BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 266
AUTHOR: Huff
AMENDED: As Proposed to Be Amended
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 29, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: James Wilson
SUBJECT : Open Enrollment
SUMMARY
As of July 1, 2010, this bill authorizes a parent of a
pupil in a school ranked 1, 2 or 3 on the Academic
Performance Index (API) to transfer the pupil to a school
of the parent's choice in another school district subject
to space availability and acceptance by the receiving
district under specified conditions.
BACKGROUND
Current law provides several means to authorize
inter-district attendance of a pupil who resides in one
school district but wishes to attend public school in
another district. The primary authorization (EC Sec. 46600
et seq.) provides for inter-district attendance when both
the district of residence and district of proposed
attendance agree. Another authorization allows a pupil to
attend school in a district where the pupil's parent or
legal guardian is employed, rather than where the pupil and
parent reside (EC Sec. 48204. b). The district where the
parent is employed must agree to this alternative, and
either district of residence or district of parental
employment may prohibit the transfer under specified
conditions.
Another authorization for inter-district transfer is known
as the "school districts of choice" authorization (EC Sec.
48300 et seq.) in which the governing board of a school
district may declare the district to be a "district of
choice" willing to accept a specified number of
inter-district transfers. A "district of choice" is not
required to admit pupils but those pupils that it does
elect to admit must be selected through a random process
that prohibits enrollment based on academic or athletic
performance. School districts of choice must give priority
for attendance to siblings of children already in
attendance in that district. This law is currently
scheduled to become inoperative on July 1, 2009.
ANALYSIS
This bill , as of July 1, 2010:
1) Allows a pupil in a low performing school, defined as
a school ranked in the lowest three deciles of the
Academic Performance Index (API), to attend a school
in a school district in which the pupil is not a
resident.
2) Requires all parents of pupils in a school that has
been ranked in decile
1, 2 or 3 of the API to be notified of the opportunity
to transfer their pupil. The notice must be made
prior to September 1 of the school year following the
year of the ranking.
3) Provides that a parent must submit an application for
pupil transfer to the school district that the pupil
wishes to attend prior to January 1 of the school year
prior to enrollment, although the district may waive
the deadline, and parents in the military are allowed
to submit applications within 90 days of being
relocated, regardless of the January 1 deadline.
4) Provides that applications may specify the school that
the pupil wishes to attend, that parents must be
notified within 60 days of acceptance or rejection,
with reasons given for any rejection and that the
pupil may attend immediately upon acceptance.
5) Requires that pupils who are residents in the district
shall be provided the opportunity to enroll in a
school prior to the acceptance of transfer pupils.
6) Allows either the school district that a pupil wants
to attend, or the school district where the pupil
resides, to prohibit the transfer if it would
negatively impact a desegregation plan or the racial
and ethnic balance of the district.
7) Provides that a school district may adopt standards
for acceptance of transfer applications that may
consider the capacity of the school or program but not
include consideration of a pupil's previous academic
achievement, physical condition, proficiency in the
English language, sex, national origin, or race.
8) Requires that the transfer process must be unbiased
but gives first priority to siblings of pupils already
enrolled and then gives priority to pupils in the
lowest performing schools before pupils in higher
ranked schools, provided that no district resident is
displaced by a transferring pupil.
9) Provides that the average daily attendance (ADA)
generated by transferred pupils is credited to the
district attended in the same manner as ADA generated
by resident pupils and provides the state shall pay
70% of per pupil funding for a pupil transferring into
a basic aid school district.
10) Provides for the State Board of Education to adopt
regulations to enable pupils to attend public schools
in school districts where they don't reside.
11) Provides for this bill to become inoperative on July
1, 2020.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Related legislation . SB 680 (Romero & Huff) continues
authorization for the "school district of choice" law
that allows a school district to permit the enrollment
of pupils who reside in other districts by declaring
that it is a "school district of choice". SB 680 was
heard and approved in the Senate Education Committee
on April 15,, 2009 and is currently in the Assembly
awaiting assignment to a committee.
2) State Mandated Costs . This bill imposes a number of
new duties on school districts, the costs of which are
likely to be reimbursable as state mandates. Although
the cost of instruction for the non-resident pupil who
transfers is likely to be covered by existing school
finance law, mandated costs would include costs of
notification of parents, processing transfer
applications, and possible un-reimbursed costs of
enrolling non-resident pupils in basic aid districts.
SUPPORT
Agudath Israel
EdVoice
Hispanic Council for Reform and Educational Options
OPPOSITION
None received.
ATTACHMENT
SB 266 AS PROPOSED TO BE AMENDED
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Article 10 (commencing with Section 48350) is
added to
Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Education Code,
to read:
Article 10. Open Enrollment Act
48350. This article shall be known, and may be cited, as
the Open Enrollment Act.
48351. The purpose of this article is to improve
educational achievement and to enhance the opportunity for
parental choice in education by providing additional
options to pupils in the state to enroll in public schools
in school districts throughout the state without regard to
pupil residence.
48352. For purposes of this article, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "Low performing school" means a public school that is
ranked in deciles 1, 2 or 3 of the Academic Performance
Index (API) pursuant to section 52055.605 operated by a
school district and that provides elementary or secondary
education in accordance with state law.
(b) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or
guardian of a dependent child.
(c) "School district of enrollment" means a school district
administering a school where a pupil is enrolled, or
intends to enroll, although that district is not a district
in which the pupil resides.
(d) "School district of residence" means the school
district that a pupil would be directed by this chapter to
attend, except as otherwise provided by this article.
48353. The state board shall promulgate an enrollment
options program adopt regulations pursuant to this act to
enable pupils residing in the state to attend public
schools in school districts other than the ones in which
they reside.
48354. (a) The parent or guardian of a pupil in a low
performing school wishing to attend a school in a
nonresident school district in which the pupil is not a
resident shall submit an application for a particular
school year to the nonresident school district
administering the school where the pupil intends to enroll.
on a form provided by, and on or before a deadline
established by the state board. The parent may request a
particular school within the nonresident school district.
(b) The nonresident school district may waive the deadline
established by the state board pursuant to subdivision (a).
(b) (1)When a school has been found to rank in decile 1, 2
or 3 of the Academic Performance Index (API), all parents
of pupils in that school shall be notified by their school
district of residence, no later than September 1 of the
subsequent school year, of the opportunity to transfer
pupils pursuant to this article. Notification made pursuant
to this subdivision shall inform parents of a web address
or other source for detailed information on how to apply
for transfers pursuant to this article.
(2) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this
article shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the
school district of enrollment prior to January 1 of the
school year preceding the school year for which the pupil
is requesting to be transferred. This application deadline
may be waived by the school district of enrollment.
(3) The application deadline specified in paragraph (2)
does not apply to an application requesting a transfer if
the parent or guardian of the pupil, with whom the pupil
resides, is enlisted in the military and was relocated by
the military within 90 days prior to submitting the
application.
(c) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in
a specific school or program of the school district.
(d) A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district
of enrollment immediately upon his or her acceptance.
(4)In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities
for students residing in a school district of enrollment,
the school district of enrollment shall establish a period
of time for resident student enrollment prior to accepting
transfer student applications.
48355. A school district under a court order regarding
desegregation shall ensure compliance with desegregation
plans . (a) Either the pupil's school district of residence,
upon notification of the pupil's acceptance to the school
district of enrollment, or the school district of
enrollment may prohibit the transfer of a pupil under this
article or limit the number of pupils so transferred if the
governing board of the district determines that the
transfer would negatively impact either of the following:
(1) The court-ordered desegregation plan of the district.
(2) The racial and ethnic balance of the district.
(b) The school district of residence may not adopt policies
that in any way block or discourage pupils from applying
for transfer to another district.
48356. (a) A school district of enrollment may shall
adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and
rejection of applications consistent with this article. The
standards may include consideration of the capacity of a
program, class, grade level, or school building. Subject to
subdivision (b), and except as necessary in accordance with
Section 48355, the standards shall not include
consideration of a pupil's previous academic achievement,
physical condition, proficiency in the English language,
sex, national origin, or race.
(b) In considering an application pursuant to this article,
a nonresident school district may apply its usual
requirements for admission to a magnet school or a program
designed to serve gifted and talented pupils.
(c) Subject to the rules and standards that apply to pupils
who reside in the nonresident school district of
enrollment, a nonresident pupil who is enrolled in one of
the district's schools pursuant to this article shall only
not be required to submit a renewed application in order to
remain enrolled.
(d) The district shall ensure that pupils admitted under
the standards are selected through a random, unbiased
process that prohibits an evaluation of whether or not the
pupil should be enrolled based upon his or her individual
academic or athletic performance, however, pupils applying
for transfer shall be given priority for approval as
follows:
(1) First priority for acceptance to shall be given to
siblings of children already in attendance in that school.
(2) Next priority for acceptance shall be given to pupils
transferring from a low performing school ranked in the
first decile of the API.
(3) Next priority for acceptance shall be given to pupils
transferring from a low performing school ranked in the
second decile of the API.
(e) The initial application of any pupil for transfer to a
school may not be approved under this article if the
transfer would require the displacement, from that school
of any other pupil who resides within the attendance area
or is currently enrolled in that school.
(f) Any pupil accepted for transfer to a district of
enrollment shall be deemed to have fulfilled the
requirements of Section 48204.
if one of the following occurs:
(1) The pupil graduates.
(2) The pupil is no longer a California resident.
(3) The pupil is expelled from school.
(4) The nonresident school district determines that
resident enrollment within the school will exceed the
capacity of a program, class, grade level, or school
building of the school.
(d) The determination of which nonresident pupils to
exclude from continued enrollment in a nonresident school
district during a subsequent year shall be based upon the
length of time a pupil is enrolled in the school in
question, with pupils enrolled most recently excluded
first, and the use of a lottery system when multiple
nonresident pupils have been enrolled for the same number
of schooldays in the school.
48357. Within 60 days of receiving an application pursuant
to Section 48354, a nonresident school district shall
notify the applicant parent and the resident school
district of residence of the pupil in writing whether the
application has been accepted or rejected. If an
application is rejected, the nonresident school district
shall state in the notification the reasons for the
rejection.
48358. A nonresident school district of enrollment that
enrolls a pupil pursuant to this article shall accept
credits toward graduation that were awarded to the pupil by
another school district and shall graduate the pupil if the
pupil meets the graduation requirements of the nonresident
school district of enrollment.
48359. (a) The average daily attendance for pupils
enrolled in a nonresident school district of enrollment
pursuant to this article shall be credited to that the
nonresident school district pursuant to Section 46607. The
attendance report of the nonresident school district may
include an identification of the school district of
residence for pupils enrolled pursuant to this article.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, state aid
for categorical education programs for pupils enrolled in a
nonresident school district pursuant to this article shall
be apportioned to the nonresident school district.
(c) For a nonresident school district of enrollment that
is a basic aid school district, the Superintendent shall
calculate an apportionment of state funds for any average
daily attendance credited pursuant to this article shall be
t hat provides 70 percent of the district revenue limit
calculated pursuant to Section 42238 that would have been
apportioned to the school district of residence for any
average daily attendance credited pursuant to this section .
For purposes of this subdivision, the term "basic aid
school district" means a school district that does not
receive an apportionment of state funds pursuant to
subdivision (h) of Section 42238 for any fiscal year in
which this subdivision may apply.
(d) The State Allocation Board shall develop procedures to
ensure that the average daily attendance of pupils admitted
by a nonresident school district pursuant to this article
shall be credited to that school district for purposes of a
determination under Article 2 (commencing with Section
17010) of Chapter 12 of Part 10 of Division 1 of Title 1
that utilizes an average daily attendance calculation.
48360. (a) Each school district is encouraged to keep an
accounting of all requests made for alternative attendance
pursuant to this article and records of all disposition of
those requests that may include, but are not limited to,
all of the following:
(1) The number of requests granted, denied, or withdrawn.
In the case of denied requests, the records may indicate
the reasons for the denials.
(2) The number of pupils who transfer out of the district.
(3) The number of pupils who transfer into the district.
(b) The information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a)
may be reported to the governing board of the school
district at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing
board.
48361. This article shall become operative on July 1,
2010. at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.
48362. This article shall become inoperative on July 1,
2020, and, as of January 1, 2021, is repealed, unless a
later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before
January 1, 2021, deletes or extends the dates on which it
becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 2. The provisions of this act are severable. If any
provision of this act or its application is held invalid,
that invalidity shall not affect other provisions or
applications that can be given effect without the invalid
provision or application.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines
that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for
those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing
with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.