Amended in Assembly May 26, 2015

Amended in Assembly May 5, 2015

Amended in Assembly March 26, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 306

Introduced by Assembly Member Hadley

( begin delete Coauthor: Assembly Member end delete begin insert Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker and end insert Burke)

(Coauthor: Senator Allen)

February 12, 2015

An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 48318) to Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, relating to school districts.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 306, as amended, Hadley. Public schools: attendance alternatives: children of military personnel.

Existing law requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age, not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time day school in the district in which their parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law provides for attendance alternatives, authorizes the governing board of any school district to accept interdistrict transfers, and prescribes procedures for the acceptance and approval of applications for interdistrict transfers. Existing law further authorizes a school district of choice, as defined, to give priority of attendance to children of military personnel.

This bill would authorize a 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 begin delete any school district of choice, as defined, end delete begin insert another school district end insert if the parent with whom the pupil resides is on active military duty, as defined. The bill would require that an application requesting such a transfer begin delete to a school district of choice end delete be submitted to the begin insert chosen end insert school district begin delete of choice end delete before January 1 begin delete of the year end delete preceding the school year for which a pupil is requesting the transfer, except as provided, and would specify that the application may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program within the school district begin delete of choice end delete . The bill would require a school district begin delete of choice end delete to establish a time period for resident pupil enrollment, in order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for pupils residing in the school district, and, after that time period has concluded, if space is available at a school in the school begin delete district of choice, end delete begin insert district, end insert to begin delete accept end delete begin insert consider end insert and approve transfer applications submitted pursuant to those provisions, in accordance with specified priorities. The bill would require a school district begin delete of choice end delete that receives such an application for a transfer to allow the pupil to enroll in the school district begin delete of choice end delete in the school year immediately following the approval of his or her application. The bill would authorize a school district begin delete of choice end delete to adopt specific, written standards for the acceptance of applicants pursuant to those provisions. By imposing new duties on school districts with regard to the review and acceptance of requests for alternative school attendance by children of military personnel, 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.  

Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 48318) is
added to Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code, to read:

 

Article 7.5.  Attendance Alternatives for Children of Military
Personnel

 

48318.  

For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:

(a) “Active military duty” means full-time military duty status
in the active uniformed service of the United States, including
members of the National Guard and the State Reserve on active
duty orders pursuant to Sections 1209 and 1211 of Title 10 of the
United States Code.

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

(c)  begin delete “School end delete begin insert Military family school end insert district of choice” means a
school district for which an application for enrollment has been
submitted by the parent of a pupil requesting enrollment pursuant
to Section 48318.1. A begin insert military family end insert school district of choice may
include a school district in which the parent of a pupil resides or
a school district other than the school district in which the parent
of a pupil resides.

(d) “School district of residence” means the school district that
a pupil would be directed to attend, pursuant to this begin delete chapter. end delete
begin insert chapter, in the absence of this article. end insert

48318.1.  

(a) A parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district
of residence may submit an application for the pupil to attend a
school in any school begin delete district of choice, end delete begin insert district, end insert if the parent with
whom the pupil resides is on active military duty.

(b) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article
shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the begin insert military family end insert
school district of choice before January 1 begin delete of the school year end delete
preceding the school year for which the pupil is requesting the
transfer. However, this deadline does not apply to an application
requesting a transfer if the parent with whom the pupil resides was
relocated by the military within 90 days before submitting the
application. The begin insert military family end insert school district of choice may waive
the deadline specified in this subdivision.

(c) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a
specific school or program within the begin insert military family end insert school district
of choice.

(d) A pupil may enroll in the begin insert military family end insert school district of
choice in the school year immediately following the approval of
his or her application.

(e) In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for
pupils residing in begin delete the end delete begin insert a military family end insert school district of choice, a
school district begin delete of choice end delete shall establish a period of time for resident
pupil enrollment before begin delete accepting end delete begin insert considering end insert transfer applications
pursuant to this article. After the period of time for resident pupil
enrollment has concluded, if space is available at a school in the
desired begin insert military family end insert school district of choice, begin delete the end delete begin insert that end insert school
district begin delete of choice end delete shall accept and approve a transfer application
submitted pursuant to this article, in accordance with the following
priorities:

(1) First priority for transfer shall be given to the siblings of
pupils who already attend the desired school.

(2) After approving the applications for enrollment for siblings
of pupils pursuant to the priority specified in paragraph (1), if the
number of pupils who request a particular school exceeds the
number of spaces at that school, a lottery shall be conducted to
select pupils at random until all of the available spaces are filled.

48318.2.  

A begin insert military family end insert school district of choice may adopt
specific, written standards for acceptance of applicants pursuant
to this article. The standards may include consideration of the
capacity of a program, class, grade level, school facilities, and
adverse financial impacts. However, these standards may 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.

SEC. 2.  

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.