BILL NUMBER: SB 680 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2009
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senators Romero and Huff
( Coauthors: Assembly Members
Hagman and Huffman )
FEBRUARY 27, 2009
An act to amend Sections 48301, 48303, 48306, 48307,
48310 and 48313 of, , 48313, and 48315 of, to
add Section 48316 to, and to repeal Sections 48314.5
and 48315 Section 48314.5 of, the Education
Code, relating to school attendance, and declaring the urgency
thereof, to take effect immediately.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 680, as amended, Romero. School attendance: interdistrict
transfers.
(1) Existing law requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18
years, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time
day school in the school district in which his or her parent or
guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing board
of a school district to accept interdistrict transfers by adopting a
resolution to become a school district of choice, as defined.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district that
elects to accept transfers to ensure, by resolution,
that pupils accepted for transfer 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
academic or athletic performance. Existing law requires each
school district that elects to become a school district of choice to
keep an accounting of all requests made for alternative attendance,
as specified, and to report this information to the Superintendent of
Public Instruction. Existing law requires the Superintendent to
annually make this information available to the Governor, the
Legislature, and the public on or before April 1. Existing law
prohibits a school district that has not elected to become a school
district of choice prior to August 24, 2007, from becoming a school
district of choice. Existing law makes the provisions governing
interdistrict transfers inoperative on July 1, 2009, and repeals
these provisions them on January 1,
2010.
This bill would delete the prohibition on becoming a
school district of choice. The bill also would delete the
extend those inoperative and repeal dates of
these provisions, thereby extending their operation indefinitely.
This to July 1, 2016, and January 1, 2017,
respectively. The bill would require any communication made by a
participating school district to parents or guardians to be factually
accurate and not target individual parents or g uardians
or residential neighborhoods on the basis of specified personal
characteristics of pupils. The bill would require a school district
of choice, at its expense, to ensure that the auditor who conducts
the annual financial audit of the district, as specified, reviews
compliance with the requirements for a random, unbiased selection
process and appropriate communications at the same time that he or
she is conducting the annual audit, and would require the district to
notify the auditor regarding this compliance review prior
to the commencement of the annual audit. The bill would
also delete the requirement that the
Superintendent annually make the information provided by school
districts available to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public
on or before April 1. This bill would require local school districts
who that have adopted a resolution, or
elect to become a school district of choice, to publicly report
information regarding requests made for interdistrict transfers to
adjacent school districts and the county office of education in which
the district is located. The bill would also require any
communication made by a participating school district to parents or
guardians to be factually accurate and not target individual pupils
as specified. The bill would make other technical and
clarifying changes.
The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to request
that the Legislative Analyst conduct, after consulting with
appropriate legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the
interdistrict transfer program, and that the evaluation be completed
and submitted to the appropriate education policy committees of the
Legislature and the Governor by November 1, 2014.
(2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately
as an urgency statute.
Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated
local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48301 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48301. (a) The governing board of any school district may accept
interdistrict transfers. A school district that receives an
application for attendance under this article is not required to
admit pupils to its schools. If, however, the governing board elects
to accept transfers as authorized under this article, it may, by
resolution, elect to accept transfer pupils, determine and adopt the
number of transfers it is willing to accept under this article, and
ensure that pupils admitted under the policy 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 academic or
athletic performance. Any pupil accepted for transfer shall be deemed
to have fulfilled the requirements of Section 48204. If the number
of transfer applications exceeds the number of transfers the
governing board elects to accept under this article, approval for
transfer pursuant to this article shall be determined by a random
drawing held in public.
(b) Either the pupil's school district of residence, upon
notification of the pupil's acceptance to the school district of
choice pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48308, or the school
district of choice 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 any of the following:
(1) The court-ordered desegregation plan of the district.
(2) The voluntary desegregation plan of the district.
(3) The racial and ethnic balance of the district.
(c) The school district of residence may not adopt policies that
in any way block or discourage pupils from applying for transfer to
another district.
(d) Communications to parents or guardians by districts electing
to enroll pupils under the choice options provided by this article
shall be factually accurate and not target individual parents or
guardians on the basis of their or
residential neighborhoods on the basis of a child's actual or
perceived academic or athletic performance or any other personal
characteristic .
(e) A school district of choice, at its expense, shall ensure that
the auditor who conducts the annual audit pursuant to Section 41020,
at the same time that he or she is conducting that annual audit,
reviews compliance with the provisions in this section regarding a
random, unbiased selection process and appropriate communications.
The compliance review specified in this subdivision is not subject to
the requirements in subdivision (d) of Section 41020. The school
district of choice shall notify the auditor regarding this compliance
review specified in this subdivision prior to the commencement of
the annual audit. The governing board of the school district of
choice shall include a summary of audit exceptions, if any, resulting
from the compliance review conducted pursuant to this subdivision in
the report it provides pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 48313.
SEC. 2. Section 48303 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48303. (a) The school district of choice may not prohibit a
transfer of a pupil under this article based upon a determination by
the governing board of that school district that the additional cost
of educating the pupil would exceed the amount of additional state
aid received as a result of the transfer. However, a
A school district may reject the transfer of a
pupil if the transfer of that pupil would require the district to
create a new program to serve that pupil , except that a school
district of choice shall not reject the transfer of a special needs
pupil, including an individual with exceptional needs, as
defined in Section 56026, and an English learner .
(b) This section is intended to ensure that special education,
bilingual, English learner, or other special needs pupils
are not discriminated against by the school district of choice
because of the costs associated with educating those pupils. Pupils
with special needs may take full advantage of the choice options
available under this section.
SEC. 2. SEC. 3. Section 48306 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48306. (a) A school district of choice shall give priority for
attendance to siblings of children already in attendance in that
district.
(b) A school district of choice may give priority for attendance
to children of military personnel.
SEC. 3. SEC. 4. Section 48307 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48307. (a) A school district of residence with an average daily
attendance greater than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils
transferring out each year to 1 percent of its current year estimated
average daily attendance.
(b) A school district of residence with an average daily
attendance of less than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils
transferring out to 3 percent of its current year estimated average
daily attendance and may limit the maximum number of pupils
transferring out of the district pursuant to
for the duration of the program authorized by this article to
10 percent of the average daily attendance for that period
.
(c) A school district of residence that has a negative status on
the most recent budget certification completed by the county
superintendent of schools in any fiscal year may limit the number of
pupils who transfer out of the district in that fiscal year.
SEC. 4. SEC. 5. Section 48310 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48310. (a) The average daily attendance for pupils admitted by a
school district of choice pursuant to this article shall be credited
to that district pursuant to Section 46607. The attendance report for
the school district of choice may include an identification of the
school district of residence.
(b) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, state aid for
categorical education programs for pupils admitted under this article
shall be apportioned to the school district of choice.
(c) For any school district of choice that is a basic aid
district, the apportionment of state funds for any average daily
attendance credited pursuant to this section shall be 70 percent of
the district revenue limit calculated pursuant to Section 42238 that
would have been apportioned to the district of residence. For
purposes of this subdivision, the term "basic aid district" means a
school district that does not receive from the state, for any fiscal
year in which the subdivision is applied, an apportionment of state
funds pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 42238.
(d) The average daily attendance of pupils admitted by a school
district of choice pursuant to this article shall be credited to that
school district for the purposes of any determination under Article
2 (commencing with Section 17010) of Chapter 12 of Part 10 that
utilizes an average daily attendance calculation.
SEC. 5. SEC. 6. Section 48313 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48313. (a) Pursuant to this article, each school district
electing to accept transfer pupils shall keep an accounting of all
requests made for alternative attendance and records of all
disposition of those requests that shall 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
shall indicate the reasons for the denials.
(2) The number of pupils transferred out of the district pursuant
to this article.
(3) The number of pupils transferred into the district pursuant to
this article.
(4) The race, ethnicity, gender, self-reported socioeconomic
status, and the school district of residence of each of the pupils
described in paragraphs (2) and (3).
(5) The number of pupils described in paragraphs (2) and (3) who
are classified as English learners or identified as individuals with
exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026.
(b) The information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a) shall
be reported to the governing board of the school district at a
regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board. No later than May
15th of each year, the school district shall report the information
maintained pursuant to subdivision (a) in addition to information
regarding the district's status as a school district of choice in the
upcoming school year to each school district that is geographically
adjacent to the district electing to accept transfer pupils, the
county office of education in which the district is located,
and the Superintendent the Superintendent, and the
Legislative Analyst .
SEC. 6. SEC. 7. Section 48314.5 of
the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 7. Section 48315 of the Education Code is
repealed.
SEC. 8. Section 48315 of the Education
Code is amended to read:
48315. This article shall become inoperative on July 1,
2009 2016 , and, as of January 1, 2010
2017 , is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1,
2010 2017 , deletes or extends the dates on
which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.
SEC. 9. Section 48316 is added to the
Education Code , to read:
48316. It is the intent of the Legislature to request that the
Legislative Analyst conduct, after consulting with appropriate
legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the interdistrict
transfer program established pursuant to this article. It is further
the intent of the Legislature that the evaluation be completed and
submitted to the appropriate education policy committees of the
Legislature and the Governor by November 1, 2014.
SEC. 8. SEC. 10. This act is an
urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the
public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of
the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts
constituting the necessity are:
In order to ensure that pupils continue to have the opportunity to
apply for interdistrict transfers, it is necessary that this act
take effect immediately.