BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
                             Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
                            2015 - 2016  Regular  Session

          AB 2306 (Frazier) - Juvenile court school pupils
          
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          |Version: June 14, 2016          |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0          |
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          |Urgency: No                     |Mandate: Yes                    |
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          |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016    |Consultant: Jillian Kissee      |
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          This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.




          Bill  
          Summary:  This bill extends policies for graduation requirements  
          and completed coursework credit currently provided to students  
          who are in foster care or who are homeless to also apply to  
          students who transfer from a juvenile court school.  This bill,  
          among other things, requires a school district to exempt a  
          student who transfers from a juvenile court school any time  
          after the completion of grade 10 from local graduation  
          requirements that are in addition to the coursework required by  
          the state.   


          Fiscal  
          Impact:  
           Mandate: Unknown, reimbursable state mandate costs,  
            potentially in the millions related to expanding the required  
            course of study for juvenile court schools to include foreign  
            language.  Additional reimbursable state mandate costs related  







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            to expanding the areas in which complaints may be made to  
            local educational agencies (LEAs) under the Uniform Complaint  
            Procedures (UCP).  Likely minor costs related to awarding a  
            diploma for fulfilling statewide graduation requirements.  See  
            staff comments.  (Proposition 98)
           The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation  
            indicates that the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) would  
            incur costs of $437,000 in which $50,000 is for regulatory  
            updates and staff training and $387,000 is for three  
            recreational therapists to engage youth in other activities  
            who opt out of school during classroom hours.  See staff  
            comments.  (General Fund)  
           The California Department of Education (CDE) indicates costs  
            to implement this bill are minor.


          Background:  Existing state law establishes a minimum set of courses  
          required for high school graduation.  The governing boards of  
          LEAs are authorized to supplement the state minimum requirements  
          at the local level.  In addition, the University of California  
          (UC) and the California State University (CSU) require a minimum  
          15-unit pattern of courses for admission as a first-time  
          freshman.  These requirements exceed the minimum state  
          graduation requirements.  Among the UC and CSU admission  
          requirements include, are two years of a foreign language.  
          Existing law requires county boards of education to adopt and  
          enforce a course of study and to evaluate a juvenile court  
          school program in accordance, among other things, the course of  
          study requirements for grades seven through 12, but excluding  
          foreign languages. (Education Code Section 48645.3(a))




          Proposed Law:  
            This bill extends policies for graduation requirements and  
          completed coursework credit currently provided to students who  
          are in foster care or who are homeless to students who transfer  
          from a juvenile court school.  This bill, among other things,  
          requires a school district to exempt a student who transfers  
          from a juvenile court school any time after completion of grade  
          10 from local graduation requirements that are in addition to  
          the coursework required by the state.   
          Specifically this bill:








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          Course of Study


           Provides legislative intent that students in juvenile court  
            schools have a rigorous curriculum that includes a course of  
            study preparing them for high school graduation and career  
            entry and fulfilling the requirements for admission to the UC  
            or the CSU.


           Requires that county offices of education adopt and enforce a  
            course of study pertaining to juvenile court schools that  
            includes foreign language.


          Exemption of Local Graduation Requirements


           Provides that if a student completes the statewide coursework  
            requirement for graduation while attending a juvenile court  
            school, the county office of education is required to issue to  
            the student a diploma of graduation and not require the  
            student to complete requirements that are in addition to the  
            statewide coursework.


           Requires that if the school district determines that the  
            former juvenile court school student is reasonably able to  
            complete the school district's local graduation requirements  
            within the student's fifth year of high school, it must inform  
            the student of the option, the impact this option would have  
            on admission to college, and provide information about  
            transfer options at the California Community Colleges.  


           Upon transfer into a school, requires a school district to  
            notify the former juvenile court school student and other  
            individuals of the availability of the exemption of local  
            graduation requirements and whether the student qualifies for  
            an exemption. 










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           Provides that if a former juvenile student is exempted from  
            local graduation requirements, the school is prohibited from  
            requiring that the student graduate early; must inform the  
            student and educational rights holder how the exemption will  
            affect college admission; and must provide information on  
            transfer options. 


          Completed Coursework Policies


           Requires a school district and county office of education to  
            accept coursework satisfactorily completed by a former  
            juvenile court school student while attending another school,  
            as specified.


           Prohibits a school district or county office of education from  
            requiring a former juvenile court school student to retake a  
            course if the student has satisfactorily completed the course  
            and requires the student to be allowed to take a course to  
            meet the eligibility requirements for admission to the CSU or  
            UC.








          Uniform Complaint Procedures 


           Authorizes a complaint of noncompliance with the graduation  
            requirements exemption and coursework completion policies  
            above to be filed with the LEA under the UCP.  


           Requires the graduation requirements exemption and coursework  
            completion policies above to be included in the annual UCP  
            notification.










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          Related  
          Legislation:  AB 379, (Gordon, Chapter 772, Statutes of 2015)  
          makes complaints alleging violations of the educational rights  
          afforded to students in foster care and students who are  
          homeless that are also being proposed in this bill for former  
          juvenile court school students, subject to the UCP.


          Staff  
          Comments:  This bill requires that county offices of education  
          adopt and enforce a course of study pertaining to juvenile court  
          schools that includes foreign language.  This new requirement  
          could be deemed by the Commission on State Mandates as a state  
          reimbursable mandate.  According to the CDE's website, in 2010  
          there were 83 juvenile court schools enrolling about 9,000  
          students.  At an average teacher cost of $100,000, including  
          benefits, costs would be about $8.6 million for these schools to  
          hire one additional teacher to teach foreign language.  
          This bill expands the UCP process to include additional areas in  
          which complaints may be made to LEAs regarding violating certain  
          educational rights of former juvenile court school students.  
          Once a complaint is received, LEAs are required to investigate  
          and resolve it in accordance with requirements in state  
          regulations.  This bill also requires information regarding the  
          rights of former juvenile court school students and the ability  
          to file a complaint through the UCP process to be included in  
          the school district's annual UCP notification.  Based on the  
          Commission on State Mandate's statewide cost estimate for the  
          existing UCP mandate, costs to address a complaint can vary  
          significantly.  If 50 complaints were to materialize from  
          implementation of this bill, costs could range from about  
          $20,000 (assume the lowest staff costs and minimal hours spent  
          on a complaint) to about $900,000 (assuming the highest paid  
          staff and maximum hours spent on a complaint) statewide.  If  
          complaints were to materialize from this bill which subsequently  
          led to appeals, this could create workload at the CDE to address  
          those appeals.


          Finally, since this bill's exemption of local graduation  
          requirements applies to students that transfer from a juvenile  
          court school and most of the DJJ's youth have attended a  








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          juvenile court school, this bill appears to also exempt DJJ  
          youth from being required to adhere to requirements beyond the  
          state's graduation requirements.  According to DJJ, given that  
          some students would opt out of the additional course  
          requirements, the youth would need to be occupied with other  
          beneficial activities.  Therefore, DJJ cites the need for  
          additional recreational therapists to supervise these youth.   
          The author may wish to consider an amendment that would not  
          change the course requirements while youth are at the DJJ. 




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