BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 597|
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CONSENT
Bill No: SB 597
Author: Huff (R), et al.
Amended: 5/5/15
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 8-0, 4/8/15
AYES: Liu, Huff, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT: Pupil attendance: interdistrict transfers
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill extends, for one year, the sunset and repeal
dates of statute that allows the governing board of a school
district to permit the enrollment of pupils who reside in
another district by declaring to be a District of Choice (DOC).
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the governing board of a school board to declare
themselves a DOC willing to accept a specified number of
inter-district transfers. A DOC is required to select pupils
through a random and unbiased process that prohibits
enrollment based upon academic or athletic talent. Priority
is given to siblings of children already in attendance in the
DOC and children of military personnel. As a condition of
participating in the program, either the district of residence
or DOC may prevent a transfer if the transfer would exacerbate
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racial segregation. (Education Code § 48300 et. seq.)
2)Requires each DOC to keep records of: a) The number of
requests granted, denied, or withdrawn as well as the reasons
for the denials; b) The number of pupils transferred out of
the district, as specified; and c) The number of pupils
transferred into the district, as specified. DOCs are
required to annually report this information to neighboring
school districts, their county office of education, the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), and Department of
Finance, as specified. The Department of Finance is required
to make the information available to the Legislative Analyst.
The Legislative Analyst is required to conduct a comprehensive
evaluation of the DOC program, as specified, and submit the
evaluation, along with recommendations, to the appropriate
legislative education policy committees, and the Governor by
November 1, 2014. This section is scheduled to sunset July 1,
2016. (EC § 48300 et. seq.)
This bill:
1)Extends the inoperative date from July 1, 2016, to July 1,
2017, and the repeal date from January 1, 2017, to January 1,
2018, for which the governing board of a school district is
permitted to enroll students who reside in another district by
declaring themselves a school DOC.
2)Resets the date for which the Legislative Analyst is required
to submit a comprehensive evaluation of the interdistrict
transfer program to the appropriate education policy
committees of the Legislature and to the Governor from
November 1, 2014, to November 1, 2016.
3)Makes non-substantive technical changes.
Comments
1)Need for the bill. The DOC program, established in 1993, is
scheduled to sunset July 1, 2016. According to the author,
many school districts enroll a significant number of students
from outside of their district boundaries through the DOC
program. As result, ending the program could cause a decline
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in enrollment for several small school districts.
2)Data collection and program evaluation. Delays in the data
collection process have stalled the DOC program evaluation
along with recommendations for its extension. Existing law
requires the following information to be incorporated within
the evaluation; the number and characteristics of pupils who
use the school DOC option, the enrollment of school districts
of residence and school DOCs and the fiscal health of school
districts of residence and school DOCs, as specified. The
statute required the evaluation to be completed and submitted
by November 1, 2014. The California Department of Education
(CDE), in March 2015, disseminated a letter to all school
districts requesting DOC's to self-identify and provide data
required by existing law.
Prior Legislation
SB 680 (Romero and Huff, Chapter 198, Statutes of 2009) extended
the inoperative and repeal dates for which school districts are
permitted to enroll pupils who reside in another school district
by declaring to be a "school district of choice," and repealed
the prohibition on new districts electing to become a DOC.
AB 1407 (Huffman, 2009) would have extended the sunset and
repeal dates for the DOC programs for five years and required a
census report on DOC by the CDE by November 2010. The bill was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee suspense file.
AB 270 (Huff, 2007) would have extended the authority for DOC
inter-district transfers from July 1, 2007, to July 1, 2009,
prohibited additional districts from becoming DOCs, and required
school districts (electing to accept transfers) to maintain
records on the number of requests it receives and annually
report the number of requests it receives to the SPI. The
language of this bill was incorporated into SB 80, the Budget
Bill (Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Chapter 174, Statutes
of 2007).
AB 97 (Nation, Chapter 21, Statutes of 2004) extended the sunset
date for one year for the DOC authorization and required the SPI
to continue the calculation for the Special Disabilities
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Adjustment using the current incidence multiplier to allow
special education local plan areas to continue to receive funds
provided through 2003-04 until a new multiplier is calculated.
AB 19 (Quackenbush, Chapter 160, Statutes of 1993) established
school DOC and allowed the governing board of any school
district to declare the district to be a DOC willing to accept a
specified number of inter-district transfers.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified 5/5/15)
Alexander Valley Union School District
EdVoice
Glendora Unified School District
Inyo County Superintendent of Schools
Mendocino Unified School District
Riverside Unified School District
Round Valley Joint Elementary School
Round Valley Parent Teacher Organization
Round Valley School Step Foundation
San Rafael City Schools
Small School Districts Association
Vista Del Mar Union School District
Walnut Valley Unified School District
OPPOSITION: (Verified 5/5/15)
None received
Prepared by:Olgalilia Ramirez / ED. / (916) 651-4105
5/6/15 16:49:51
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