BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 379 (Gordon) - Foster youth: complaint of noncompliance. ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 17, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: July 6, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: This bill expands the Uniform Complaint Procedures to include complaints of noncompliance with certain rights and responsibilities regarding the education of students who are in foster care or who are homeless, including school placement decisions, responsibilities of foster youth liaisons, provisions regarding school transfers, exemption from locally-imposed graduation requirements, and the awarding of partial credit for completed coursework. Fiscal Impact: This bill could drive a significant increase in state costs, depending on how many complaints and appeals are filed. Mandate: Unknown, potentially significant ongoing reimbursable state mandate costs for local educational agencies (LEAs) to investigate and resolve complaints. LEAs would also incur one-time costs to update the annual UCP notice. See staff comments. The California Department of Education (CDE) indicates that AB 379 (Gordon) Page 1 of ? this bill would require 1.5 positions and $192,000 General Fund. Actual workload would depend on the number of appeals received. The CDE currently receives between 45 and 50 appeals per year related to pupil fees but the department experienced an initial surge in appeals when pupil fees was first added. Background: Existing law provides the following educational rights for foster and homeless To attend a regular public school when residing in a licensed children's institution, except under specified circumstances. (Education Code § 48853) To remain in his or her school of origin when a new placement occurs, and while the resolution of a dispute regarding educational placement is pending. (EC § 48853 and § 48853.5) To not have grades and credits be lowered as a result of a placement change or court appearance. (EC § 49069.5) They be promptly transferred between schools and have educational records transferred within two business days, and be immediately enrolled in a new school, even if he or she has outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or money due to the prior school, or is unable to produce clothing or records required for enrollment. (EC § 48853.5 and § 49069.5) Students who are in foster care or who are homeless must be awarded full or partial credit for coursework satisfactorily completed at another school, even if he or she hasn't completed the entire course, and not be required to retake some or all of a course he or she has taken at another school. (EC § 49069.5 and § 51225.2) AB 379 (Gordon) Page 2 of ? Students who are in foster care or who are homeless must be exempt from local graduation requirements which exceed state requirements. (EC § 51225.1) Existing law requires each local educational agency (LEA) to designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster youth, and requires that person to ensure and facilitate the proper educational placement, enrollment in school, and checkout from school of foster youth, and to ensure proper transfer of credits, records, and grades when students change schools or school districts. (EC § 48853.5) Existing law requires each LEA to designate a staff person as the education liaison for homeless youth, and requires that person to ensure public notice of the educational rights of students who are homeless, and to provide services pursuant to the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. (United States Code, Title 42, § 11432) Proposed Law: This bill expands the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) to allow complaints of noncompliance to be filed with the LEA for certain existing rights of students who are in foster care or are homeless. Areas in which complaints can be made include school placement decisions, responsibilities of foster youth liaisons, school transfer requirements, exemption from locally-imposed graduation requirements, and the awarding of partial credit for completed coursework. This bill requires that if the local educational agency finds merit in the complaint, or the CDE finds merit in an appeal, the local educational agency must provide a remedy to the affected student. This bill authorizes appeals of LEA decisions to the CDE and requires the complainant seeking the appeal to receive a written decision within 60 days. This bill also requires that information regarding the rights of foster care or homeless students and the ability to file a complaint through the UCP process to be included in the annual notification requirement by the UCP. AB 379 (Gordon) Page 3 of ? Related Legislation: The following bills expand the UCP to include additional areas in which complaints may be filed with LEAs. AB 1391 (Gomez, 2015) regarding the required minimum instructional minutes for physical education. AB 1391 is pending in this committee. SB 81 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, 2015) regarding an alleged violation by a local agency of federal or state law or regulations governing adult education programs or regional occupational centers and programs. SB 81 is enrolled. SB 425 (Hernandez, 2015) regarding an alleged violation by a local agency of federal or state law or regulations governing adult education programs or regional occupational centers and programs, including allegations of unlawful discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying. SB 425 is pending in the Assembly Higher Education Committee. AB 907 (Burke, 2015) is nearly identical to SB 425. AB 907 is pending in the Senate Education Committee. AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer, 2015) regarding provisions in the bill including prohibiting a school district from assigning any students in grades 7-12 to any "course period without educational content", unless specifically authorized. AB 1012 is pending in the Senate Education Committee. AB 302 (Cristina Garcia, 2015) regarding provisions in the bill for LEAs to provide reasonable accommodations for a student breastfeeding. AB 302 is pending in the Senate Education Committee. Staff Comments: This bill expands the UCP process to include additional areas in which complaints can be made to LEAs regarding violating certain educational rights of foster youth and homeless students. Once a complaint is received, LEAs are required to investigate and resolve the claims in accordance with requirements in state regulations. This bill also requires the information regarding the rights of foster care or homeless students and the ability to file a complaint through the UCP AB 379 (Gordon) Page 4 of ? process to be included in the school district's annual UCP notification. The Commission on State Mandates approved a test claim in 2012 related to the filing, investigation, and resolution of two types of complaints: those that claim violations of laws governing specified educational programs and those that claim discrimination in violation of antidiscrimination laws. According to the Commission's draft statewide cost estimate, costs submitted by 12 school districts varied due to the type of staff used and the time staff took to handle claims. Staff were paid between $52 and $175 per hour and spent from nine to 105 hours per claim. Assuming ten percent of school districts receive complaints for noncompliance and submit a reimbursable state mandate claim, costs could be between $47,000 and $1.8 million based on the range of costs incurred by school districts for the existing UCP mandate. If the Commission determines the requirements of this bill to be a state reimbursable mandate, this could create pressure for the state to increase funding in the K-12 mandate block grant to reflect its inclusion. -- END --