BILL NUMBER: AB 160 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 6, 2011
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 20, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 9, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY FEBRUARY 28, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Portantino
JANUARY 19, 2011
An act to amend Section 48800 of, and to add Section 48803 to, the
Education Code, relating to public schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 160, as amended, Portantino. Concurrent enrollment in secondary
school and community college.
(1) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school
district to allow pupils whom the district has determined would
benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to attend
community college as special part-time students, subject to parental
permission. Existing law makes the authority of a school principal to
recommend a pupil for community college summer session contingent
upon a determination that the pupil meets various criteria and
prohibits the principal from recommending more than 5% of the total
number of pupils from any particular grade level who completed that
grade immediately prior to the time of recommendation for summer
session attendance, except as specified.
This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district
to authorize a pupil, upon the recommendation from a community
college dean of a career technical education department or other
appropriate community college career technical education
administrator, and with parental consent, to attend a community
college during any session or term as a special part-time or
full-time student and to undertake one or more courses of career
technical education offered at the community college.
The bill also would authorize the governing board of a community
college district to enter into a formal partnership with a school
district or school districts located within its immediate service
area to allow secondary school pupils to attend a community college
if those pupils 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 governing board of the
school district, and if those pupils may benefit from advanced
scholastic, career-technical, or vocational coursework
courses, courses in basic skills remediation,
preparation for the high school exit examination, or English a
s a 2nd l anguage, and courses designed to prevent
pupils from dropping out of high school . The bill would
require the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the
partnership, as specified. The bill would require a community
college district and a school district, as a condition of and before
adopting a partnership agreement, to take testimony from the public
and approve or disapprove the proposed partnership agreement at a
regularly scheduled open public hearing of their respective governing
boards. The bill would require, for each partnership entered
into under the bill, the affected community college district and
school district to file an annual report, containing specified data,
with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges.
(2) Existing law requires the governing board of a community
college district to assign a low enrollment priority to a pupil
attending community college pursuant to a recommendation from his or
her principal or school district or a petition from his or her
parents, in order to ensure that these pupils, admitted as special
students, do not displace regularly admitted students.
This bill would authorize the governing board of a community
college district to assign an enrollment priority to students
attending community college pursuant to a partnership agreement
established under the bill.
The bill would prohibit a community college district from
receiving an allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity
for which a school district has been, or will be, paid.
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 and provide an educational resource for all
communities.
(b) Existing law allows certain high school pupils to take classes
at community colleges. These pupils are known as special-admits and
the programs in which they participate are known as concurrent
enrollment programs. The main target of these programs is advanced
education and the work completed in them is primarily defined as
college-level work.
(c) Existing law imposes strict limits on concurrent enrollment
programs. Only 5 percent of the pupils in any high school class may
enroll in a community college during summer sessions. In addition,
the types of classes pupils may take pursuant to these programs are
generally limited to advanced education classes.
(d) A serious abuse of concurrent enrollment programs by a few
school districts and community college districts several years ago
resulted in statutory reform and restrictions on this type of
enrollment.
(e) The current restrictions inhibit the ability of school
districts and their pupils to make maximum use of community college
facilities and opportunities. The time has come to encourage and
expand these valuable programs, but with appropriate statutory
prohibitions to guard against a repeat of the abuses of the past.
(f) Allowing high school pupils to take community college courses
could provide benefits to pupils and to the state in numerous ways,
including more opportunities for advanced scholastic work,
career-technical partnerships and coursework, basic skills
remediation, preparation for the high school exit examination,
English as a second language, and dropout prevention.
(g) Exposure to college classes and the college environment while
in high school improves college participation rates.
(h) Concurrent enrollment saves money for both the state and the
pupils and provides for more effective use of facilities.
SEC. 2. Section 48800 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48800. (a) The governing board of a school district may determine
which pupils would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational
work. The intent of this section is to provide educational enrichment
opportunities for a limited number of eligible pupils, rather than
to reduce current course requirements of elementary and secondary
schools, and also to help ensure a smoother transition from high
school to college for pupils by providing them with greater exposure
to the collegiate atmosphere. The governing board may authorize those
pupils, upon recommendation of the principal of the pupil's school
of attendance, and with parental consent, to attend a community
college during any session or term as special part-time or full-time
students and to undertake one or more courses of instruction offered
at the community college level.
(b) If the governing board denies a request for a special
part-time or full-time enrollment at a community college for any
session or term for a pupil who is identified as highly gifted, the
governing board shall issue its written recommendation and the
reasons for the denial within 60 days. The written recommendation and
denial shall be issued at the next regularly scheduled board meeting
that falls at least 30 days after the request has been submitted.
(c) The governing board of a school district may authorize a
pupil, upon the recommendation from a community college dean of a
career technical education department or other appropriate community
college career technical education administrator, and with parental
consent, to attend a community college during any session or term as
a special part-time or full-time student and to undertake one or more
courses of career technical education offered at the community
college.
(d) A pupil shall receive credit for community college courses
that he or she completes at the level determined appropriate by the
governing boards of the school district and community college
district.
(e) (1) The principal of a school may recommend a pupil for
community college summer session only if that pupil meets all of the
following criteria:
(A) Demonstrates adequate preparation in the discipline to be
studied.
(B) Exhausts all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course,
if any, at his or her school of attendance.
(2) For any particular grade level, a principal shall not
recommend for community college summer session attendance more than 5
percent of the total number of pupils who completed that grade
immediately prior to the time of recommendation.
(3) A high school pupil recommended by his or her principal for
enrollment in a course shall not be included in the 5-percent
limitation of pupils allowed to be recommended pursuant to paragraph
(2) if the course in which the pupil is enrolled meets one of the
criterion listed in subparagraphs (A) to (C), inclusive, and the high
school principal who recommends the pupil for enrollment provides
the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, upon the request
of that office, with the data required for purposes of paragraph
(4).
(A) The course is a lower division, college-level course for
credit that is designated as part of the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer Curriculum or applies toward the general education
breadth requirements of the California State University.
(B) The course is a college-level, occupational course for credit
assigned a priority code of "A," "B," or "C," pursuant to the Student
Accountability Model, as defined by the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges and reported in the management information
system, and the course is part of a sequence of vocational or career
technical education courses leading to a degree or certificate in the
subject area covered by the sequence.
(C) The course is necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed
the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), does not offer
college credit in English language arts or mathematics, and the pupil
meets both of the following requirements:
(i) The pupil is in his or her senior year of high school.
(ii) The pupil has completed all other graduation requirements
prior to the end of his or her senior year, or will complete all
remaining graduation requirements during a community college summer
session, which he or she is recommended to enroll in, following his
or her senior year of high school.
(4) On or before March 1 of each year, the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges shall report to the Department of
Finance the number of pupils recommended pursuant to paragraph (3)
who enroll in community college summer session courses and who
receive a passing grade. The information in this report may be
submitted with the report required by subdivision (c) of Section
76002.
(5) The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges
shall not include enrollment growth attributable to paragraph (3) as
part of its annual budget request for the California Community
Colleges.
(6) Notwithstanding Article 3 (commencing with Section 33050) of
Chapter 1 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2, compliance with this
subdivision shall not be waived.
(f) Paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (e) shall become
inoperative on January 1, 2014.
SEC. 3. Section 48803 is added to the Education Code, to read:
48803. (a) (1) 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 in
order 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 programs offered by the
governing board of the school district with the opportunity to
benefit from advanced scholastic, career-technical, or vocational
coursework courses, courses in basic skills
remediation, preparation for the high sch ool exit
examination, or English as a second language, and courses designed to
prevent pupils from dropping out of high school . 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 governing
board of the school district, 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. As a condition of and before adopting a partnership
agreement, a community college district and a school district, at a
regularly scheduled open public hearing of their respective governing
boards, shall take testimony from the public and approve or
disapprove the proposed partnership agreement.
(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 academic
readiness of pupils that is necessary for them to benefit from the
courses offered, and the ability of pupils to benefit from those
courses . 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
department and with the Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges before the start of a program authorized by this
article.
(4) It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this section,
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.
(5) A community college district shall not provide physical
education course opportunities to secondary school pupils pursuant to
this section.
(6) A pupil shall receive credit for community college courses
that he or she completes 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).
(b) (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 section 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).
(c) 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.
(d) Notwithstanding subdivision (e) of Section 76001, for purposes
of this section, the governing board of a community college district
may assign an enrollment priority to pupils admitted as special
part-time or full-time students under this section.
(e) Community college districts and school districts that enter
into a partnership pursuant to this section shall be exempt from
concurrent enrollment provisions pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b)
of, and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (d) of, Section
48800.
(f) (1) For each partnership entered into pursuant to this
section, 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:
(A) The total number of secondary school pupils enrolled in each
program, classified by the school district.
(B) The total number of successful course completions of secondary
school pupils enrolled in each program, classified by the school
district.
(C) The total number of successful course completions of students
in courses equivalent to those courses tracked under subparagraph (B)
in the general community college curriculum.
(2) The annual report required by this subdivision shall be
transmitted to all of the following:
(A) The Legislature.
(B) The Director of Finance.
(C) The Superintendent.
(D) The governing board of each participating community college
district.
(E) The governing board of each participating school district.