BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 526 (Holden) - Pupils: attendance at community college
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|Version: August 17, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 0 |
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|Urgency: Yes |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: August 23, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill, an urgency measure, exempts certain College
and Career Access Pathways (CCAP) partnerships from the 5
percent cap on the number of students in the same grade level a
principal can recommend for community college summer session.
This bill also reinstates a requirement for the Chancellor of
the California Community Colleges (CCC) to report the number of
students that are exempt from this cap and receive a passing
grade.
Fiscal
Impact:
To the extent that this bill results in additional CCAP
students enrolled in summer session community college, it
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could result in a potentially significant Proposition 98 cost
pressure due to community college districts claiming
additional full-time equivalent students (FTES). The exact
cost pressure attributed to this bill is unknown. Every
additional 100 FTES would result in a cost pressure of about
$500,000 Proposition 98 at a rate of $5,004 per-FTES for the
2016-17 fiscal year. This bill prohibits the CCC Board of
Governors from including enrollment growth from these students
as part of its annual budget request. See staff comments.
Minor costs to the CCC Chancellor's Office to reinstate the
reporting requirement.
Background: Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district, upon recommendation of the principal of a student's
school and with parental consent, to allow a student that would
benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to
concurrently enroll in a community college during any session or
term as a special part-time or full-time student. Existing law
prohibits a principal from recommending more than 5 percent of
the total number of students in the same grade level for
community college summer session attendance. A community
college district governing board is authorized to admit these
students and assign them a low enrollment priority, with certain
exceptions, in order to ensure that they do not displace
regularly admitted community college students. (Education Code
§ 48800, et seq.; EC § 76001)
Until January 1, 2014, existing law provided for an exemption to
the 5 percent cap on students being recommended by a principal
for community college summer session. The exemption applied to
students enrolled in courses that meet one of the following
criteria:
1. The course is a lower division, college-level course for
credit that is designated as part of the Intersegmental
General Education Transfer Curriculum or applies toward the
general education breadth requirements of the California
State University.
2. The course is a college-level, occupational course for
credit, as specified, and it is part of a sequence of
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vocational or career technical education courses leading to
a degree or certificate in the subject area covered by the
sequence.
3. The course is necessary to assist a student who has not
passed the California High School Exist Examination
(CAHSEE), does not offer college credit in English language
arts or mathematics, and the student: (a) is in his or her
senior year of high school, and (b) has completed all other
graduation requirements, as specified. (EC § 48800)
Chapter 618, Statutes of 2015 (AB 288, Holden) authorizes the
governing board of a community college district to enter into a
CCAP partnership with the governing board of a school district
for the purpose of offering or expanding dual enrollment
opportunities for students who may not already be college bound
or who are underrepresented in higher education, with the goal
of developing seamless pathways from high school to community
college for career technical education or preparation for
transfer, improving high school graduation rates, or helping
high school pupils achieve college and career readiness.
Existing law caps the number of FTES claimed as special admits
at 10 percent of the total number of FTES claimed statewide.
(EC § 76004)
Proposed Law:
This bill:
1. Reinstates an exemption to the 5 percent cap on the
number of students in the same grade level a principal can
recommend for community college summer session. This
exemption became inoperable January 1, 2014. This bill
includes the criteria outlined in existing law to qualify
for the exemption and further requires that it only apply
to students who are enrolled a course that is part of a
CCAP program in which a majority of the students served are
either an English learner, a low income student, or a
foster youth (together known as unduplicated students).
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2. Reinstates a requirement that the Chancellor of the CCC
report to the Department of Finance the number of students
that are exempt from the 5 percent cap and receive a
passing grade.
3. Reinstates the prohibition that the CCC Board of
Governors include enrollment growth of students that are
exempt from the 5 percent summer session cap as part of its
annual budget request.
4. Extends the above provisions until January 1, 2020.
Staff
Comments: According to the author's office, this bill is needed
to clarify that the 5 percent cap on summer dual enrollment does
not apply to students enrolled in a course that is part of a
CCAP partnership. A legal opinion from the CCC Chancellor's
Office regarding the CCAP partnership program asserts that the 5
percent cap does apply to CCAP students.
The actual cost of this bill is unknown as it depends on the
potential increase in FTES resulting from additional CCAP
students enrolling in summer session that would have otherwise
been prohibited due to the 5 percent cap. Since AB 288, which
authorizes the CCAP partnerships, has only recently been
enacted, it is unknown how many students are enrolled in courses
within such a partnership, and further which programs serve a
majority of unduplicated students. In addition, it is unknown
the extent to which high school principals are currently
reaching the cap on the number of students they can recommend
within a certain grade level for community college summer
session.
However, to the extent the cap is being reached in some grades
and this bill would allow more students to enroll in summer
session, it could result in an increase in FTES claimed by
community college districts. Any additional FTES that community
colleges claim as a result of the cap exemption would result in
a Proposition 98 cost pressure. This bill prohibits the CCC
from including enrollment growth of these exempt students as
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part of its annual budget request so the CCC would likely have
to absorb these costs.
For context, the CCC Chancellor's Office reported that 33,495
high school students completed summer session courses in 2015
with a passing grade. It was also reported that there were
19,689 special admit FTES statewide in the 2014-15 academic
year. Staff notes that these two figures are distinct in that
FTES is not "headcount enrollment," but is the equivalent of 525
hours of student instruction per each FTES.
This bill requires, in order to qualify for the 5 percent cap
exemption, the student to be enrolled in a course that is part
of a CCAP program in which a majority of the students are
unduplicated; the recommending high school principal provides
necessary data for reporting; and the course is either: (1)
transferrable to the University of California or the California
State University; (2) is an occupational course; or (3) is
necessary to assist a student who has not passed the CAHSEE.
Staff notes that the CAHSEE is suspended through the 2017-18
school year; therefore this last pathway to exemption is
currently not an option.
To the extent that this bill results in more students earning
college credits, students may move through a public
postsecondary institution more quickly in the future, which may
contribute to future cost savings to the state from reduced time
in college. This assumes the college credits earned through a
CCAP agreement will be recognized by the postsecondary
institution to which the credits are transferred and students do
not take excess courses at the institution.
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