BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 387|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 387
Author: Bonilla (D)
Amended: 6/21/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 8-0, 6/15/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu,
Price, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Simitian, Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/2/11 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Excused absences due to military deployment
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill adds spending time with an active duty
family member who is on military deployment, as specified,
to the list of reasons that justify a pupils excused
absence from school.
ANALYSIS : Existing law specifies a number of reasons,
such as illness or attendance at a funeral of a family
member, which are required 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
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writing by the pupil's parent or guardian and approved by
the school principal acting under policies established by
the school district governing board.
Existing 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 spending time with an active duty family member of
the uniformed services who is on military deployment to
the list of reasons that justify a pupil's excused
absence from school. Specifically, the family member
must have been:
A. Called to duty for a combat zone or combat
support position.
B. Be on leave from duty in a combat zone or combat
support position.
C. Has immediately returned from deployment to a
combat zone or combat support position.
2. Provides that the excused absences be granted for a
period of time to be determined at the discretion of the
superintendent of the school district.
3. Defines "uniformed services" as the U.S. Army, Navy, Air
Force, Marine Corps, or Coast Guard, as well as the
Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Public Health
Services.
Comments
Goes further than the Compact. This bill provides an open
ended authority for a student to be kept from school
attendance as a result of a family member's deployment.
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The Compact added Section 49701, Article V, Section E to
the Education Code which provides that the student be
granted additional excused absences at the discretion of
the local education agency superintendent.
Why is it necessary ? Although current law ensures that the
designation of an absence as "excused" no longer makes a
difference with regard to "per pupil" school funding (i.e.,
the school is held harmless), an accumulation of unexcused
absences can result in a student being declared truant.
This bill ensures that a student who is unable to attend
school as the result of a family member's deployment is
protected from those consequences.
History . 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 from 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. Beginning in 2006, the Council of State
Governments, in cooperation with the United States
Department of Defense Office of Personnel and Readiness,
began drafting the Compact which addresses the educational
transition issues of children of military families. The
Compact addresses key issues encountered by military
families: transfer of records, course sequencing,
graduation requirements, and age of entrance to
kindergarten. In addition, the Compact provides for a
detailed governance structure at both the state and
national levels with built-in enforcement and compliance
mechanisms.
In 2008, AB 2049 (Saldana), Chapter 589, Statutes of 2008,
was enacted and required the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to convene and support a task force to review
and make recommendations regarding the Compact. In 2009,
the Legislature passed and the Governor signed AB 343
(Saldana), Chapter 237, Statutes of 2009, adopting the
recommendations from the Interstate Compact Opportunity for
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Military Children.
Individual states are free to adopt or decline to adopt any
Compact; states ratifying Compacts are bound to observe the
terms of the agreement until the Compact is formally
renounced by the state. As of June 19, 2009, the Compact
had been enacted by 22 states. The Compact became
operable, and thus obligated adopting states to comply with
the Compact once it was adopted by 10 states. Compact
provisions take precedence over conflicting state laws.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/22/11)
AMVETS - Department of California
California School Boards Association
Military Officers Association of America, California
Council of Chapters
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States
Vietnam Veterans of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : In 2009, the Legislature passed
and the Governor signed AB 343 (Saldana), Chapter 237,
Statutes of 2009, to adopt the recommendations from the
Interstate Compact Opportunity for Military Children
(Compact). The purpose of the Compact was to reduce the
educational obstacles faced by children of military
personnel when they are required to transfer across states.
This bill amends current law to reflect the
recommendations of the Compact that students with a family
member who is being deployed be able to be excused from
attendance requirements in order to be able to visit with
the family member being deployed.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Campos, Carter, Cedillo,
Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eng,
Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Furutani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon,
Grove, Hagman, Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Hill,
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Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Knight, Lara,
Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Olsen, Pan,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner,
Smyth, Solorio, Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner,
Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Charles Calderon, Fuentes, Galgiani,
Gorell, Roger Hern�ndez, Mendoza, Vacancy
CPM:do 6/22/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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