BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2537|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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CONSENT
Bill No: AB 2537
Author: O'Donnell (D), et al.
Amended: 3/15/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 9-0, 6/8/16
AYES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,
Vidak
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Pupils: school attendance: residency requirements
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill eliminates the July 1, 2017 sunset of the
provisions in existing law that authorize a student to enroll in
a school where at least one parent or legal guardian of the
student is employed, rather than where the student resides.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Requires students to attend the public full-time day school or
continuation school or classes in which the residency of
either the parent or legal guardian is located. (Education
Code § 48200)
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Page 2
2)Provides that a student complies with the residency
requirements for school attendance in a school district if the
student:
a) Is placed within the boundaries of the school district
in a licensed children's institution, licensed foster home,
or a foster family home.
b) Is a foster child who remains in his or her school of
origin.
c) Has been approved for interdistrict attendance.
d) Resides within the boundaries of the school district and
whose parent or legal guardian is relieved of
responsibility, control, and authority through
emancipation.
e) Lives in the home of a caregiving adult that is located
within the boundaries of that school district.
f) Resides in a state hospital located within the
boundaries of the school district.
g) Is a child of a parent who is employed and lives at the
place of employment within the boundaries of the school
district for a minimum of three days during the school
week. (Education Code § 48204)
3)Authorizes, until July 1, 2017, school districts to deem a
student to have complied with the residency requirements for
school attendance in a school district if at least one parent
or the legal guardian is physically employed within the
boundaries of that district for a minimum of 10 hours during
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the school week. (Education Code § 48204)
4)Requires reasonable evidence of residency to be established by
documentation showing the name and address of the parent or
legal guardian within the school district, including, but not
limited to, the following:
a) Property tax payment receipts.
b) Rental property contract, lease, or payment receipts.
c) Utility service contract, statement, or payment
receipts.
d) Pay stubs.
e) Voter registration.
f) Correspondence from a government agency.
g) Declaration of residency executed by the parent or legal
guardian. (Education Code § 48204.1)
5)Provides several other means to authorize a student who
resides in one school district to attend public school in
another district. The main authorization provides for
interdistrict attendance when the district of residence and
district of proposed attendance establish, for a period of up
to five years, an interdistrict transfer agreement.
(Education Code § 46600)
This bill eliminates the July 1, 2017 sunset of the provisions
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that authorize a school district to deem a student to have
complied with residency requirements for school attendance in a
school district if the parent or guardian of the student is
physically employed within the boundaries of that school
district for a minimum of 10 hours during the school week.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "allowing
a pupil to be enrolled where a parent or legal guardian works
enables a parent or legal guardian to participate in a pupil's
education. For example, parent-teacher conferences or class or
schoolwide events often take place before, during, or right
after school. A parent or legal guardian may be able to attend
these meetings or events if the school is located near the place
of his or her employment, but may not be able to attend if he or
she must travel farther. Enabling a parent or legal guardian to
enroll a pupil near a work place may also address challenges
with dropping off or picking up a student to and from school."
Existing authority. Current law authorizes a student to enroll
in the district where his or her parent or legal guardian is
employed. This provision was originally enacted in 1986 and has
subsequently received several extensions, with a current sunset
of July 1, 2017. The school district where the parent is
employed is not required to admit the students but is prohibited
from refusing admission on the basis of academic skill or
personal characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sex or income.
The receiving district may also deny the transfer if it
determines that the cost of the transfer would exceed the amount
that the district would receive in additional state funds.
Either district of residence or the receiving district may
prohibit the transfer if it would negatively affect a
desegregation plan and the district of residence is not required
to allow more transfers than specified limits based upon the
size of the district.
In addition to the 10 hours of parental employment rule, school
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Page 5
districts are authorized to deem a student in compliance with
residency requirements for school attendance in that school
district if the student is placed in a children's institution or
foster home, is a foster child who remains in his or her school
of origin, lives in the home of a caregiving adult, resides in a
state hospital, is a child of a parent who is employed and lives
at the place of employment for a minimum of three days during
the school week. Except for the 10 hours of parental employment
rule, none of these provisions have a sunset date.
Parental involvement. Allowing students to be enrolled at a
school district where his or parent works provides them with the
flexibility to engage more in the child's education, especially
if they have to commute long distances to their place of
employment. This could provide a greater opportunity for
parents or legal guardians to attend meetings or school events
that take place before, during or after school.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/9/16)
Association of California School Administrators
EdVoice
Los Angeles County Office of Education
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/9/16)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 76-0, 4/14/16
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,
AB 2537
Page 6
Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,
Calderon, Campos, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley,
Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth
Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto,
Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,
Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty,
Medina, Mullin, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark
Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams,
Wood, Rendon
NO VOTE RECORDED: Irwin, Levine, Melendez, Nazarian
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/10/16 9:43:44
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