BILL NUMBER: AB 837 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 22, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 31, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torlakson
FEBRUARY 26, 2009
An act to add Section 46300.8 to the Education Code, relating to
school attendance.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 837, as amended, Torlakson. School attendance: online
education.
Existing law establishes the public elementary and secondary
school system in this state, and further establishes a funding system
pursuant to which the state apportions funds to local educational
agencies based on the average daily attendance of pupils at the
schools operated by those agencies. Numerous statutes and regulations
govern the calculation and reporting of average daily attendance.
This bill would provide that school districts, county offices of
education, and charter schools that offer online education courses
may claim a unit of one day of attendance
toward average daily attendance on the basis of the attendance
at a class or classes in a classroom-based setting
of a pupil taking at least one high-quality online
course at a class or classes in a classroom-based setting
, that satisfies prescribed criteria .
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. Section 46300.8 is added to the Education Code, to
read:
46300.8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, in order to
facilitate the access of pupils to high-quality online course
offerings, when a pupil is enrolled for the minimum schoolday through
classes that include both a classroom-based setting and at least one
class offered through an online program, the school district, county
office of education, or charter school may claim, for that pupil, a
unit of average daily attendance on the basis of that pupil's
attendance at a class or classes in the classroom-based setting.
46300.8. (a) Commencing with the 2010-11 fiscal year, a school
district or county office of education may claim one day of
attendance toward average daily attendance on the basis of a pupil's
attendance at a class or classes in the classroom-based setting on
that day, if all of the following apply:
(1) The pupil is enrolled in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12.
(2) The pupil is enrolled for at least the minimum school day in
classes that include both one or more courses in a classroom-based
setting and one or more courses that are offered through an online
program.
(3) Each online course in which the pupil is enrolled is a
high-quality online course.
(b) For the purposes of this section, a high-quality online course
is defined as an online course that meets all of the following
requirements:
(1) The online course is approved by the governing board of the
school district.
(2) The online course is certified, through board resolution, by
the governing board of the school district to meet these
requirements.
(3) The teacher of an online course is online and accessible to
the pupil on a daily basis to respond to pupil queries, assign tasks,
and dispense information, though the teacher's interaction with the
pupil may be asynchronous or synchronous in nature.
(4) The ratio of full-time equivalent certificated teachers
teaching through online instruction to pupils engaging in that
instruction is substantially equivalent to the ratio of teachers to
pupils in traditional in-classroom study of the same subject matter.
(5) A teacher may teach pupils in one or more online courses
pursuant to this article only if the teacher concurrently teaches the
same course to pupils in a traditional in-classroom setting in the
providing school district or did so at any time within the
immediately preceding two-year period.
(6) The subject matter content is the same for the online course
as for the traditional classroom-based course.
(7) A teacher teaching in an online classroom program holds the
appropriate subject matter credential.
(8) A school district offering an online course may contract with
another school district to provide the online course to pupils of the
offering school district. Contract terms shall be determined by
mutual agreement of the school districts. School districts that
provide online courses pursuant to the contract shall contract
directly with the school district of the school site offering the
online course, and shall not enter into direct contracts with the
pupils of the offering school district.
(9) Statewide testing results for online pupils are reported to
the school district in which the pupil is enrolled for regular
in-classroom courses.
(10) The online instruction is offered by a high school.
(11) A pupil is not assigned to an online course pursuant to this
section unless the pupil voluntarily elects to participate in the
online course. The parent or guardian of the pupil provides written
consent before the pupil participates in an online course.
(12) The school district of a school site that offers online
classroom programs pursuant to this section verifies that online
pupils take examinations by proctor or that other reliable methods
are used to ensure test integrity and that there is a clear record of
pupil work, using the same method of documentation and assessment as
in a classroom-based course.
(13) A school district of a school site that offers online
classroom programs pursuant to this article maintains records to
verify the time that a pupil spends online and related activities in
which a pupil is involved. The school district also maintains records
verifying the time the instructor is online.
(c) Attendance accounted for pursuant to subdivision (a) and
compliance with the requirements of subdivision (b) shall be subject
to the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(d) No provision of this section may be waived unless the waiver
is specifically authorized in statute.