BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 2306 (Frazier) - Juvenile court school pupils ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: June 14, 2016 |Policy Vote: ED. 9 - 0 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 1, 2016 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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 AB 2306 (Frazier) Page 1 of ? 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: AB 2306 (Frazier) Page 2 of ? 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. AB 2306 (Frazier) Page 3 of ? 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. AB 2306 (Frazier) Page 4 of ? 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 AB 2306 (Frazier) Page 5 of ? 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. -- END --