Amended in Assembly April 13, 2016

Amended in Assembly March 30, 2016

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2680

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonilla

February 19, 2016

An act to add Section 51103 to the Education Code, relating to parental engagement.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2680, as amended, Bonilla. Parent, guardian, pupil, and family engagement support and services: plans.

Existing law states various legislative findings and declarations, including that it is essential to our democratic form of government that parents and guardians of schoolage children attending public schools and other citizens participate in improving public education institutions, that specifically involving parents and guardians of pupils in the education process is fundamental to a healthy system of public education, and that family and school collaborative efforts are most effective when they involve parents and guardians in a variety of roles at all grade levels, from preschool through high school.

This bill would, subject to one-time funding being provided for purposes of this act in the annual Budget Act, require local educational agencies, including county offices of education, charter schools, alternative education programs and schools, begin insert and end insert state special schools, begin delete and state subsidized preschools and child development programs, end delete that elect to participate in family, parent, guardian, and pupil engagement support and services to develop, implement, and, once adopted, post to its Internet Web site, a begin delete plan that addresses at least one specified parent, guardian, pupil, and family engagement element relating to active and meaningful participation and training. end delete begin insert strategic plan, as provided. end insert If a local educational agency accepts funds appropriated in the annual Budget Act for purposes of those provisions, as a condition of receiving those funds, the school district, county office of education, or charter school would be required to develop and post to its Internet Web site an additional plan that aligns to the school district’s or county office of education’s local control and accountability plan or specified elements of the charter school’s petition that delineates how funds apportioned for purposes of this section, if they are apportioned, would be spent, as specified. If funds are appropriated in the annual Budget Act for these purposes, the bill would authorize a local educational agency to request funding from the Superintendent of Public Instruction and would require the local educational agency to expend those funds between the 2016-17 fiscal year and the 2018-19 fiscal year, inclusive, and would require the funds to be intended to supplement, not supplant, funds used by the local educational agency for parent, guardian, pupil, and family begin delete engagement. end delete begin insert engagement and that the funds be allocated on the basis of an equal amount per average daily attendance among participating local educational agencies. end insert The bill would provide that the funds, if appropriated, would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 51103 is added to the Education Code,
to read:

51103.  

(a) (1) Subject to one-time funding being provided
for these purposes in the annual Budget Act, local educational
agencies, including county offices of education, charter schools,
alternative education programs and schools, begin insert and end insert state special
schools, begin delete and state subsidized preschools and child development
programs, end delete that elect to participate in family, parent, guardian, and
pupil engagement support and services funded pursuant to this
section shall develop and implement a begin insert strategic end insert plan that addresses
begin delete at least one of end delete begin insert both of end insert the following:

begin delete

(A) Active and meaningful participation and training of parents,
guardians, pupils, and families of children served by the local
educational agency in the development and updating of local
control and accountability plans required pursuant to Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 52060) of Chapter 6.1.

(B) Active and meaningful participation and training at the
schoolsite or program site and school district or county office of
education level that empowers parents, guardians, pupils, and
families of children served by the local educational agency to
become active leaders through diverse channels for participation,
including, but not limited to, schoolsite committees and councils;
school district or county office of education committees and
councils; English learner advisory committees; parent, guardian,
teacher, or pupil associations; and other advisory bodies that
involve parents, guardians, pupils, or families.

(C) Programs and activities that promote parent and family
engagement of children served by the local educational agency in
school, support parents and guardians as their childrens’ first
teachers, develop parent and guardian leaders, and encourage
parents and guardians to advocate for a complete education that
includes a full curriculum to close the access, achievement, and
opportunities gaps.

(D) For county offices of education only, active and meaningful
participation, as described in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive,
and activities for purposes of serving parents, guardians, and
families in state subsidized infant and toddler programs, early
childhood education programs, state and local preschools, and
child care and development programs serving children from birth
to five years of age, inclusive, and active and meaningful outreach
to parents, guardians, and families who may benefit from
countywide training and support services offered by the county
office of education.

end delete begin insert

(A) Active and meaningful participation and training of parents,
guardians, pupils, and families of children served by local
educational agencies in the development and updating of local
control and accountability plans required pursuant to Article 4.5
(commencing with Section 52060) of Chapter 6.1, involvement at
the schoolsite, school district, or county office of education level
that empowers parents and guardians to become active leaders
on local advisory bodies, and empowerment and support to
advocate for a complete education that includes a full curriculum
and other services to close the access, achievement, and
opportunity gaps. The plan may include activities to help teachers
and other school personnel improve teacher-parent or guardian
and school-parent or guardian communication and create a
welcoming environment for parent and guardian participation.

end insert begin insert

(B) Strategies, programs, and activities that promote parents,
guardians, and families to directly engage with their child or
children to promote pupil success academically, socially, and
emotionally, including, but not limited to, how to become your
child’s first teacher, shared reading, developing a strong
teacher-parent or guardian partnership, how to discuss and
support your child’s activities, studies, and homework, and how
to effectively navigate and understand the public school system.

end insert

(2) Once the plan is adopted, a local educational agency shall
post its plan on its Internet Web site.

(b) (1) If a local educational agency accepts funds appropriated
in the annual Budget Act for purposes of this section, as a condition
of receiving those funds, a school district, county office of
education, or charter school shall do all of the following:

(A) Develop a plan that aligns to the local control and
accountability plans required pursuant to Article 4.5 (commencing
with Section 52060) of Chapter 6.1 or the requirements of clause
(ii) of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of
Sections 47605 and 47605.6 and all applicable deadlines that
delineates how funds apportioned for purposes of this section, if
they are apportioned, shall be spent.

(B) The plan shall be developed using research-based family
engagement practices and standards.

(C) The plan shall include outreach in multiple languages if 15
percent or more of the pupils enrolled in a public school that
provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12,
inclusive, speak a single primary language other than English, as
determined pursuant to Section 48985. The plan shall also include
outreach to parents, guardians, and families that are
underrepresented in the school, school district, or county office of
education, and outreach strategies that are diverse and innovative.

(D) The plan shall also include the estimated target for the
number of parents, guardians, pupils, and families who will receive
training and support services.

(E) The plan shall be explained in a public meeting of the
governing board of the school district, county board of education,
or governing body of the charter school before its adoption in a
subsequent public meeting.

(2) Once the plan is adopted, a local educational agency shall
post its plan on its Internet Web site.

(c) Local educational agencies may use the funding received
pursuant to this section to support the development and
implementation of the plan pursuant to subdivision (a), including,
but not limited to, either of the following ways:

(1) Active and meaningful strategies related to the use of
computing devices and the Internet as a tool for accessing
information, training, and support relevant to the proposed
engagement plan.

(2) Active and meaningful participation and training for teachers,
classified employees, governing board members, and administrators
to develop a deeper understanding regarding effective parent,
guardian, and family engagement in order to work effectively with
parents, guardians, pupils, and families as partners.

(d) If funds are appropriated for purposes of this section in the
annual Budget Act, a local educational agency may request funding
from the Superintendent on or before June 1, 2017, and shall
expend those funds between the 2016-17 fiscal year and the
2018-19 fiscal year, inclusive. The funds shall be intended to
supplement, not supplant, funds used by the local educational
agency for parent, guardian, pupil, and family begin delete engagement. end delete

begin insert engagement and shall be allocated on the basis of an equal amount
per average daily attendance among participating local
educational agencies. end insert

(e) For purposes of making the computations required by Section
8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution, if funds are
appropriated in the annual Budget Act for purposes of this section,
the funds shall be deemed to be “General Fund revenues
appropriated for school districts,” as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 41202, for the fiscal year in which they are appropriated,
and included within the “total allocations to school districts and
community college districts from General Fund proceeds of taxes
appropriated pursuant to Article XIII B,” as defined in subdivision
(e) of Section 41202, for the fiscal year in which they are
appropriated.