BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 306
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|Author: |Hadley |
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|Version: |May 26, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: July 1, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: Public schools: attendance alternatives: children of
military personnel
SUMMARY
Establishes a new attendance alternative for children of
military personnel if the parent with whom the student resides
is on active military duty.
BACKGROUND
1)Existing law provides several means to authorize
inter-district attendance of a pupil who resides in one school
district but wishes to attend public school in another
district. The primary authorization provides for
inter-district attendance when both the district of residence
and district of proposed attendance agree. Another
authorization allows a pupil to attend school in a district
where the pupil's parent or legal guardian is employed, rather
than where the pupil and parent reside. The district where
the parent is employed must agree to this alternative, and
either district of residence or district of parental
employment may prohibit the transfer under specified
conditions. (Education Code § 46600 et seq. and § 48204.6)
2)Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school
board to declare themselves a school district of choice
willing to accept a specified number of inter-district
transfers. A school district of choice is required to select
pupils through a random and unbiased process that prohibits
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 2
of ?
enrollment based upon academic or athletic talent. As a
condition of participating in the program, either the district
of residence or district of choice may prevent a transfer if
the transfer would exacerbate racial segregation. (EC § 48300
et seq.)
3)Existing law further authorizes a school district of choice to
give priority to siblings of children already in attendance in
the school district of choice and children of military
personnel. (EC § 48300 et seq.)
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a new attendance alternative policy for
children of military personnel if the parent with whom the pupil
resides is on active military duty. Specifically this bill:
1) Provides that a parent of a student enrolled in a school
district of residence may submit an application for the
student to attend a school in any school district provided
that the parent with whom the student resides is on active
military duty.
2)Requires the application for requesting transfer to be
submitted to the military family school district of choice by
January 1 of the school year proceeding the school year for
which the student is requesting the transfer, unless the
parent is relocated by the military, as specified.
3)Specifies that the student may enroll in the school district
of choice immediately following the approval of his or her
application and provides that the application may request
enrollment of the student in a specific school or program
within the military family school district of choice.
4)Requires a school district to establish a period of time for
resident student enrollment before considering transfer
applications pursuant to this article for purposes of
providing priority enrollment opportunities for students
residing in a military family school district of choice.
5)Requires the military family school district of choice to
accept and approve a transfer application pursuant to this
article provided that space is available at a school in the
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 3
of ?
desired school district of choice and after the established
period of time for resident student enrollment has concluded.
Specifies that after approving applications for siblings of
students already enrolled in the desired school, a lottery
process shall be conducted to select students for the
available spaces.
6)Authorizes a military family school district of choice to
adopt written standards for acceptance of applicants, as
specified.
7)Defines various terms for the purpose of this article
including, "military family school district of choice" to mean
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 of the education code. A military
family 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."
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, military service
personnel are required to live near or on base and are subject
to frequent moves, as such, it is important for military
parents to have options to choose which school districts their
children attend. The author further contends that school
districts with the ability to serve more students are often
willing to accept military children but school districts of
residence maintain veto power over those transfers. This bill
attempts to create a new pathway for children of active duty
military to transfer from the school district of residence to
the desired school.
2)Effected School Districts? There are approximately 13 school
districts currently identifying military students within their
local data systems. These districts include: Travis Unified,
San Diego Unified, South Bay Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified,
Coronado Unified, Lakeside Union, Santee, La Mesa/Spring
Valley, Lemon Grove, Chula Vista Elementary, Poway Unified,
Los Angeles Unified, and Sweetwater Union High. It is unclear
if any of the remaining school districts identify military
children using internal resources. This bill would give
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 4
of ?
active duty military family the option of sending their
children to the public school of their choice and would
require the school district to accept inter-district
transfers, in the desired school, if space is available and
after the established period of time for resident student
enrollment has concluded.
3)Existing Inter-district transfer policies. Current law
provides several means to authorize inter-district attendance
of a student who resides in one school district but wishes to
attend public school in another district. The primary
authorization provides for inter-district attendance when both
the district of residence and district of proposed attendance
agree. Another authorization allows a pupil to attend school
in a district where the pupil's parent or legal guardian is
employed, rather than where the pupil and parent reside.
Current law also authorizes a school district to deem
themselves a school district of choice willing to accept a
specified number of inter-district transfers and authorizes a
school district of choice to give priority to children of
military personnel.
Although this bill includes the term "military family school
district of choice," it is unrelated to the existing school
district of choice authorization. The bill unnecessarily
restates several requirements around inter-district transfer,
potentially complicating the bill's provision. It may be more
helpful and less confusing, to streamline the bill's provision
with current law rather than creating new procedure for
inter-district transfers. Staff recommends the bill be amended
to insert the following language into Article 7 section 48301
of the Education Code related to inter-district transfers, "A
school district of residence shall not prohibit the transfer,
pursuant to section 48301, of a child of an active duty
military family," and in section 48300 insert the definition
of active military duty and delete remaining provisions in the
bill.
SUPPORT
AMVETS- Department of California
City of El Segundo
Gardena Valley Chamber of Commerce
Jewish War Veterans
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 5
of ?
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors >
Los Angeles County Business Federation
Rolling Hills Estates
So Cal Jobs Defense Council
South Bay Cities Council of Governments
The Military Officers Association of America- California Council
The Veterans of Foreign Wards Department of California
The Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Association of
United States
Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION
None received.
-- END --
Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 306
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Author: |Hadley |
|-----------+-----------------------------------------------------|
|Version: |May 26, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: July 1, 2015 |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------
|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
| | |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: Public schools: attendance alternatives: children of
military personnel
SUMMARY
Establishes a new attendance alternative for children of
military personnel if the parent with whom the student resides
is on active military duty.
BACKGROUND
1)Existing law provides several means to authorize
inter-district attendance of a pupil who resides in one school
district but wishes to attend public school in another
district. The primary authorization provides for
inter-district attendance when both the district of residence
and district of proposed attendance agree. Another
authorization allows a pupil to attend school in a district
where the pupil's parent or legal guardian is employed, rather
than where the pupil and parent reside. The district where
the parent is employed must agree to this alternative, and
either district of residence or district of parental
employment may prohibit the transfer under specified
conditions. (Education Code § 46600 et seq. and § 48204.6)
2)Existing law also authorizes the governing board of a school
board to declare themselves a school district of choice
willing to accept a specified number of inter-district
transfers. A school district of choice is required to select
pupils through a random and unbiased process that prohibits
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 2
of ?
enrollment based upon academic or athletic talent. As a
condition of participating in the program, either the district
of residence or district of choice may prevent a transfer if
the transfer would exacerbate racial segregation. (EC § 48300
et seq.)
3)Existing law further authorizes a school district of choice to
give priority to siblings of children already in attendance in
the school district of choice and children of military
personnel. (EC § 48300 et seq.)
ANALYSIS
This bill establishes a new attendance alternative policy for
children of military personnel if the parent with whom the pupil
resides is on active military duty. Specifically this bill:
1) Provides that a parent of a student enrolled in a school
district of residence may submit an application for the
student to attend a school in any school district provided
that the parent with whom the student resides is on active
military duty.
2)Requires the application for requesting transfer to be
submitted to the military family school district of choice by
January 1 of the school year proceeding the school year for
which the student is requesting the transfer, unless the
parent is relocated by the military, as specified.
3)Specifies that the student may enroll in the school district
of choice immediately following the approval of his or her
application and provides that the application may request
enrollment of the student in a specific school or program
within the military family school district of choice.
4)Requires a school district to establish a period of time for
resident student enrollment before considering transfer
applications pursuant to this article for purposes of
providing priority enrollment opportunities for students
residing in a military family school district of choice.
5)Requires the military family school district of choice to
accept and approve a transfer application pursuant to this
article provided that space is available at a school in the
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 3
of ?
desired school district of choice and after the established
period of time for resident student enrollment has concluded.
Specifies that after approving applications for siblings of
students already enrolled in the desired school, a lottery
process shall be conducted to select students for the
available spaces.
6)Authorizes a military family school district of choice to
adopt written standards for acceptance of applicants, as
specified.
7)Defines various terms for the purpose of this article
including, "military family school district of choice" to mean
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 of the education code. A military
family 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."
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, military service
personnel are required to live near or on base and are subject
to frequent moves, as such, it is important for military
parents to have options to choose which school districts their
children attend. The author further contends that school
districts with the ability to serve more students are often
willing to accept military children but school districts of
residence maintain veto power over those transfers. This bill
attempts to create a new pathway for children of active duty
military to transfer from the school district of residence to
the desired school.
2)Effected School Districts? There are approximately 13 school
districts currently identifying military students within their
local data systems. These districts include: Travis Unified,
San Diego Unified, South Bay Unified, Murrieta Valley Unified,
Coronado Unified, Lakeside Union, Santee, La Mesa/Spring
Valley, Lemon Grove, Chula Vista Elementary, Poway Unified,
Los Angeles Unified, and Sweetwater Union High. It is unclear
if any of the remaining school districts identify military
children using internal resources. This bill would give
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 4
of ?
active duty military family the option of sending their
children to the public school of their choice and would
require the school district to accept inter-district
transfers, in the desired school, if space is available and
after the established period of time for resident student
enrollment has concluded.
3)Existing Inter-district transfer policies. Current law
provides several means to authorize inter-district attendance
of a student who resides in one school district but wishes to
attend public school in another district. The primary
authorization provides for inter-district attendance when both
the district of residence and district of proposed attendance
agree. Another authorization allows a pupil to attend school
in a district where the pupil's parent or legal guardian is
employed, rather than where the pupil and parent reside.
Current law also authorizes a school district to deem
themselves a school district of choice willing to accept a
specified number of inter-district transfers and authorizes a
school district of choice to give priority to children of
military personnel.
Although this bill includes the term "military family school
district of choice," it is unrelated to the existing school
district of choice authorization. The bill unnecessarily
restates several requirements around inter-district transfer,
potentially complicating the bill's provision. It may be more
helpful and less confusing, to streamline the bill's provision
with current law rather than creating new procedure for
inter-district transfers. Staff recommends the bill be amended
to insert the following language into Article 7 section 48301
of the Education Code related to inter-district transfers, "A
school district of residence shall not prohibit the transfer,
pursuant to section 48301, of a child of an active duty
military family," and in section 48300 insert the definition
of active military duty and delete remaining provisions in the
bill.
SUPPORT
AMVETS- Department of California
City of El Segundo
Gardena Valley Chamber of Commerce
Jewish War Veterans
AB 306 (Hadley) Page 5
of ?
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors >
Los Angeles County Business Federation
Rolling Hills Estates
So Cal Jobs Defense Council
South Bay Cities Council of Governments
The Military Officers Association of America- California Council
The Veterans of Foreign Wards Department of California
The Vietnam Veterans of America-California State Association of
United States
Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce
OPPOSITION
None received.
-- END --