BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1014
Page 1
Date of Hearing: June 22, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
1014 (Liu) - As Amended June 1, 2016
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Pupil rights: pregnant and parenting pupils
SUMMARY: Authorizes the governing board of a school district to
grant parental leave to students who are parents or are soon to
be parents and specifies that the leave shall not be deemed
absences in computing average daily attendance (ADA).
Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires a school district to notify pregnant and parenting
pupils of their rights and options available from federal law
through the annual school year welcome packets, independent
study packets, on the school district's Internet Web site, in
lactation rooms, and in locker rooms.
2)Provides a parenting pupil who gives or expects to give birth
up to six weeks of parental leave and a parenting pupil not
giving birth up to three weeks of parental leave after the
birth. Provides pupils with the authority to determine the
length of the leave as long as the length of time does not
exceed the limits specified by the bill.
SB 1014
Page 2
3)Provides that absences allowed shall not be deemed absences in
computing ADA if the governing board of the school district of
attendance files with the California Department of Education
(CDE) an expectant and parenting pupil policy that includes
procedures for ensuring pupils are provided with schoolwork
while on parental leave.
4)Specifies that for purposes of calculating ADA for a pupil on
parental leave, one day of attendance shall be credited for
each day on which at least one hour is spent on activities
related to the instruction of that pupil. A pupil on parental
leave shall not be credited with more than one day of
attendance per calendar day.
5)Specifies that an expectant and parenting pupil policy shall
require a pupil to submit a parental leave request form,
similar or the same as request forms used to request temporary
disability time off, to the pupil's school before the end of
the pregnant pupil's second trimester. A school shall process
a request within five business days and provide makeup work
plan development process guidelines to a pupil in conjunction
with the positive determination of parental leave.
6)Allows, as an excused absence, up to four absences per school
year for a pupil who is a custodial parent to care for a sick
child without requiring a note from a doctor.
7)Modifies the existing definition of "temporary disability" in
the code sections dealing with attendance to include
pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of
pregnancy, and recovery therefrom.
SB 1014
Page 3
8)Requires a school district to provide a pupil with a temporary
disability as a result of pregnancy with guidelines for makeup
work plan development if the option for individualized
instruction is not available at the pupil's school or school
district.
9)Makes findings and declarations regarding the difficulties
faced by pregnant and parenting teens to complete school and
pursue postsecondary education.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Requires a pupil between the ages of 6 through 18 to attend
school in the school district where either parent or legal
guardian resides except as specified. (Education Code (EC)
Section 48200)
2)Specifies that excused absences are deemed to be absences in
computing ADA and shall not general state apportionment
payments. (EC Section 48205)
3)Defines a "truant" as any pupil subject to compulsory
full-time education or to compulsory continuation education a
student who is absent from school without a valid excuse on
any day or is tardy for more than 30 minutes, or any
combination thereof, for three days in a school year. (EC
Section 48260)
4)Provides that a valid excuse includes, but is not limited, the
reasons specified in the "excused absences" sections of law
and may include other reasons that are within the discretion
of school administrators and based on the facts of the pupil's
circumstances. (EC Section 48260)
SB 1014
Page 4
5)Defines "temporary disability" as a physical, mental, or
emotional disability and after which the student can
reasonably be expected to return to the student's classes or
education program without special intervention. (EC Section
48206.3)
6)Provides for home and hospital instruction for a student with
a temporary disability who is in a hospital or other
residential health facility or the student's home. (EC
Section 48208)
7)Federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits discrimination on
the basis of sex, including pregnancy and parental status, in
educational programs and activities. Title IX requires
schools to allow pregnant or parenting students to continue
participating in classes and extracurricular activities, allow
students to choose whether to attend special programs or
classes for pregnant students, excuse absences due to
pregnancy or childbirth for as long as the student's doctor
says is necessary, allow students to return to the same
academic and extracurricular status as before giving birth,
and give students the opportunity to make up any missed
assignments. (United States Code, Title 20, § 1681, et seq.)
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee:
1)ADA funding: To the extent school districts file an expectant
and parenting student policy, students choose to take leave,
and are absent up to the length provided in this bill, state
costs would be in the mid tens of millions related to
including these absences in their ADA calculation. Actual
costs would likely be less by an unknown amount as school
districts would only generate ADA funding for the days that
schools devote at least one hour related to the instruction
SB 1014
Page 5
each student on parental leave. (Proposition 98)
2)Mandate costs: The bill's requirements to expand the existing
annual parent notification mandate and disseminate information
as specified, could drive state costs of about one million.
To the extent the Commission on State Mandates determines
these activities to be reimbursable, it could create pressure
to increase the K-12 mandate block grant. (Proposition 98)
3)Administrative costs: The CDE indicates unknown costs
attributed to providing guidance to local educational agencies
related to attendance accounting for students that go on
parental leave and other programmatic and legal guidance.
(General Fund)
COMMENTS: Need for the bill. According to the author, in 2012,
nearly 35,000 children in California were born to individuals
between the ages of 15 to 19. Pregnant and parenting students
face obstacles in receiving equal educational opportunities.
Nationwide, only 38% of women who have a child before the age of
18 graduate from high school, 19% get a GED, and only 2% go to
college before age 30. Impediments include inconsistent access
to excused "family leave" absences, with male parents often
having no access to bonding time, involuntary transfers due to
high absence rates due to pregnancy and parenting
responsibilities, rigid requirements for verifying excused
absences to care for a sick child, inconsistent definitions
across districts of 'reasonable amount of time' to make up work,
and encouragement to pursue independent study or enroll in
continuation school.
SB 1014
Page 6
This bill provides pregnant pupils and pupils who give birth up
to six weeks and parents not giving birth up to three weeks of
parental leave after the birth of a child. The bill allows the
school district to continue receiving ADA for the pupils
provided that the district first files an expectant and
parenting pupil policy with the CDE. The policy must include
procedures pupils will be provided with schoolwork while on
parental leave. The policy must also include a requirement that
the pupil submit a parental leave form and requires a school to
process the request within five business days with guidelines
for the development of a makeup work plan. Amendments adopted
by the Senate Appropriations Committee requires at least one
hour to be spent on activities related to instruction per day
for each day of ADA attendance credit.
Why parental leave? Under current law, students may enroll in
independent study. Independent study is an alternative
instructional program that allows students to work
independently, according to a written agreement and under the
general supervision of a credentialed teacher or teachers.
According to the author's office, independent study may not
provide students who are parents with access to A-G courses
required for four-year colleges and universities. Independent
study also may not provide sufficient flexibility that new
parents and newborns need. A district can claim a full day's
attendance for completed independent study student work if a
credentialed teacher determines the time value of that work is
equal to at least a "minimum day." Establishing a leave program
provides flexibility, allows a student to maintain enrollment in
a comprehensive high school, and get bonding time with their
babies while completing schoolwork. As an example, according to
the author's office, during the parental leave, the student will
have flexibility to come to school for short periods of time -
perhaps when the student has childcare.
ADA. The bill allows a school district to receive ADA for the
pupil on parental leave. As a condition for one day of ADA, the
SB 1014
Page 7
school must provide at least one hour of activities related to
the instruction of the pupil each day. This language is
similar, but is not identical to EC Section 48206.3, which
provides ADA for students with temporary disabilities. EC
Section 48206.3 specifies that for purposes of computing ADA,
"each clock hour of teaching time devoted to individual
instruction shall count as one day of attendance." The language
in this bill provides some flexibility on "teaching" by
authorizing "activities related to instruction," but does not
provide flexibility on when the instructional-related activities
take place in order to receive ADA. Staff recommends an
amendment to delink the one hour to "each day" and allow one
hour of instructional-related activities to count as one day of
attendance regardless of when the instructional activities takes
place, as long as the total number of hours does not exceed the
equivalent of the time limits specified in this bill. This will
be important during the time the pupil is in labor and giving
birth. Staff also recommends clarifying that the activities
related to instruction must include contact with students.
Excused absences. Under current law, a student who is absent
from school without a valid excuse on any day or is tardy for
more than 30 minutes, or any combination thereof, for three days
in a school year is considered a truant. Excused absences do
not generate ADA, but do not count towards truancy. They
include any of the following reasons:
1)Due to illness or quarantine under the direction of a county
or city health officer.
2)For medical, dental, optometric, or chiropractic appointments.
3)For the purpose of attending the funeral services of an
immediate family member (1 day if within the state and three
days out of state).
SB 1014
Page 8
4)For the purpose of attending jury duty.
5)Due to the illness or medical appointment of a child of whom
the student is the custodial parent.
6)For justifiable personal reasons, including an appearance in
court, observation of a religious holiday or ceremony, or
attendance at an employment or educational conference on
legislative or judicial process.
7)For the purpose of serving as a member of a precinct board for
an election.
8)For the purpose of spending time with an immediate family
member who is an active duty member of the military, as
specified.
9)Other valid excuses for purposes of determining truancy as
determined by the school district.
This bill expands excused absences to include a maximum of four
absences per school year to care for a sick child. One of the
challenges cited in a 2015 report by the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) on educational barriers of pregnant and
parenting students is that new parents will be missing school
due to doctor's visits, either for themselves or for their baby.
If a baby has a cold and may not be taken to child care, a
parent will not be able to attend school but will not be excused
without a doctor's note. This bill allows the absences without
requiring a doctor's note.
SB 1014
Page 9
Child care needed. Childcare is critical in enabling parents to
stay in school. The establishment of the Local Control Funding
Formula eliminated almost all categorical programs. One of the
programs eliminated was the California School Age Families
Education (Cal-SAFE) program. The Cal-SAFE Program was a
comprehensive, integrated, community-linked, school based
program that serves expectant and parenting students and their
children. Cal-SAFE received $46.4 million in the FY 2012-13
budget. According to the CDE, from 2000 to 2010, the program
had enrolled 98,000 expectant and parenting students and 62,000
young children. Cal-SAFE provides academic and support services
to both female and male student under 18 who have not graduated
from high school and are expectant, custodial or non-custodial
parents. The program provides enrollees with effective
parenting skills and their children with child care, health
screenings, and early childhood development programs. As long
as teen parents are enrolled in the program, their children are
eligible for services until age five or entry into kindergarten.
The ACLU report indicated that 73% of participants completed
high school with the support provided by Cal-SAFE. It is
unclear how many school districts have continued the program
using local control funding formula funds.
The American Association of University Women (AAUW) supports the
bill and states, "While pregnant students are protected under
federal law with Title IX, many school policies are
counterintuitive and deter these students from completing their
education. For instance, when schools are required to use
average daily attendance (ADA) to receive state funding, there
is no incentive to make accommodations or even allow absences
for students that are pregnant or parenting. This type of
policy places an unfair burden on students that wish to complete
school but also have to adjust their in-class attendance for
pregnancy, childbirth, and bonding time. SB 1014 takes an
important step in addressing the dropout rate for pregnant and
parenting teens by making reasonable accommodations for student
leave."
SB 1014
Page 10
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
American Association of University Women
Black Women for Wellness
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Latinas for Reproductive Justice
California State PTA
Forward Together
Monterey County Probation Department
National Association of Social Workers
National Compadres Network
SB 1014
Page 11
National Council of Jewish Women California
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of the Pacific Southwest
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project of Los Angeles County
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California
Planned Parenthood Mar Monte
Planned Parenthood Northern California Action Fund
Poetic Knights Inc.
An individual
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916)
SB 1014
Page 12
319-2087