Amended in Assembly March 23, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 288

Introduced by Assembly Members Holden and Olsen

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(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Baker, Chávez, McCarty, Santiago, and Ting)

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Alejo and Weber)

February 11, 2015

An act to add Section 76004 to the Education Code, relating to public schools.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 288, as amended, Holden. Public schools: College and Career Access Pathways partnerships.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to allow pupils whom the district has determined would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to attend community college as special part-time or full-time students, subject to parental permission. Existing law requires credit to be awarded to these pupils, as specified, authorizes a school principal to recommend a pupil for community college summer session if the pupil meets specified criteria, and prohibits the principal from recommending more than 5% of the total number of pupils from any particular grade level who completed that grade immediately before the time of recommendation for summer session attendance.

This bill would authorize the governing board of a community college district to enter into a College and Career Access Pathways partnership with the governing board of a school district begin delete located within its service area end delete with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve college and career readiness. The bill would require the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified, and to establish protocols for information sharing, joint facilities use, and parental consent for high school pupils to enroll in community college courses.

The bill would authorize specified high school pupils to enroll in up to 15 units begin insert per term end insert if those units are required for these pupils’ partnership programs and specified conditions are satisfied, and would authorize a community college district to exempt special part-time and full-time students taking up to a maximum of 15 units per term from specified fee requirements. The bill would prohibit a begin delete community college end delete district from receiving a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which begin delete a school end delete begin insert the partnering end insert district has been, or will be, paid an allowance or apportionment under a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement. The bill would require, for each partnership agreement entered into under the bill, the affected community college district and school district to provide an annual report, containing specified data, to the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges.

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.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Research has shown that dual enrollment can be an effective
means of improving the educational outcomes for a broad range
of students.

(b) Dual enrollment has historically targeted high-achieving
students; however, increasingly, educators and policymakers are
looking toward dual enrollment as a strategy to help students who
struggle academically or who are at risk of dropping out.

(c) Allowing a greater and more varied segment of high school
pupils to take community college courses could provide numerous
benefits to both the pupils and the state, such as reducing the
number of high school dropouts, increasing the number of
community college students who transfer and complete a degree,
shortening the time to completion of educational goals, and
improving the level of preparation of students to successfully
complete for-credit, college-level, courses.

(d) California should rethink its policies governing dual
enrollment, and establish a policy framework under which school
districts and community college districts could create dual
enrollment partnerships as one strategy to provide critical support
for underachieving students, those from groups underrepresented
in postsecondary education, those who are seeking advanced
studies while in high school, and those seeking a career technical
education credential or certificate.

(e) Through dual enrollment partnerships, school districts and
community college districts could create clear pathways of aligned,
sequenced coursework that would allow students to more easily
and successfully transition to for-credit, begin delete college-level, end delete begin insert college-level end insert
coursework leading to an associate degree, transfer to the
University of California or the California State University, or to
a program leading to a career technical education credential or
certificate.

(f) To facilitate the establishment of dual enrollment
partnerships, the state should remove fiscal penalties and policy
barriers that discourage dual enrollment opportunities. By reducing
some of these restrictions, it will be possible to expand dual
enrollment opportunities, thereby saving both students and the
state valuable time, money, and scarce educational resources.

SEC. 2.  

Section 76004 is added to the Education Code, to read:

76004.  

Notwithstanding Section 76001 or any other law:

(a) The governing board of a community college district may
enter into a College and Career Access Pathways (CCAP)
partnership with the governing board of a school district begin delete located
within its service area end delete for the purpose of offering or expanding
dual enrollment opportunities with the goal of developing seamless
pathways from high school to community college for career
technical education or preparation for transfer, improving high
school graduation rates, or helping high school pupils achieve
college and career readiness.

(b) A participating community college district may enter into a
CCAP partnership with a school district partner that is governed
by a CCAP partnership agreement approved by the governing
boards of both districts. As a condition of, and before adopting, a
CCAP partnership agreement, begin delete a community college district and a
school district, at regularly scheduled end delete begin insert the governing board of each
district, at an end insert open public meeting of begin delete their respective governing
boards, end delete begin insert that board, shall present the dual enrollment partnership
agreement as an informational item. The governing board of each
district, at a subsequent open public meeting of that board, end insert shall
take comments from the public and approve or disapprove the
proposed agreement.

(c) (1) The CCAP partnership agreement shall outline the terms
of the CCAP partnership and shall include, but not necessarily be
limited to, the scope, nature, begin insert time, location, end insert and listing of
community college courses to be offered, and criteria to assess the
ability of pupils to benefit from those courses. The CCAP
partnership agreement shall also establish protocols for information
sharing, joint facilities use, and parental consent for high school
pupils to enroll in community college courses.

(2) The CCAP partnership agreement shall identify a point of
contact for the participating community college district and school
district partner.

(3) A copy of the CCAP partnership agreement shall be filed
with the office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges and with the department before the start of the CCAP
partnership.

(d) A community college district participating in a CCAP
partnership shall not provide physical education course
opportunities to high school pupils pursuant to this section or any
other course opportunities that do not assist in the attainment of
at least one of the goals listed in subdivision (a).

(e) A high school pupil enrolled in a course offered through a
CCAP partnership shall not be assessed any fee that is prohibited
by Section 49011.

(f) A community college district participating in a CCAP
partnership may assign priority for enrollment and course
registration to a pupil seeking to enroll in a community college
course that is required for the pupil’s CCAP partnership program
that is equivalent to the priority assigned to a pupil attending a
middle college high school as described in Section 11300 and
consistent with middle college high school provisions in Section
76001.

(g) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that any
community college instructor teaching a course on a high school
campus has not been convicted of any sex offense as defined in
Section 87010, or any controlled substance offense as defined in
Section 87011.

(h) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that any
community college instructor teaching a course begin delete on a end delete begin insert at the
partnering end insert high school campus has not displaced or resulted in the
termination of an existing high school teacher teaching the same
course on that high school campus.

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(i) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that a
qualified high school teacher teaching a course offered for college
credit at a high school campus has not displaced or resulted in
the termination of an existing community college faculty member
teaching the same course at the partnering community college
campus.

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(j) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that a
community college course offered for college credit at the
partnering high school campus does not reduce access to the same
course offered at the partnering community college campus.

end insert begin insert

(k) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that both the
school district and community college district partners comply
with local collective bargaining agreements and all state and
federal reporting requirements regarding the qualifications of the
teacher or faculty member teaching a CCAP partnership course
offered for high school credit.

end insert begin insert

(l) The CCAP partnership agreement shall certify that remedial
courses taught by community college faculty at a partnering high
school campus shall be offered only to high school students who
test as nonproficient in math, English, or both on a formative
assessment in grade 10 or 11, as determined by the partnering
school district.

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(i)

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begin insert (m) end insert  (1) A community college district may limit enrollment in
a community college course solely to eligible high school students
if the course is offered at a high school campus during the regular
school day and the community college course is offered pursuant
to a CCAP partnership agreement.

(2) For purposes of allowances and apportionments from Section
B of the State School Fund, a community college district
conducting a closed course on a high school campus pursuant to
paragraph (1) of subdivision begin delete (j) end delete begin insert (n) end insert shall be credited with begin delete additional end delete
begin insert those end insert units of full-time equivalent students attributable to the
attendance of eligible high school pupils.

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(j)

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begin insert (n) end insert  A community college district may allow a special part-time
student participating in a CCAP partnership agreement established
pursuant to this article to enroll in up to a maximum of 15 units begin delete if
both end delete begin insert per term if all end insert of the following circumstances are satisfied:

(1) The units constitute no more than four community college
courses per term.

(2) The units are part of an academic program that is part of a
CCAP partnership agreement established pursuant to this article.

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(3) The units are part of an academic program that is designed
to award students both a high school diploma and an associate’s
degree.

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(k)

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begin insert (o) end insert  The governing board of a community college district
participating in a CCAP partnership agreement established pursuant
to this article may, in whole or in part, exempt special part-time
students described in subdivision begin delete (j) end delete begin insert (n) end insert from the fee requirements
in Sections 76060.5, 76140, 76223, 76300, 76350, and 79121.

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(l)

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begin insert (p) end insert  A begin delete community college end delete district shall not receive a state
allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which
begin delete a school end delete begin insert the partnering end insert district has been, or shall be, paid an
allowance or apportionment.

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(m)

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begin insert (q) end insert  The attendance of a high school pupil at a community college
as a special part-time or full-time student pursuant to this section
is authorized attendance for which the community college shall
be credited or reimbursed pursuant to Section 48802 or 76002,
provided that no school district has received reimbursement for
the same instructional activity.

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(n)

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begin insert (r) end insert  For each CCAP partnership agreement entered into pursuant
to this section, the affected community college district and school
district shall report annually to the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges all of the following information:

(1) The total number of high school pupils by schoolsite enrolled
in each CCAP partnership.

(2) The total number of community college courses by course
category and type and by school site enrolled in by CCAP
partnership participants.

(3) The total number and percentage of successful course
completions, by course category and type and by schoolsite, of
CCAP partnership participants.

(4) The total number of full-time equivalent students generated
by CCAP partnership community college district participants.

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(o)

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begin insert (s) end insert  Notwithstanding Section 10231.5 of the Government Code,
the annual report required by this subdivision shall also be
transmitted to all of the following:

(1) The Legislature, in compliance with Section 9795 of the
Government Code.

(2) The Director of Finance.

(3) The Superintendent.