BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 526
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|Author: |Holden |
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|Version: |August 17, 2016 Hearing Date: |
| | August 23, 2016 |
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|Urgency: |Yes |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Olgalilia Ramirez |
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Subject: Pupils: attendance at community college
SUMMARY
This bill, until January 1, 2020, exempts from the 5% cap placed
on community college summer session enrollment, K-12 students
who meet specified requirements and who enroll in certain
community college courses offered through the College and Career
Access Pathways (CCAP) program.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1) Authorizes the governing board of a school district,
upon recommendation of the principal of a student's school
of attendance, and with parental consent, to authorize a
student who would benefit from advanced scholastic or
vocational work to attend a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student. Additionally, current law
prohibited a principal from recommending, for community
college summer session attendance, more than 5% of the
total number of students in the same grade level and
exempted from the 5% cap a student recommended by his or
her principal for enrollment in a college-level summer
session course if the course in which the pupil was
enrolled met specified criteria. These exemptions were
repealed on January 1, 2014:
AB 526 (Holden) Page 2
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a) A course in which the high school student is
enrolled meet any one or more of the following
criteria:
i) The course is a lower division,
college-level course for credit,
designated as part of the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer Curriculum or applies toward
the general education breadth requirements of the
California State University.
ii) The course is a college level,
occupational course for credit assigned a
Priority code of "A," "B," or "C," pursuant to
the Student Accountability Model, and is part of
a sequence of vocational or career technical
education courses leading to a degree or
certificate in the subject area covered by the
sequence.
iii) The course is necessary to assist a
student who has not passed the California High
School Exit Exam and does not offer college
credit in English language arts or mathematics,
and the student is in his or her senior year and
has completed all other graduation requirements
prior to the end of his or her senior year or
will complete all remaining graduation
requirements during the recommended community
college summer session.
(EC § 48800, et seq.)
iv) Authorizes a community college district
governing board to admit as a special part-time
or full-time student any student eligible
pursuant to EC 48800 and requires the governing
board of a California Community College (CCC)
district to assign these students a low
enrollment priority in order to ensure that these
students do not displace regularly admitted
community college students. An exemption to this
requirement is extended to Middle College High
School (MCHS) students. (EC § 76001)
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v) Requires the California Community
College Chancellor's Office (CCCCO) to report to
the Department of Finance and Legislature
annually on the amount of full-time equivalent
students (FTES) claimed by each CCC district for
high school pupils enrolled in non-credit,
non-degree applicable, degree applicable
(excluding physical education), and degree
applicable physical education courses; and
provides that, for purposes of receiving state
apportionments, CCC districts may only include
high school students within the CCC district's
report on FTES if the students are enrolled in
courses that are open to the general public, as
specified. Additionally, current law requires
the governing board of a California Community
College (CCC) district to assign a low enrollment
priority to special part-time or full-time
students in order to ensure that these students
do not displace regularly admitted community
college students. (EC § 76001 and § 76002)
vi) Caps the amount of state apportionment
that may be claimed for these students at no more
than 5% of the district's total reported
full-time equivalent enrollment of special
part-time and full-time students. (EC § 76002)
vii) Authorizes 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, in
its immediate service area, with the goal of
developing seamless pathways from high school to
CCC in order to offer or expand dual enrollment
opportunities for students who may not be college
bound or who are underrepresented in higher
education; and, outlines the conditions that must
be met prior to the adoption of the CCAP
agreement. (EC § 76004)
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ANALYSIS
This bill:
1) Exempts from the five percent cap on community college
summer session enrollment, a high school student
recommended by his or her principal if the course in which
the student is part of a College and Career Access Pathways
program and meets one of the specified criteria and if the
high school principal who recommends the student provides
the Chancellor of the California Community College (CCC),
upon request of that office, with the data it requires to
report to the Department of Finance. Specifically, it
provides that if the course in which the student is
enrolled meet any one or more of the following criteria:
a) The course is a lower division, college-level
course for credit,
designated as part of the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer
Curriculum or applies toward the general education
breadth requirements of the California State
University.
b) The course is a college level, occupational
course for credit assigned a
Priority code of "A," "B," or "C," pursuant to the
Student Accountability Model, and is part of a
sequence of vocational or career technical education
courses leading to a degree or certificate in the
subject area covered by the sequence.
c) The course is necessary to assist a student who
has not passed the
California High School Exit Exam and does not offer
college credit in English language arts or
mathematics, and the student is in his or her senior
year and has completed all other graduation
requirements prior to the end of his or her senior
year or will complete all remaining graduation
requirements during the recommended community
college summer session.
2) Requires, on or before March 1 of each year, the Chancellor
AB 526 (Holden) Page 5
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of the CCC to annually report to the Department of Finance
the number of pupils who enrolled and received a passing
grade in a community college summer session course.
3) Prohibits the Board of Governors of the CCC from including
enrollment growth attributable to these students as part of
its annual budget request for the CCC.
4) Provides that the provisions of the bill shall become
inoperative on January 1, 2020.
5) Declares the bill an urgency measure in order to ensure
rigorous scholastic and vocational work opportunities are
available to K-12 students at the earliest possible time
and that ongoing programs are not interrupted.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill. Recent legislation, AB 288 (Holden,
Chapter 618, Statutes of 2015) authorized the governing
board of a community college district to enter into a CCAP
partnership with the governing board of a school district.
According to the author, following the enactment of AB 288,
a number of school districts entered into CCAP partnerships
and began enrolling student with the understanding that,
since AB 288 imposed its own cap on enrollment, the 5% cap
on summer dual enrollment under existing law would not
apply to CCAP students. However, conflicting legal opinions
caused some confusion in the field regarding whether the 5%
cap applies to the CCAP program. The author contends, "AB
526 is simply providing additional clarification to
existing law to ensure that these students are able to take
the courses required by their chosen pathway and also to
ensure that the promise of college and career is
fulfilled."
2) Related History. In December 2002, the Orange County
Register ran the first in a series of highly critical
articles regarding concurrent enrollment practices in the
community colleges. The articles specifically focused on
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high school physical education (PE) classes and various
suspected abuses.
These anecdotal allegations resulted in a Chancellor's Office
investigation which revealed that full-time equivalent students
(FTES) generated by concurrent enrollment in both credit and
noncredit courses grew from approximately 16,000 in 1992-93 to
over 52,000 in 2000-01, outpacing the overall enrollment growth
of the community college system. While concurrent enrollment
included courses in a variety of curricular areas, there had
been significant growth in concurrent enrollment in PE courses.
The proportion of FTES for concurrent enrollment in PE courses
was approximately 15% in 1992-93, but these courses comprised
34% of FTES for concurrent enrollment in 2000-01, the equivalent
of 1.7% of all the FTES generated by the community colleges as a
system. The expansion of concurrent enrollment in PE courses
was more pronounced in about one-fifth (20%) of the system's 72
districts and was especially evident with respect to PE
programs. By 2001-02, six districts within the system produced
53% of the PE concurrent enrollment FTES generated by the entire
system for that year. These districts included Los Angeles,
Butte, North Orange, Contra Costa, Santa Clarita, and Mt. San
Antonio.
As a result, SB 338 (Scott, Chapter 786, Statutes of 2003) was
enacted to specify the conditions whereby concurrent enrollment
of students between a high school and community college district
is permitted, establish restrictions on the amount of FTES that
could be claimed for PE courses, and require annual reporting by
the Chancellor of the amount of FTES claimed by each district
for special full-time and special part-time students overall and
for PE courses specifically.
3) College and Career Access Pathways partnership (CCAP). AB
288 (Holden, Chapter 618, Statutes of 2015) authorized the
governing board of a community college district to enter
into a CCAP partnership with the governing board of a
school district within its immediate service area, as
specified, to offer or expand dual enrollment opportunities
for students who may not already be college bound or who
are underrepresented in higher education. The goal of the
program is to develop seamless pathways from high school to
community college for career-technical education or
preparation for transfer, improving high school graduation
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rates, or helping high school students achieve college and
career readiness. AB 288 capped the statewide full-time
equivalent students (FTES) which may be claimed for special
admits at 10% statewide. The authority for this partnership
sunsets January 1, 2022.
4) Special part-time full time students. Current law
authorizes a school district governing board to recommend
students who would benefit from advanced scholastic or
vocational work for attendance at a community college upon
recommendation of the principal, and limits the number of
students who can be recommended for summer session
enrollments to 5% of the students in each grade level.
Community colleges are authorized to claim FTES
reimbursement for these students only if the course is open
and advertised to the general public. The proportion of a
community college PE class that may be comprised of special
part-time or full-time students cannot exceed 10% and
apportionment for these students cannot exceed 5% of the
district's total reported FTES for special part-time and
full-time students. Students are limited to enrolling in a
maximum of 11 units per semester, and must be assigned low
enrollment priority by the college to avoid displacement of
adults. Existing law exempted from the five percent cap a
student recommended by his or her principal for enrollment
in a college-level summer session course if the course in
which the pupil was enrolled met specified criteria. These
exemptions expired on January 1, 2014.
This bill proposes to reinstate the exemption from the 5% cap
but limits the exemption to high school students enrolled in a
course offered through the College and Career Access Pathways
program. While the bill's provisions exempt these students from
summer session dual enrollment cap, each College and Career
Access Pathways partnership are subject to their respective
partnership agreements which outline the total number of high
school students to be served. Additionally, AB 288 capped FTES
which may be claimed for special admits at 10% of total FTES.
5) Special admits trends. The chart below summarizes the
trends around special admits in relation to total full-time
equivalent students for the community colleges for the last
decade.
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SUPPORT
Community College League of California
OPPOSITION
None received.
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