BILL NUMBER: AB 555 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 6, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 23, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 13, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Portantino and Furutani
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to add and repeal Article 1.5 (commencing with Section
48805) of Chapter 5 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Education Code, relating to community colleges.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 555, as amended, Portantino. Community colleges: attendance by
secondary school pupils: partnerships.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges under
the administration of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges , and requires the board to appoint an
executive officer, known as the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges . Existing law authorizes the establishment
of community college districts under the administration of community
college governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide
instruction at community college campuses throughout the state.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district
to authorize pupils, with parental permission, who would benefit from
advanced scholastic or vocational work, to attend community college
as special part-time students to undertake one or more courses of
instruction at the community college level, in order to provide
educational enrichment opportunities for a limited number of eligible
pupils.
This bill would authorize the Kern, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los
Rios, and San Jose-Evergreen community college districts to enter
into partnerships with school districts to provide secondary school
pupils who have exhausted all opportunities to enroll in an
equivalent course at the high school of attendance, adult education
program, continuation school, regional occupational center or
program, or any other program offered by the local governing board
with the opportunity to benefit from advanced scholastic,
career-technical, or vocational coursework.
The bill would require, for each partnership entered into pursuant
to the bill, the affected community college district and school
district to submit an annual report containing prescribed data.
The bill would require the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges to conduct an evaluation of the pilot project and submit it
to the Legislature, the Director of Finance, and the Superintendent
of Public Instruction by December 1, 2013.
These provisions would be repealed on January 1, 2015.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Campuses of the California Community Colleges are located
throughout California, providing an educational resource for all
communities.
(b) Some secondary school pupils are allowed to take classes at
community colleges. These pupils are called "special-admits," and
they participate in "concurrent enrollment programs," mainly targeted
at "advanced education," primarily defined as college-level work.
(c) There are strict limits on this activity in law, providing
these opportunities to only 5 percent of any high school class and
restricting the types of classes pupils may take to include only
"advanced education" in most cases.
(d) The current restrictions inhibit local ability to make maximum
use of community college facilities and opportunities, and the time
has come to encourage and expand these valuable programs.
(e) Allowing high school pupils to take community college courses
could provide benefits to pupils and to the state in a wide array of
opportunities, including more opportunities for advanced scholastic
work, career-technical partnerships and coursework, and dropout
prevention.
(f) Exposure to college classes and the college environment while
in high school improves college participation rates.
(g) Concurrent enrollment saves money for both the state and the
students through increased time to completion and provides for more
effective use of facilities through joint use.
SEC. 2. Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 48805) is added to
Chapter 5 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code,
to read:
Article 1.5. Partnerships Between Community College Districts
and School Districts
48805. The following community college districts shall be the
only districts eligible to enter into a partnership under this
article:
(a) Kern.
(b) Long Beach.
(c) Los Angeles.
(d) Los Rios.
(e) San Jose-Evergreen.
48806. (a) (1) The Notwithstanding
Section 48800, the governing board of a community college
district may enter into a formal partnership with a school district
or school districts located within its immediate service area to
provide elementary and secondary school pupils
who have exhausted all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent
course at the high school of attendance, adult education program,
continuation school, regional occupational center or
program, or any other programs offered by the local governing board
with the opportunity to benefit from advanced scholastic,
career-technical, or vocational coursework. A secondary school
pupil, upon notification of the principal of the pupil's school of
attendance that the pupil has exhausted all opportunities to enroll
in an equivalent course at the high school of attendance,
adult education program, continuation school, regional occupational
center or program, or any other program offered by the local
governing board, and with parental consent if the pupil is under 18
years of age, may attend a community college during any session or
term as a special part-time or full-time student.
(2) A participating community college district shall adopt a
partnership agreement with each school district partner. The
partnership agreement shall be approved by the governing board of the
community college district and the governing board of the school
district.
(3) (A) The partnership agreement shall outline the terms of the
partnership, and may include, but not necessarily be limited to, the
scope, nature, and schedule of courses offered. The partnership
agreement may establish protocols for information sharing and joint
facilities use.
(B) A copy of the partnership agreement shall be filed with the
State Department of Education and with the office of the Chancellor
of the California Community Colleges prior to the start of a program
authorized by this article.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any applicable
open course and facilities requirements that are operative either in
statute or in regulations of the Board of Governors of the California
Community Colleges shall be waived for any community college
district that enters into an agreement pursuant to this article for
instruction for secondary school pupils on a campus of the partner
school district.
(5)
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting
this article, to provide a smoother transition from high school to
college for pupils by providing them with greater exposure to the
collegiate atmosphere, and to maximize the educational opportunities
available to California's secondary school pupils by encouraging
programs and partnerships between school districts and community
college districts, including advanced scholastic, vocational, and
career-technical coursework, summer school opportunities, and dropout
intervention.
(6)
(5) A community college district shall not provide
physical education course opportunities to secondary school pupils
pursuant to this article.
(7)
(6) A pupil shall receive credit for community college
courses that he or she completes at the level determined to be
appropriate by the school district and community college governing
boards pursuant to the partnership agreement as described in
paragraph (2).
(b) For purposes of state apportionments, a community college
district shall be credited additional full-time equivalent students
attributable to the attendance of pupils in community college courses
as special part-time students pursuant to this article.
(c) A school district the pupils of which attend community college
courses as special part-time students pursuant to this article
shall, for purposes of state apportionments, continue to receive
credit for attendance by those pupils computed in the manner
prescribed by law. A pupil's attendance at school for the minimum
schoolday shall be deemed a day of attendance for purposes of making
the computation.
(d) (1) A community college district shall not receive a state
allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which a
school district has been, or shall be, paid an allowance or
apportionment.
(2) The attendance of a pupil at a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student pursuant to this article is authorized
attendance, for which the community college shall be credited or
reimbursed pursuant to Section 48802 or 76002, provided that no
school district has received reimbursement for the same instructional
activity. Credit for courses completed shall be at the level
determined to be appropriate by the governing boards of the school
district and the community college district pursuant to the
partnership agreement as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a).
(e) For purposes of this section, a special part-time student may
enroll in up to, and including, 11 units per semester, or the
equivalent thereof, at the community college he or she attends.
(f) The governing board of a community college district shall not
assign a high priority for registration or enrollment to a special
part-time or full-time student attending community college pursuant
to this article in order to ensure that the special students do not
displace regularly admitted students.
48807. (a) For each partnership entered into pursuant to this
article, the affected community college district and school district
shall report annually to the office of the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges all of the following information:
(1) The total number of secondary school pupils enrolled in each
program, classified by school district.
(2) The total number of successful course completions of secondary
school pupils enrolled in each program, classified by school
district.
(3) The total number of successful course completions of students
in courses equivalent to those courses tracked under paragraph (2) in
the general community college curriculum.
(b) The annual report required by this section shall be
transmitted to all of the following:
(1) The Legislature.
(2) The Director of Finance.
(3) The Superintendent.
(4) The governing boards of each of the following community
college districts:
(A) Kern.
(B) Long Beach.
(C) Los Angeles.
(D) Los Rios.
(E) San Jose-Evergreen.
(5) The governing board of each participating school district.
(c) The Chancellor of the California Community Colleges shall
conduct an evaluation of the pilot project established by this
article. The evaluation shall incorporate, but shall not be limited
to, the data submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) and shall include
a method to evaluate the effectiveness of the partnerships in
supporting postsecondary readiness, enrollment, and student success.
The evaluation shall include a mechanism to determine the cost
benefits of concurrent enrollment for participating pupils and the
state. The evaluation shall be submitted to the Legislature, the
Director of Finance, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction by
no later than December 1, 2013.
48808. This article shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2015, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2015, deletes or extends
that date.