BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 1166 Page 1 Date of Hearing: April 22, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 1166 (Bloom) - As Introduced February 27, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Education |Vote:|7 - 0 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: Yes SUMMARY: This bill allows students in foster care and those who are homeless to be eligible for the exemption from local graduation requirements even if they are not notified of this right within 30 days of enrollment, and allows homeless students to be exempt even if they are no longer homeless or if they transfer to another school or district. AB 1166 Page 2 FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown, likely minor, Proposition 98/GF state reimbursable mandated costs to local education agencies. This bill makes minor adjustments to policies and procedures already in place for foster youth and homeless youth. COMMENTS: Purpose. Current law requires school districts to exempt students in foster care and those who are homeless who transfer between schools after their second year in high school from local graduation requirements. Current law continues these provisions for foster youth even if their court jurisdiction is terminated, or if students transfer to another school or district. This bill provides a similar exemption for homeless youth. Current law requires school districts to notify students in foster care and those who are homeless, within 30 days of the date that they transfer into a school, that they are exempt from local graduation requirements, and whether individual students qualify for the exemption. This bill clarifies that homeless and foster youth are exempt from the local graduation requirements even if the notification is provided after the 30 day requirement. Related legislation. AB 1806 (Bloom), Chapter 767, Statutes of 2014, required notification of homeless liaisons when homeless AB 1166 Page 3 youth with special needs are at risk of expulsion, exempted these homeless students in their last two years of high school from district-specific [graduation] requirements, and clarified that homeless youth have the same rights as foster children when it comes to receiving partial credit for work they completed at other schools. Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081