BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 796|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 796
Author: Carter (D)
Amended: 8/18/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-1, 6/17/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Padilla, Simitian
NOES: Huff
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-29, 5/11/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Excused absences: participation in civic
engagement
activities
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill adds participation in civic engagement
activities offered by a non-profit organization or
governmental entity to the list of reasons that justify a
pupils excused absence from school.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/18/09 (1) prohibit a pupil
from being excused from school when the absence is due to
participation in a demonstration or political campaign, (2)
define "civic engagement activities" as volunteering to
work in a community to help address a problem or interact
with the institutions of representative democracy, (3)
provide that civic engagement activities may include, but
CONTINUED
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are not limited to, volunteering to work at a
community-based nonprofit organization, serving on a
neighborhood association, tutoring or mentoring young
children, testifying before the local city council, or
appearing before a state or federal board or committee, and
(4) prohibit civic engagement activities from including
participation in a demonstration or political campaign.
ANALYSIS : Current law specifies a number of reasons,
such as illness or attendance at a funeral of a family
member, which are to be considered "excused absences" and
thereby exempt the pupil from being considered absent
without excuse and subject to possible truancy sanction.
When a pupil's absence is for a "justifiable personal
reason" as specified in law, then the absence may be
excused, but only if it is requested in writing by the
pupil's parent or guardian and approved by the school
principal acting under policies established by the school
district governing board.
Prior to 1997, the excused absence of a pupil would be
included along with regular pupil attendance in the
computation of average daily attendance (ADA) which is used
to generate school revenue limit funding. SB 727
(Rosenthal), Chapter 855, Statutes of 1997, eliminated
excused absences from the ADA calculation and adjusted
school district revenue limits to hold districts fiscally
harmless form the resultant reduction in ADA counts.
Therefore, the designation of an absence as "excused" no
longer makes a difference with regard to "per pupil" school
funding.
Current law requires schools to allow pupils to complete
all assignments and exams missed during an excused absence
that can be reasonably provided, and requires that excused
pupils, who complete such make-up work satisfactorily and
in a reasonable time, receive full academic credit for that
work.
This bill expands the list of reasons that justify an
excused absence from school. Specifically, this bill:
1.Adds participation in the civic engagement activities
offered by a non-profit organization or governmental
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entity to the list of reasons that justify a pupil's
excused absence from school.
2.Prohibits a pupil from being excused from school when the
absence is due to participation in a demonstration or
political campaign.
3.Limits participation in civic engagement activities that
count as an excused absence to no more than 10 days per
academic year.
4.Defines "civic engagement activities" as volunteering to
work in a community to help address a problem or interact
with the institutions of representative democracy. Civic
engagement activities may include, but are not limited
to, volunteering to work at a community-based nonprofit
organization, serving on a neighborhood association,
tutoring or mentoring young children, testifying before
the local city council, or appearing before a state or
federal board or committee. Civic engagement activities
would not include participation in a demonstration or
political campaign.
Related Legislation
SB 520 (Pavley) authorizes a school district to offer one
credit for each 12 hours of community service outside of
regular school hours provided by a high school pupil, up to
a maximum of five credits per pupil per semester, and for a
maximum of two semesters. SB 520 requires the school
district that elects to offer credit for community service
to keep a list of suitable community service organizations
from which a pupil may choose an organization whereto
complete the volunteer hours. SB 520 is pending in the
Assembly Education Committee.
Prior Legislation
AB 2396 (Carter), 2007-08 Session, was identical to this
bill. AB 2396 was vetoed by the Governor, whose veto
message read:
"While I recognize that there are many civic and other
educational opportunities outside of the classroom, nothing
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under current law prohibits parents from working with a
school to allow their child to participate in civic
opportunities if they choose to do so, even without this
measure."
AB 750 (Carter), 2007-8 Session, would have excused the
absence of a pupil who has engaged in leadership or civic
engagement activities for the purpose of a school district
calculating ADA. The bill was held on the Assembly
Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 1320 (Carter), 2007-08 Session, would have deemed a
pupil who serves as a member of a precinct board (i.e., a
high school pupil at least 16-years old) or engaging in
other leadership or civic engagement activities as
participating in an independent study for the purpose of
calculating ADA for a school district. AB 1320 was held on
the Assembly Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
SB 278 (Lowenthal), Chapter 204, Statutes of 2007, added
"attendance at an educational conference on the legislative
or judicial process offered by a nonprofit organization" to
the list of reasons that justify a pupil's absence from
school.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/18/09)
Alliance for Education Solutions
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Association of Nonprofits Policy Council
California Association of Student Council
California Coalition for Youth
California Teaches Association
Youth Leadership Institute
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"Many young people gain valuable life skills and
experiences in activities outside the classroom such as
participation in a community committee, an advisory board
or task force, attendance at an educational conference on
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the legislative or judicial process, or as a member of a
youth commission."
Supporters of this bill state that pupils who wish to
benefit from civic engagement activities outside of the
classroom are currently being penalized for their efforts,
in that students are often not allowed to make up missed
exams and coursework. The author states that, "Ultimately,
punitive measures are preventing students from getting the
leadership and civic experience they need before leaving
high school; denying students learning that needs to take
place outside of the classroom. Often students make a
difficult choice - to participate in a leadership
experience that may be unlike anything they experience or
that is available at their school and be recorded as
truant, or stay in school and miss out on a unique learning
experience."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Emmerson,
Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani,
Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huffman, Jones,
Krekorian, Lieu, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning,
Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Price,
Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Solorio, Swanson,
Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Blakeslee, Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Fletcher,
Fuller, Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Huber,
Jeffries, Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, Silva, Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
DLW:cm 8/18/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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