BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 167
AUTHOR: Adams
AMENDED: June 3, 2009
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: June 10, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
SUBJECT : Local high school graduation requirements: foster
youth.
SUMMARY
This bill requires a school district to exempt foster youth who
transfer into a school district in grade 11 or 12 from any
coursework requirements imposed by the district that exceed the
minimum state graduation requirements if the foster youth
cannot complete the additional requirements in time to graduate
from high school.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Requires a pupil to pass both the English language arts
and mathematics portions of the California High School
Exit Exam and complete the following courses as a
condition of graduating from high school:
a) Three years of English.
b) Two years of mathematics.
c) Two years of science, including biological and
physical science.
d) Three years of social studies, including: United
State history and geography; world history, culture,
and geography; one semester of American government
and civics, and one semester of economics.
e) One year of visual or performing arts or foreign
language.
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f) Two years of physical education, unless exempt
by law.
2) Authorizes school districts to impose coursework
requirements that are in addition to those prescribed by
state statute as a condition of graduation from high
school.
3) Allows a child who is in foster care and who is attending
high school or the equivalent level of vocational or
technical training on a full-time basis, or is in the
process of pursuing a high school equivalency certificate,
prior to his or her 18th birthday, to continue to receive
foster care aid beyond his or her 18th birthday so long as
the child continues to reside in a foster care placement,
continues to attend high school or the equivalent on a
full-time basis, and the child is reasonably expected to
complete the educational or training program or to receive
a high school equivalency certificate, before his or her
19th birthday.
4) Requires schools to allow foster youth to remain in the
school of origin for the duration of the school year when
the foster youth's residential placement changes and when
remaining in the same school is in the child's best
interest.
5) Requires school districts to accept for credit full or
partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil
while attending a public school, juvenile court school, or
nonpublic, nonsectarian school or agency.
ANALYSIS
This bill requires a school district to exempt foster youth who
transfer into a school district in grade 11 or 12 from any
coursework requirements imposed by the district that exceed the
minimum state graduation requirements if the foster youth
cannot complete the additional requirements in time to graduate
from high school. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires a school district to exempt a pupil in foster
care who transfers to the district in grade 11 or 12 and
who otherwise would not be able to graduate from high
school while he or she remains eligible for foster care
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benefits from any additional coursework requirements the
governing board has adopted, unless the district makes a
finding that the pupil is reasonably able to complete the
additional requirements in time to graduate with his or
her class.
2) Requires a school district to notify a pupil in foster
care who is granted an exemption, and as appropriate, the
educational rights holder, if any of the requirements that
are waived will affect the pupil's ability to gain
admission to a postsecondary educational institution and
information about transfer opportunities available through
the California Community Colleges.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Foster youth . As of October 2008, there were over 73,000
children in California's foster care system. According to
a report from the California Education Collaborative for
Children in Foster Care, about 50% of foster youth have
been held back in school, 46% will not complete high
school, and fewer than 3% will go on to a four-year
college.
2) Local graduation requirements . Current law allows school
districts to impose coursework requirements that are in
addition to those prescribed by the state as a condition
of graduation from high school. In addition to state
graduation requirements, the Sacramento City Unified
School District requires the completion of a service
learning project or senior project; the San Diego Unified
School District requires presentation of a senior
exhibition; and, the
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Los Angeles Unified School District requires pupils to
demonstrate computer literacy and complete two semesters
of an applied technology course and one semester of a life
skills course.
3) Clarifying amendment . Staff recommends an amendment to
clarify that the foster youth affected by this bill would
not be able to graduate from high school due to the
additional coursework required by the school district
beyond coursework required by the state. This ensures the
foster youth would still be required to complete all
coursework required by state law as well as pass the
California High School Exit Exam as a condition of
graduating from high school.
4) Technical amendment . Staff recommends an amendment to
ensure that this bill covers situations where a foster
youth transfers to a different high school within the same
district when the new school has different graduation
requirements than the prior school. For example, Casa
Roble, Del Campo and Mesa Verde high schools within the
San Juan Unified School District all have different
graduation requirements.
5) Pupils in military families . AB 2101 (Salda?a, Chapter
608, 2006) authorized school districts and county offices
of education to establish a course credit transfer policy
for school-age military dependents provided that, under
the policy, the pupil would still substantially meet the
graduation requirements of that district. Nothing in AB
2101 precluded a school district from requiring military
dependents to meet the graduation requirements of that
district that may go beyond state requirements.
6) Fiscal impact . According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee analysis, this bill creates GF/98 state
reimbursable mandated costs, likely less than $100,000, to
school districts to comply with the notification
requirement in this bill. This assumes between three and
10% of foster care pupils are notified.
7) Related legislation . AB 12 (Beall) among other things,
extends foster care, KinGAP, and the Adoptions Assistance
Program to age 21 for certain foster youth. AB 12 is a
two-year bill, pending in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
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AB 156 (Jeffries) authorizes the governing board of a school
district to offer one credit towards the required number
of credits required for graduation from high school for
training and certification in cardiopulmonary
resuscitation or use of an automatic external
defibrillator, or both. AB 156 was never heard.
AB 554 (Furutani) increases the number of courses required for
high school graduation from 13 to 14 and offers pupils a
choice between a course in visual performing arts, foreign
language, or career technical education to fulfill the
additional course requirement. AB 554 was held on the
Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 1067 (Brownley) among other things, requires local
educational agencies that provide transportation in their
school districts to take into account the special
transportation needs of foster youth, including providing
transportation to their school of origin. AB 1067 was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense
file.
SB 381 (Wright) among other things, prohibits a school district
from adopting a graduation requirement that requires the
completion of additional coursework to meet or exceed the
requirements and prerequisites for admission to a
four-year California public university unless the district
also adopts an optional graduation requirement that
requires the completion of an equal amount of coursework
to attain entry-level employment skills in business or
industry upon graduation from high school. SB 381 is
pending in the Assembly.
SB 520 (Pavley) authorizes a school district to offer one
credit for each 12 hours of volunteer service outside of
regular school hours provided by a high school pupil, up
to a maximum of 5 credits per pupil per semester, and for
a maximum of 2 semesters. SB 520 is pending in the
Assembly Education Committee.
8) Prior legislation . AB 2138 (Adams, 2008) was nearly
identical to this bill. AB 2138 was vetoed. The
Governor's veto message read:
This bill attempts to create a statewide policy of
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exempting certain foster care students from
district-specific graduation requirements. In doing
so, this bill would usurp the authority of local
school boards to determine the conditions under which
students should be granted diplomas. Beyond the
current minimum statewide requirements, local school
boards have the ability to waive their own local
graduation requirements based on the merit of each
student's case. This bill would undermine their
ability to judge each individual student's particular
circumstances.
SUPPORT
All Saints Church Foster Care Project
Aspiranet
California Peace Officers' Association
California Police Chiefs Association
California State PTA
California State University
County of San Bernardino
County Welfare Directors Association
Junior League of Orange County
Los Angeles Unified School District
Special Education Local Plan Area Administrators
OPPOSITION
None received.