based courses,
and to any school district or county office of education within which
that school's testing results are aggregated.
(B) Statewide testing results for pupils enrolled in an online
course or courses may be disaggregated for purposes of comparing the
testing results of those pupils to the testing results of pupils
enrolled in classroom-based courses.
(9)
(10) The online course is offered by a high school,
continuation school, county office of education, or charter school
offering instruction in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
(10)
(11) No pupil is assigned to the online course unless
the pupil voluntarily elects to participate in the online course and
the parent or guardian of the pupil provides written consent before
the pupil participates in the online course.
(11)
(12) No pupil voluntarily electing to participate in
the online course is denied access because the pupil lacks the
computer hardware or software necessary to participate in the online
course.
(12)
(13) No pupil is charged for his or her participation
in the online course.
(13)
(14) A pupil enrolled in the online course shall take
examinations by proctor, or other reliable methods used to ensure
test integrity, and there is a clear record of pupil work, using the
same method of documentation and assessment as used in a
classroom-based course.
(c) Nothing in this section shall affect a state board
determination made pursuant to Section 47612.5.
(d) Satisfactory pupil progress, as defined in paragraph
(4) of subdivision (e), and compliance with the requirements of
subdivision (e), Compliance with this section
shall be subject to the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(e) (1) Each high-quality online course shall be deemed to be an
offering of 60 minutes for purposes of calculating instructional
time.
(2) A pupil shall not receive course credit for the same
high-quality online course more than once.
(3) A pupil enrolled in a high-quality online course shall be
credited with a day of attendance for each schoolday the pupil is
enrolled in the high-quality online course and in accordance with
paragraph (5) of subdivision (a).
(4) "Satisfactory pupil progress" means a pupil has earned at
least 60 course credits in a school year.
(f) To remain eligible for claiming and generating apportionments,
a pupil over 19 years of age enrolled in an online course or courses
shall be continuously enrolled in public school and achieve
satisfactory pupil progress, as defined in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (e), toward award of a high school diploma.
(g) The Superintendent, on or before June 30, 2014, shall adopt
emergency regulations authorizing a school district, county office of
education, or charter school to receive state apportionments for
pupils enrolled in an online course or courses beginning in the
2014-15 fiscal year.
(h)
(g) To receive state apportionments, a school district,
county office of education, or charter school offering an online
course or courses meeting the requirements of subdivision (b) shall
not be required to meet the requirements of Article 5.5 (commencing
with Section 51745) of Chapter 5 of Part 28.
(i)
(h) (1) A participating school district, county office
of education, or charter school shall receive state apportionments
, for up to 10 percent of the total average daily
attendance for pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in the
school district, county office of education, or charter school,
for pupils enrolled in a high-quality online course or courses
, as defined in subdivision (b), based on the number of pupils
enrolled in an online course or courses in the 2013-14
2014-15 school year, or the percentage of pupils
authorized to enroll in an online course or courses pursuant to
paragraph (2), whichever is greater.
(2) A participating school district, county office of education,
or charter school that did not offer an online course or courses in
the 2013-14 2014-15 school year shall
receive state apportionments apportionments,
for up to 10 percent of the total average daily attendance of
pupils enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, of the school
district, county office of education, or charter school, if all
of the following conditions are met:
(A) A participating school district, county office of education,
or charter school satisfies the requirements of subdivisions (a) and
(b).
(B) A participating school district, county office of education,
or charter school offers the online course or courses at the
beginning of the school year and demonstrates that at least the same
number of pupils that the school district, county office of
education, or charter school is eligible to receive state
apportionments for under an online educational learning program are
actually enrolled in the online course or courses.
(C) The participating school district, county office of education,
or charter school submits a semiannual report to the department
comparing the course credits earned by pupils enrolled in an online
course or courses to course credits earned by pupils enrolled in
classroom-based courses.
(j)
(i) For purposes of this section, "online educational
learning program" means a program of study that may include any
combination of courses where the teacher and the pupil are online at
the same time or are online at different times and do not interact
simultaneously. A pupil may enroll in online courses, classroom-based
courses, or a combination of both, during a schoolday to complete
the pupil's established program of study that satisfies the
requirement of achieving satisfactory pupil progress toward obtaining
a high school diploma by earning course credits.
(k)
(j) No provision of this section shall be waived unless
the waiver is specifically authorized in statute.
(k) The Superintendent, on or before January 1, 2015, shall adopt
rules and regulations implementing this section.
(l) This section shall become inoperative on June 30, 2019, and,
as of January 1, 2020, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. Section 46309 is added to the Education Code, to read:
46309. (a) A Subject to subdivision (g),
a school district, county office of education, or charter
school that operates an online educational learning program is
eligible to receive state apportionments for up to 10 percent of
the total average daily attendance of pupils enrolled in grades 9 to
12, inclusive, of the school district, county office of education,
or charter school , pursuant to Section 46308, for three
consecutive years. A school district, county office of education, or
charter school is eligible to receive state apportionments for an
additional three years if the school district, county office of
education, or charter school submits the semiannual reports described
in subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (i)
(h) of Section 46308, and the pupils enrolled in
the online course or courses are achieving satisfactory pupil
progress, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) of Section
46308.
(b) A participating school district, county office of education,
or charter school may increase the number of pupils participating in
the online educational learning program by up to 100 percent of the
number of pupils participating in the first year if the pupils
participating in the online educational learning program achieve or
exceed satisfactory pupil progress, as defined in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (e) of Section 46308. The department shall make this
determination.
(c)
(b) A participating school district, county office of
education, or charter school shall develop and adopt policies that
evaluate if a pupil is achieving satisfactory pupil progress, as
defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) of Section 46308, and if
a pupil should be allowed to continue to participate in the online
educational learning program.
(d)
(c) If, in any year of participation, the pupils
participating in an online educational learning program offered by a
school district, county office of education, or charter school are
earning less than 75 percent of the course credits earned by pupils
enrolled in classroom-based courses, the participating school
district, county office of education, or charter school shall submit
pupil records for review by the department that compare the course
completion rate of pupils participating in the online educational
learning program to the overall course completion rate for pupils
enrolled in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in the participating school
district, county office of education, or charter school.
(e)
(d) The department shall develop a process authorizing
a school district, county office of education, or charter school, to
voluntarily reduce the state apportionments received for the online
educational learning program if projected pupil enrollment is not
achieved, or the pupils are not achieving satisfactory pupil
progress, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (e) of Section
46308.
(f)
(e) The department may reduce or eliminate the state
apportionments a participating school district, county office of
education, or charter school receives for pupils participating in an
online educational learning program if the pupils have not achieved
satisfactory pupil progress, as defined in paragraph (4) of
subdivision (e) of Section 46308, for three consecutive years or the
school district, county office of education, or charter school does
not comply with the semiannual reporting requirements described in
subparagraph (C) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (i)
(h) of Section 46308. The department shall
review the pupil records of pupils participating in the online
educational learning program to make this determination. If the
department decides to eliminate the state apportionments a
participating school district, county office of education, or charter
school receives for pupils participating in an online educational
learning program, the state apportionments shall be eliminated in the
year following the year the department decides to eliminate the
state apportionments. A participating school district, county office
of education, or charter school may appeal to the state board the
decision of the department to reduce or eliminate the state
apportionments a participating school district, county office of
education, or charter school receives for pupils participating in an
online educational learning program.
(f) Compliance with this section shall be subject to the audit
conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(g) The Superintendent, on or before January 1, 2015, shall adopt
rules and regulations implementing this section.
(h) This section shall become inoperative on June 30, 2019, and,
as of January 1, 2020, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2020, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.