BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 526|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 526
Author: Holden (D)
Amended: 8/17/16 in Senate
Vote: 27 - Urgency
PRIOR VOTES NOT RELEVANT
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 7-0, 8/23/16 (pursuant to Senate
Rule 29.10)
AYES: Liu, Block, Huff, Leyva, Monning, Pan, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Mendoza
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 6-0, 8/23/16
AYES: Lara, Bates, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NO VOTE RECORDED: Nielsen
SUBJECT: Pupils: attendance at community college
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: 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.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
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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exemptions were repealed on January 1, 2014:
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.)
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2)Authorizes a community college district governing board to
admit as a special part-time or full-time student any student
eligible pursuant to EC Section 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)
3)Requires the CCC 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, existing law requires the
governing board of a 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)
4)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)
5)Authorizes the governing board of a community college district
to enter into a CCAP 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
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agreement. (EC § 76004)
This bill:
1)Exempts from the 5% 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 CCAP
program and meets one of the specified criteria and if the
high school principal who recommends the student provides the
Chancellor of the 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 of
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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)Sunsets the provisions of the bill 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.
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 high school
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physical education (PE) classes and various suspected abuses.
These anecdotal allegations resulted in a Chancellor's Office
investigation which revealed that 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
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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 rates, or helping high school
students achieve college and career readiness. AB 288 capped
the statewide 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 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
expired on January 1, 2014.
This bill proposes to reinstate the exemption from the 5% cap
however, limits the exemption to high school students enrolled
in a course offered through the CCAP program. While the bill's
provisions exempt these students from summer session dual
enrollment cap, each CCAP partnership are subject to their
respective partnership agreements which establish 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.
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FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
To the extent that this bill results in additional CCAP
students enrolled in summer session community college, it
could result in a potentially significant Proposition 98 cost
pressure due to community college districts claiming
additional 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.
Minor costs to the CCCCO to reinstate the reporting
requirement.
SUPPORT: (Verified8/23/16)
Community College League of California
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/23/16)
None received
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/24/16 18:31:49
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