BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
AB 1166 (Bloom) - Pupils in foster care: pupils who are homeless
children or youth: school transfer: exemption from local
graduation requirements.
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|Version: February 27, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 8 - 0 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes |
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|Hearing Date: |Consultant: Jillian Kissee |
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This bill does not meet the criteria for referral to the
Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: This bill provides that foster youth and homeless
youth that transfer between schools are eligible for exemption
from local graduation requirements above what is required at the
state level, even if the students were not notified in a timely
manner of the availability of those exemptions. This bill also
provides that a homeless youth's exemption continues to apply
even if the student is no longer homeless.
Fiscal
Impact:
Potential, likely minor, reimbursable mandate costs to the
extent the Commission on State Mandates determines this bill
constitutes a higher level of service.
AB 1166 (Bloom) Page 1 of
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Background: The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless individuals as
people who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
residence, and includes children and youths who, among other
situations, are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss
of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; or are
living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due
to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations. (United
States Code, Title 42, § 11302(a))
The McKinney-Vento Act further requires each local educational
agency to designate a staff person as a liaison for homeless
children and youth, and carry out specific duties, such as
ensuring immediate enrollment, access to educational
opportunities offered to other students, and providing notice of
the rights of homeless youth. (42 USC § 11432(g)(1)(J)(ii))
Current state law requires school districts to exempt foster
care students or homeless students who transfer between schools
any time after the student's second year of high school from
locally-imposed graduation requirements beyond those required by
the state, unless the school district finds that the student is
reasonably able to complete local requirements in time to
graduate high school in four years. (Education Code, §
51225.1(a))
Existing law requires a school district to notify a foster care
student or a homeless student, and other specified individuals,
within 30 days after the student transfers into a school of the
availability of the exemption and whether the student qualifies
for an exemption. (Education Code, § 51225.1(d))
If a foster care student is exempted from local graduation
requirements, existing law requires the exemption to continue to
apply after the termination of the court's jurisdiction over the
student while he or she is enrolled in school or if the student
transfers to another school or school district. (Education
Code, § 51225.1(j))
Proposed Law:
AB 1166 (Bloom) Page 2 of
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This bill requires that if a school district fails to provide
notice to a foster care or homeless student within 30 days of
the student's transfer, the student is eligible for exemption
from local graduation requirements once the student is notified,
even if the notification occurs after the termination of the
court's jurisdiction over the foster care student or after the
homeless student is no longer homeless.
This bill also requires, consistent with foster care students,
that if a student who is homeless is exempted from local
graduation requirements, the exemption continues to apply after
the student is no longer homeless while he or she is enrolled in
school or if the student transfers to another school or school
district.
Related
Legislation: SB 445 (Liu) extends the right to remain in the
school of origin to homeless students, which is currently
provided to students who are in foster care. SB 445 is pending
in the Assembly Education Committee.
AB 1806 (Bloom) Chapter 767, 2014, extends the same policies and
procedures for suspension, expulsion, graduation requirements,
and completed coursework to students who are homeless that are
provided to students who are in foster care. With regard to
graduation requirements, it requires school districts to exempt
homeless students who transfer between schools any time after
completion of the students' second year of high school from
local graduation requirements, and to take action as specified.
Staff
Comments: This bill provides clarification regarding foster
youth and homeless youth education rights in situations in which
a school district fails to provide timely notice of the
availability of exemptions from local graduation requirements
upon transferring to another school or when a student's foster
care or homeless status changes.
According to the author's office, this bill is a clean-up
measure for last year's AB 1806, which gave students identified
as homeless education-related rights similar to those of their
AB 1166 (Bloom) Page 3 of
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foster peers with regard to graduation and other requirements.
The author's office indicates that AB 1806 did not address
whether these rights would apply to students who find housing or
students who were not recognized as homeless when they were.
To the extent schools are not currently operating in accordance
with the bill's provisions due to the lack of clarity in the
law, potential mandated costs could be incurred, such as
updating procedures. However, since this bill provides minor
clarifications to a larger system already required by current
law, these incremental changes are unlikely to trigger
significant state costs.
Recommended
Amendments: Clarify that if a school district fails to provide
timely notice to a foster care student or homeless student, only
those students that qualify are exempted from local graduation
requirements. This bill could be interpreted to mean if a
school district fails to provide timely notice, both qualified
and unqualified foster care or homeless students are required to
be exempted from local graduation requirements.
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