BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 1455
Page 1
Date of Hearing: August 3, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
SB 1455
(Block) - As Amended June 8, 2016
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| |Veterans Affairs | |7 - 0 |
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires a school district to accept applications by
electronic means for enrollment, including enrollment in a
specific school or program within the school district, and
SB 1455
Page 2
course registration, for students transferring to the district
as a result of their parent's military transfer. Specifically,
this bill:
1)Specifies a student meets residency requirements for school
attendance if the student's parent is transferred, or is
pending transfer, to a military installation that is within
the boundaries of the school district while on full-time
active military duty.
2)Requires the parent to provide proof of residence within 10
days after the published arrival date provided on official
documentation.
3)Allows a parent to use any of the following addresses related
to his or her military move:
a) A temporary on-base billeting facility;
b) A purchased or leased home or apartment; or
c) Federal government or public-private venture off-base
military housing.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Unknown, likely minor state mandated costs for school districts
to accept applications electronically for attendance and process
course registration for students of military families.
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COMMENTS:
1)Purpose. According to the author, children of military service
members transferring on official military orders to California
are not eligible to register in high school courses, enroll in
specialized academic programs or enter random lotteries for
consideration into a charter or magnet school until they are
physically located within the district boundaries. As a
result, these students often miss course and program
registration deadlines.
This bill would allow transferring military families to
remotely enroll their children in a school, program or course
prior to being physically located within the boundaries of the
school district. Requiring districts to accept remote
enrollment and registration will provide military students the
opportunity to register for courses or apply for specialized
programs at the same time as their peers, provided that they
are able to submit proof of residency in the form of official
military orders assigning them to a given installation within
school district boundaries. When military students know which
school they will be attending and their class schedules in
advance of arriving to school, they and their families are
provided with a sense of comfort, relieving unneeded stress
during their transition.
2)Background. California hosts more than 30 military
installations and 168,000 active-duty service members. The
state student data system, CALPADS, does not track the number
of pupils associated with these active duty members but
supporters of the bill estimate there are about 60,000
children of active military families in California. According
to CDE, a small number of heavily military-impacted districts
currently allow for online "pre-registration" for all incoming
students; however this does not allow for course registration
or application to specialized programs.
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This bill builds upon the Interstate Compact on Educational
Opportunity for Military Child (Compact). The Compact is an
interstate agreement that provides guidance as to how local
school districts address the transition needs of military
children. Under the Compact, districts are required to be
flexible in applying their local rules to students in order to
facilitate enrollment, placement, advancement, eligibility for
extracurricular activities, and on-time graduation. Under the
Compact, school districts are not required to reserve spaces
for military children or create a new course section if the
military student arrives after general application or
registration timeframes.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916)
319-2081