BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1457|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1457
Author: Morrell (R), et al.
Amended: 5/27/16
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 4-4, 3/30/16 (FAIL)
AYES: Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Vidak
NOES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Monning
NO VOTE RECORDED: Pan
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 5-4, 4/20/16
AYES: Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak
NOES: Liu, Block, Hancock, Monning
SENATE FLOOR: 15-18, 5/23/16 (FAIL)
AYES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines,
Galgiani, Huff, Mendoza, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen,
Stone, Vidak
NOES: Block, De León, Glazer, Hall, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill,
Jackson, Lara, Leno, Liu, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Pavley,
Roth, Wieckowski, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Allen, Beall, Hertzberg, Hueso, Leyva, Pan,
Runner
SUBJECT: Pupil instruction: excused absences: religious or
moral instruction
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill modifies the time allowed under existing law
for a student to be excused from school to receive moral and
religious instruction. Specifically, this bill removes the
existing cap on the number of excused absences for this purpose
and replaces it with provisions that allow students in grades
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K-8 to attend the exercises or instruction for no more than two
hours per school week and for no more than the number of hours
required to complete one course for students in grades 9-12.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/27/16 (1) remove the bill's
contents that expand the authority of school districts to
authorize students to be excused from school to receive moral
and religious instruction and receive elective credits for this
purpose; and (2) modify the time allowed under existing law for
students to be excused for religious exercises or to receive
moral and religious instruction.
Senate Floor Amendments of 5/4/16 require the secular criteria
that are used as part of a school board's policy in determining
whether to authorize credit for the completion of released time
instruction to include, but not be limited to, the following:
(1) the number of hours of classroom instruction time; (2) a
review of the course syllabus that reflects course requirements
and materials used; (3) the methods of assessment used in the
course; and (4) the course is taught by a certificated teacher.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Provides for pupils, with the written consent of their parents
or guardians, to be excused from school in order to
participate in religious exercise or to receive moral and
religious instruction at their respective places of worship or
at other suitable places away from school property designated
by the religious group, church, or denomination, which shall
be in addition and supplementary to the instruction in manners
and morals required elsewhere.
2)Provides that such absences shall not be deemed absences in
computing average daily attendance (ADA), if all of the
following conditions are complied with:
a) The governing board of the school district adopts a
resolution permitting pupils to be absent from school for
such exercises or instruction.
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b) The governing board of the school district adopts
regulations governing the attendance of pupils at such
exercises or instruction and the reporting thereof.
c) Each pupil so excused shall attend school at least the
minimum school day for his grade for elementary schools,
and as provided by the relevant provisions for secondary
schools, as specified.
d) No pupil shall be excused from school for such purpose
on more than four days per school month. (Education Code §
46014)
This bill removes the provision in existing law that allows a
student to be excused from school in order to participate in
religious exercises or to receive moral and religious
instruction for no more than four days per school month and
replaces it with the following:
1)The student, if in kindergarten or in grades 1 through 8,
inclusive, may attend the exercises or instruction for no more
than two hours her school week.
2)The student, if in grades 9 through 12, inclusive, may attend
the exercises or instruction for no more than the number of
hours required to complete one course at that pupil's school.
Comments
Recent amendments. This bill previously expanded the authority
of school districts to authorize a student to be excused from
school to receive moral and religious instruction by removing
the cap on the number of excused absences and by authorizing a
local governing board to adopt a policy to allow students to
earn up to two elective credits towards their high school
graduation requirements for the completion of this instruction.
While this bill has been amended to eliminate the statutory
authority to provide elective credit, this bill continues to
potentially expand the time allowed for students to be excused
from school for religious instruction while still generating
public funding (ADA) for the school.
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Clarification of the bill's effect. As noted, students are
already permitted to be excused from school to participate in
religious exercise and receive religious or moral instruction
for no more than four days per school month. This bill expands
the ability of school districts to generate ADA for these
absences by allowing students in high school to be excused for
the time that it takes to complete one course. While the
students would be required to meet the minimum day requirement
in current law for a school district to receive full ADA (which
is typically four hours), this bill effectively allows them to
be excused for approximately one hour per day for religious
instruction. Over the course of a month, this equates to a
total of 20 hours per month which exceeds the time allowed under
current law (8-12 hours per month assuming 2-3 hours per day,
capped at four times per month). This also assumes this bill
would allow these absences to occur each year a student is in
high school since this bill does not expressly limit them to the
time required to complete one course over the duration of the
student's tenure in high school.
Why is existing law a problem? Current law already allows for
students to be excused to participate in religious exercise or
to receive religious or moral instruction as long as specified
conditions are met. Such absences are currently limited to no
more than four days per school month and a school district may
generate ADA for these absences, as long as all statutory
requirements are met.
Blurring the lines between the separation of church and state?
While no funds are being provided directly to the entity
providing the instruction, this bill expands the ability of
school districts to receive public funding (ADA) for students
who are receiving religious instruction from non-school
personnel and away from the schoolsite during the regular school
day.
While current law allows for some accommodation of religious
instruction during the school day, should the ability of
students attending public schools receiving public dollars via
ADA to be excused from the regular school day to receive
religious instruction be further expanded?
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Average daily attendance. This bill expands the ability of a
school district to generate ADA for absences due to religious
and moral instruction beyond the four days currently allowed
under law, raising the following questions and issues to
consider:
1)How much public funding should reasonably be generated by a
school district for religious or moral instruction by an
entity other than a public school?
2)Are the conditions outlined in this bill sufficient to ensure
that absences for this purpose would not be excessive?
3)Are additional limitations or time restrictions necessary to
ensure that these absences are not frequent or excessive?
4)Under current law, the generation of ADA generally requires
that a student be under the direct supervision of school
personnel. How much ADA should be generated for instruction
that is not directly provided or overseen by the school
district?
5)Could the bill result in a student missing core curriculum
subject courses to attend religious or moral instruction?
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified5/31/16)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified5/31/16)
California Teachers Association
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Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
6/2/16 10:47:23
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