BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 379
Page 1
Date of Hearing: March 25, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 379
(Gordon) -As Amended March 17, 2015
SUBJECT: Foster youth: complaint of noncompliance
SUMMARY: This bill makes complaints alleging violations of
certain educational rights afforded to students in foster care
and students who are homeless subject to the Uniform Complaint
Procedures (UCP), and establishes an expedited process for
complaints regarding certain rights and on behalf of certain
students. This bill also places limits on the time students can
be educated in emergency shelters. Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes certain educational rights afforded to students in
foster care and students who are homeless (as noted) subject
to the UCP. These include:
The requirement that a student in foster care who
resides in a licensed children's institution attend a
school operated by the local educational agency (LEA)
except under specified circumstances.
The requirement that LEAs allow students in foster care
to remain enrolled in their school of origin when a
placement change occurs.
AB 379
Page 2
The requirement that LEAs designate a staff person as
the educational liaison for foster children, who ensures
the proper educational placement and enrollment of
students, assists in school transfer, and coordinates with
other personnel regarding expulsion proceedings.
Requires that the transfer of a student in foster care
and his/her records between LEAs occur within two business
days of receipt of a transfer request.
Requires that an LEA ensure that if a student in foster
care is absent due to a placement change made by the court
or placing agency, or a court required appearance or
activity, the student's grades and credits will not be
lowered due to this absence.
The requirement that LEAs accept and award full or
partial credit for coursework satisfactorily completed by
students in foster care or students who are homeless while
attending other schools, even if the students do not
complete an entire course. The prohibition on an LEA
making such a student retake some or all of a course which
the student satisfactorily completed in another school, or
from retaking an "A to G" course. The requirement that
when a student is awarded partial credit, he or she must be
enrolled in the same course in order to complete it.
The exemption of students in foster care (including
those whose court jurisdiction has been terminated) and
students who are homeless from any locally adopted
graduation requirements which are in excess of state
graduation requirements, unless the school district finds
that students are reasonably able to meet these
AB 379
Page 3
requirements in time to graduate in four years. The
requirement that school districts allow students who can
meet these graduation requirements in five years to stay
enrolled for a fifth year.
The requirement that the educational liaison transfer
all academic and other records within two business days of
a foster child's request for enrollment.
1)Establishes an expedited complaint process for certain other
rights granted to students in foster care. Under this
procedure, LEAs would be required, within five school days
(instead of 60 days) of receiving a complaint alleging a
violation of the rights below, to conduct a complete
investigation and prepare a written decision. If these
decisions were to be appealed to the California Department of
Education (CDE), the Department would have 30 days to issue a
written decision (instead of 60 days to investigate and 60
days to send a written opinion). The rights subject to this
expedited complaint process include:
The right of a student to remain in his/her school of
origin pending the resolution of a dispute regarding
educational placement.
The requirement of immediate enrollment in a new school
of a student in foster care, even if the student has
outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or money due to the
prior school, or is unable to produce clothing or records
(such as academic, medical, immunization, and residency
records) required for enrollment.
The requirement that the educational liaison transfer
all academic and other records within two business days of
AB 379
Page 4
a foster child's request for enrollment. The educational
liaison from the prior school is required to provide all
requested records within two business days of receipt of
the request.
1)Requires the expedited form of the UCP described above (5
school days for the LEA investigation and decision, and 30
days for the CDE to respond to an appeal) for complaints
regarding certain rights of students in foster care and who
are homeless who are in the final grading period of their
fourth year of high school, and for all other students
requires the LEA to conduct its investigation within 30 days
(instead of 60 days). These rights include:
The exemption of students in foster care (including
those whose court jurisdiction has been terminated) and
students who are homeless from any locally adopted
graduation requirements which are in excess of state
graduation requirements, unless the school district finds
that students are reasonably able to meet these
requirements in time to graduate in four years.
The requirement that LEAs allow students who can meet
these graduation requirements in five years to stay
enrolled for a fifth year.
The prohibitions on the transfer of students to other
schools in order to qualify them for exemption from local
graduation requirements.
1)Limits the amount of time a student can be educated in an
emergency shelter to five days, and specifies that the
determination of the "best interests" of the student in
educational placement is to be made by the parent, guardian,
AB 379
Page 5
or other person holding educational rights for the student.
Makes complaints regarding these requirements subject to the
UCP.
2)Requires that, if after an investigation either a local or
state agency decision finds that an LEA has violated a
student's right to remain in his or her school of origin
pending a dispute regarding school placement, and that
violation has resulted in an interruption in the student's
school attendance, the student shall be awarded "compensatory
educational services."
3)Requires that information regarding the above requirements be
included in the annual notification required by the UCP.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Grants certain educational rights (many of which are described
above) to students in foster care and those who are homeless.
In addition, current law deems students in foster care whose
residential placement has been changed, and those who are
homeless, to have met residency requirements for the purpose
of participation in interscholastic sports and other
extracurricular activities, grants certain rights in expulsion
proceedings, guarantees equal access to extracurricular
activities, and requires education in the least restrictive
environment. Existing law also requires all LEAs to designate
a staff person to be the educational liaison for students in
foster care.
2)Through regulation, requires LEAs to adopt uniform complaint
procedures through which the public can register complaints
regarding educational programs and rights. (California Code
of Regulations, Title 5, Section 4600).
AB 379
Page 6
3)Authorizes a modified complaint process known as "Williams
Complaints" through statute (Education Code § 35186) for
complaints regarding instructional materials, emergency or
urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health
and safety of pupils, teacher vacancy or misassignment, and
instructional services provided to students who have not
passed the High School Exit Examination. Existing law also
authorizes complaints through the UCP for harassment,
intimidation, bullying, discrimination, unlawful pupil fees,
and violations of the law regarding Local Control
Accountability Plans (LCAPs).
4)Establishes, in the Welfare and Institutions Code (Sections
16160-67), the Office of the State Foster Care Ombudsperson
within the California Department of Social Services. The
Ombudsperson is responsible, among other things, for accepting
and resolving complaints relating to the rights (primarily
non-educational) of foster youth.
FISCAL EFFECT: The UCP has been determined to be a reimbursable
mandate by the Commission on State Mandates.
COMMENTS:
Need for the bill. According to the author, "Although foster
youth have possessed many [educational] rights for over ten
years, the reality is the education rights of foster youth are
routinely ignored. One reason for this is the lack of an
appropriate enforcement mechanism. Including foster youth
education rights in the California Department of Education's
Uniform Complaint Procedures will provide a way to enforce these
important-and too long ignored-rights."
AB 379
Page 7
The "Invisible Achievement Gap." A 2013 report by the Center
for the Future of Teaching and Learning at WestEd, titled "The
Invisible Achievement Gap," for the first time linked education
and child welfare data to identify the achievement gap for
students in foster care relative to their peers. It found,
based on 2009-10 educational data, that students in foster care
represented a subgroup distinct in many ways from other
low-income students. Among the findings in this report were
that foster youth:
have among the lowest scores in English-language arts
have the lowest scores in mathematics of any subgroup
have the highest dropout rate, nearly three times the
rate of other students
have the lowest high school graduation rate of any
subgroup
The report also found that students in foster care are more
likely to change schools during the school year, more likely to
be enrolled in low-performing schools, less likely to
participate in state assessments, and significantly more likely
to be enrolled in nontraditional schools.
The 2013 legislation establishing Local Control Funding Formula
(Chapter 47, Statutes of 2013) recognized foster youth as a
special population of students requiring more attention, and
required LEAs to identify ways in which they will improve the
educational outcomes of these students in their Local Control
Accountability Plans (LCAPs). A recent report commissioned by
the National Youth Law Center on the implementation of these
requirements noted that while "LCFF has begun to shine a bright
AB 379
Page 8
light on the needs of foster youth," problems persist in the
areas of data sharing, the shortage of educational rights
holders, and compliance with the law regarding records transfer
and school enrollment, among others. The report found that "on
balance, initial LCAPs did not recognize the needs of foster
youth."
The UCP, Williams Complaints, and fee, bullying, and LCAP
complaints. Required by federal law, the UCP was established in
1991 as a means of creating a "uniform system of complaint
processing" for educational programs. The authority for this
process is located in regulations, not state statute.
These regulations require the adoption of the UCP by school
districts, county offices of education, charter schools
receiving federal funds, and local public or private agencies
which receive direct or indirect state funding to provide school
programs or special education or related services. The UCP is
used for complaints regarding a number of state and federal
programs, including:
Adult Education
After School Education and Safety
Agricultural Vocational Education
American Indian Education Centers and Early Childhood
Education Program Assessments
Child Care and Development
Child Nutrition
Foster Youth Services
No Child Left Behind Act (2001) programs, including
improving academic achievement, compensatory education,
limited English proficiency, and migrant education
Regional Occupational Centers and Programs
Special Education
State Preschool
Tobacco-Use Prevention Education
AB 379
Page 9
In addition, complaints may be filed under the UCP regarding
discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation, unlawful
pupil fees, certain charter school requirements, and violations
of the law establishing LCAPs.
Complaints made under the UCP may be filed by an individual,
public agency, or organization. Not all matters of educational
law are covered by the UCP (complaints regarding the federal
school lunch program, for example, are filed with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture), but LEAs may use the UCP if they so
choose to process some other complaints. CDE monitors for
compliance with the UCP through its compliance monitoring
activities.
The UCP process generally involves the following steps:
a) The filing of a complaint by an individual, agency, or
organization
b) The investigation and written response by the LEA within
60 days
c) If elected, an appeal by the complainant to the CDE
within 15 days of receiving the LEA response
d) The response by the CDE to the appeal, with the
investigation completed with 60 days
e) If eligible and elected, a request for reconsideration
by the complainant or LEA within 35 days of receiving CDE's
response to the appeal
AB 379
Page 10
f) A response by the CDE within 35 days
A modified process for complaints was established by legislation
implementing part of the settlement of the Eliezer Williams, et
al., vs. State of California, et al. case (SB 2727, Chapter 903,
Statutes of 2004). These complaints are known as "Williams
Complaints" and address specific conditions of education,
including instructional materials, emergency or urgent facility
conditions, and teacher vacancy or misassignment, as well as the
provision of services to students who have not passed the High
School Exit Examination (added by subsequent legislation).
These complaints may be filed anonymously. LEAs are required to
remedy valid complaints within 30 days and report to
complainants within 45 days. Except for complaints regarding
emergency facility issues, there is no right of appeal to the
CDE.
Complaints regarding pupil fees, harassment, discrimination,
bullying, intimidation, LCAPs and some charter school
requirements generally follow the UCP, but differ slightly in
terms of timelines, anonymity of complainants, confidentiality,
and with whom a complaint can be filed.
UCP becoming less uniform. The goal of the UCP was to create a
uniform process for complaints - presumably one which would be
easier and less costly to administer, and more transparent to
the public. The requirements of this bill, while necessary in
the view of the author to ensure educational opportunity for
vulnerable students, continue the trend of modifying what was
intended to be a uniform process. The Committee may wish to
consider that the UCP is becoming less uniform.
Is a five day timeline workable? Supporters of this bill argue
that prompt resolution of complaints is vital to the exercise of
AB 379
Page 11
educational rights of foster youth, and that rights to immediate
enrollment and school placement are highly time-sensitive. But
the Committee may wish to consider whether a five-day timeline
for an LEA to complete an investigation and issue a written
report is workable.
What are "compensatory educational services?" This bill
requires that "compensatory educational services" be provided
when an LEA has violated a student's right to remain in his or
her school of origin pending a dispute regarding school
placement, and when that violation has resulted in an
interruption in the student's school attendance. Such services
are sometimes awarded through Special Education complaints when
an LEA is found to have denied services to a student.
This bill does not specify the purpose or scope of these
services. To better guide the provision of services, staff
recommends that this term be defined to as follows: "It is the
intent of the Legislature that these services be provided to
assist pupils in their transition to the school setting
following an interruption in school attendance, and to
compensate for missed instruction. Compensatory educational
services may include, but are not limited to, social-emotional
supports such as counseling, and academic supports including
tutoring and academic counseling."
Need to retitle this article. The title of the article amended
by this bill is "Educational Placement of Pupils Residing in
Licensed Children's Institutions," a name given in 1998 when the
article was created and consisted solely of provisions on that
topic. Since then it has been amended numerous times and it now
pertains more broadly to students in foster care and those who
are homeless. Staff recommends that it be renamed "Education of
Pupils in Foster Care and Pupils who are Homeless."
AB 379
Page 12
Related legislation. AB 224 (Jones-Sawyer) requires that a
notice of educational rights of foster youth be created and
disseminated. AB 854 (Webber) allows the Foster Youth Services
program to provide educational support to students in relative
care and establishes a State Foster Youth Services Director
within the CDE.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
Alliance for Children's Rights (sponsor)
AdvoKids
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees,
AFL-CIO
California Alliance of Child and Family Services
John Burton Foundation for Children without Homes
Opposition
None received
AB 379
Page 13
Analysis Prepared by:Tanya Lieberman / ED. / (916) 319-2087