BILL NUMBER: AB 644 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 21, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE MARCH 8, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 14, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 10, 2011
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 25, 2011
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Blumenfield and Atkins
FEBRUARY 16, 2011
An act to add and repeal Section 46300.8
of to the Education Code, relating to
online education schools .
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 644, as amended, Blumenfield. Online education: school
attendance. Schools: average daily attendance: online
instruction.
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, among other factors, 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, commencing with the 2013-14 school year, would
authorize, for purposes of computing average daily attendance, the
inclusion of pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, under the
supervision and control of a certificated employee of the school
district or county office of education who is delivering synchronous,
online instruction, as defined, provided that this instruction meets
specified criteria. The bill would require, if a school district or
county office of education elects to offer synchronous, online
instruction, that the school district or county office of education
provide all pupils who choose to enroll in an online course access to
the computer hardware or software necessary for the pupil to
participate in the course. The bill would authorize the
Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish rules and
regulations for purposes of implementing these provisions.
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, among other factors, 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, commencing with the 2014-15 fiscal year, would provide
that school districts, county offices of education, and charter
schools that offer online courses may claim attendance toward average
daily attendance on the basis of a pupil's attendance in an online
course or courses that satisfy prescribed criteria.
The bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
in consultation with the Controller and the Director of Finance, on
or before December 31, 2013, to make revisions to any attendance
accounting manual or guidance provided to school districts, county
offices of education, or charter schools that are necessary to
conform to these provisions, or to clarify these provisions with
respect to attendance accounting procedures for asynchronous online
courses, as defined. The bill additionally would require the
Superintendent, in consultation with the Director of Finance, to
adopt rules and regulations for purposes of clarifying or expanding
the procedures required for verifying the identification of pupils
participating in asynchronous online courses and including pupil
attendance in asynchronous online courses in the calculation of
average daily attendance.
The bill would make all of these provisions inoperative on July 1,
2018, and repeal them on January 1, 2019.
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. (a) Commencing with the 2013-14 school year, attendance
of pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, under the supervision and
control of a certificated employee of the school district or county
office of education who is delivering synchronous, online instruction
shall be included in computing average daily attendance, provided
that all of the following occur:
(1) The certificated employee providing the instruction confirms
pupil attendance through visual recognition or periodic voice
responses during the class period. A pupil logon, without any other
pupil identification, is not sufficient to confirm pupil attendance.
(2) The class has a regularly scheduled starting and ending time,
and the pupil is scheduled to attend the entire class period. Average
daily attendance shall be counted only for attendance in classes
held at the regularly scheduled time.
(3) An individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section
56026, may participate in synchronous, online instruction only if his
or her individualized education program developed pursuant to
Article 3 (commencing with Section 56340) of Chapter 4 of Part 30
specifically provides for that participation.
(4) If a school district or county office of education elects to
offer synchronous, online instruction pursuant to this paragraph, the
school district or county office of education shall not deny
enrollment to a pupil based solely on the pupil's lack of access to
the computer hardware or software necessary to participate in the
course. If a pupil chooses to enroll in a course and does not have
access to the necessary equipment, the school district or county
office of education shall provide, for each pupil who chooses to
enroll in a synchronous, online course, access to the computer
hardware or software necessary to participate in the course.
(5) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online
pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to school district
full-time equivalent certificated employees responsible for
synchronous, online instruction, calculated as specified by the
department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to
full-time certificated employees for all other educational programs
operated by the school district, unless a higher or lower ratio is
negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
(6) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online
pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to county office of
education full-time equivalent certificated employees who provide
synchronous, online instruction, to be calculated in a manner
prescribed by the department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio
of pupils to full-time certificated employees for all other
educational programs operated by the high school or unified school
district with the greatest average daily attendance of pupils in that
county, unless a higher or lower ratio is provided for in a
collective bargaining agreement. The computation of the ratios
specified in paragraph (5) and this paragraph shall be performed
annually by the reporting agency at the time of, and in connection
with, the second principal apportionment report to the
Superintendent.
(b) The Superintendent may establish rules and regulations for
purposes of implementing this section.
(c) For purposes of this section, "synchronous, online instruction"
means a class or course in which the pupil and the certificated
employee who is providing instruction are online at the same time and
use real-time, Internet-based collaborative software that combines
audio, video, file sharing, and other forms of interaction.
SECTION 1. Section 46300.8 is added to the
Education Code, to read:
46300.8. (a) Commencing with the 2014-15 fiscal year, a school
district, county office of education, or charter school may claim
attendance toward average daily attendance, for purposes of
calculating average daily attendance pursuant to Section 46300, on
the basis of a pupil's attendance in an online course or courses if
all of the following apply:
(1) The pupil is enrolled in grade 9, 10, 11, or 12.
(2) The pupil is a California resident.
(3) The pupil is enrolled in classes that include courses in a
classroom-based setting, courses that are offered through an online
program, or both.
(4) The pupil meets minimum instructional time requirements
pursuant to:
(A) Section 46141 and Section 46201, 46201.5, or 46202, as
applicable, for pupils enrolled in a noncharter school in a school
district or county office of education.
(B) Section 46170, for pupils enrolled in a continuation school.
(C) Section 46180, for pupils enrolled in an opportunity school.
(D) Subdivision (e) of Section 47612.5, for pupils enrolled in a
charter school.
(5) Each online course in which the pupil is enrolled is a
high-quality online course.
(b) For 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 or county office of education, or by the governing
body of the charter school.
(2) The online course is certified to meet the requirements of
this subdivision, through board resolution, by the governing board of
the school district or county office of education, or by the
governing body of the charter school.
(3) The online course is certified by the governing board of the
school district or county office of education, or by the governing
body of the charter school, as being as rigorous as a classroom-based
course and meeting or exceeding all relevant state content
standards.
(4) Either of the following:
(A) The teacher is online at the same time as each pupil, is
accessible to each pupil attending the synchronous online course to
respond to pupil queries, assign tasks, and dispense information, and
is able to make a visual connection with each pupil for purposes of
verifying attendance or providing immediate supervision of the pupil.
(B) The teacher may be online at different times than each pupil,
is accessible to each pupil attending the asynchronous online course
to respond to pupil queries, assign tasks, and dispense information,
and, for purposes of verifying attendance, is able to employ at least
one of the following:
(i) Periodic proctored examinations.
(ii) Direct teacher-pupil meetings no less than twice per calendar
month.
(iii) A visual connection, including, but not limited to, Internet
Webcam.
(5) (A) The ratio of pupils enrolled in that course to full-time
equivalent certificated teachers teaching the online course is less
than or equal to the ratio of pupils to teachers in traditional
classroom study of the same subject matter in the school, school
district, or the unified school district with the largest average
daily attendance of pupils in that county for the prior school year,
as reported on the Internet Web site of the department.
(B) If the online course is new or deemed by the governing board
of the school district or county office of education, or by the
governing body of the charter school, to be unique to the online
setting, the ratio of pupils enrolled in that course to full-time
equivalent teachers teaching the online course shall not exceed 30 to
1.
(6) When a traditional classroom-based course of the same course
title exists within the school district, county office of education,
or charter school, the subject matter content of the online course is
the same as that of the traditional classroom-based course.
(7) The teacher of the online course holds the appropriate subject
matter credential and meets the requirements for a highly qualified
teacher pursuant to the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20
U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).
(8) Statewide testing results for online pupils are reported and
assigned to the school in which the pupil is enrolled for regular
classroom courses, and to any school district or county office of
education within which that school's testing results are aggregated.
(9) The online course is offered by a high school, continuation
school, county office of education, or charter school offering
instruction in any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive.
(10) No pupil is assigned to the online course unless the pupil
voluntarily elects to participate in the online course and the parent
or guardian of the pupil provides written consent before the pupil
participates in the online course.
(11) No pupil voluntarily electing to participate in the online
course is denied access because the pupil lacks the computer hardware
or software necessary to participate in the online course.
(12) No pupil is charged for his or her participation in the
online course.
(13) Pupils enrolled in the online course take examinations by
proctor, or other reliable methods used to ensure test integrity, and
there is a clear record of pupil work, using the same method of
documentation and assessment as used in a classroom-based course.
(14) Contemporaneous records of the time that a pupil spends
online in the course and in related activities, and of the time the
teacher is online with pupils, are maintained by the school district,
county office of education, or charter school.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to mean that a
charter school provides classroom-based or nonclassroom-based
instruction for purposes of the state board determination made
pursuant to Section 47612.5.
(d) Attendance accounted for pursuant to subdivision (a) and
compliance with the requirements of subdivision (b) are subject to
the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(e) A pupil shall not be credited with more than five days of
course attendance per calendar week or more than the total number of
calendar days that regular classes are maintained by the school
district, county office of education, or charter school during the
fiscal year.
(f) To remain eligible for claiming average daily attendance and
generating apportionments, a pupil over 19 years of age enrolled in
an online course or courses shall be continuously enrolled in public
school and make satisfactory progress toward award of a high school
diploma. The Superintendent shall, on or before December 31, 2013,
adopt regulations defining "satisfactory progress."
(g) The Superintendent, in consultation with the Controller and
the Director of Finance, on or before December 31, 2013, shall do all
of the following:
(1) Make revisions to any attendance accounting manual or guidance
provided to a school district, county office of education, or
charter school that are necessary to conform to this section.
(2) Make revisions to any attendance accounting manual or guidance
provided to local educational agencies that are necessary to clarify
attendance accounting procedures for asynchronous online courses.
(3) Make recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal
committees in both houses of the Legislature and to the Governor
regarding statutory changes that would be necessary to allow pupil
attendance in asynchronous online courses to be included in the
calculation of average daily attendance pursuant to Section 46300.
(h) Pupil attendance in asynchronous online courses shall not be
included in the calculation of average daily attendance pursuant to
Section 46300 until the Superintendent has adopted rules and
regulations pursuant to subdivision (l).
(i) For purposes of calculating average daily attendance pursuant
to Section 46300 and meeting the minimum instructional time
requirements specified in paragraph (4) of subdivision (a):
(1) A pupil enrolled in a noncharter school and engaged in
educational activities in an online course meeting the requirements
of subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be deemed to be under the immediate
supervision and control of an employee of the school district or
county office of education who possesses a valid certification
document, registered as required by law.
(2) A pupil enrolled in a charter school and engaged in
educational activities in an online course meeting the requirements
of subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be deemed to be attending at the
schoolsite of the charter school.
(j) For purposes of calculating average daily attendance pursuant
to Section 46300, a school district, county office of education, or
charter school claiming pupil attendance in an online course meeting
the requirements of subdivision (b) shall not be required to meet the
requirements of Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 51745) of
Chapter 5 of Part 28.
(k) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) "Asynchronous online course" means a course where the teacher
and pupil may be online at different times and are unable to interact
simultaneously.
(2) "Synchronous online course" means a course where the teacher
and pupil are online at the same time and able to interact at that
time.
(l) The Superintendent, in consultation with the Department of
Finance, shall adopt rules and regulations, pursuant to the
rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter
3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title
2 of the Government Code), for both of the following purposes:
(1) Clarifying or expanding the procedures required for verifying
the identification of pupils participating in asynchronous online
courses meeting all of the requirements of subdivisions (a) and (b).
(2) Including pupil attendance in asynchronous online courses in
the calculation of average daily attendance pursuant to Section
46300. The Superintendent shall ensure that the rules and regulations
adopted for this purpose are consistent with the revisions and
recommendations required pursuant to subdivision (g).
(m) No provision of this section shall be waived unless the waiver
is specifically authorized in statute.
(n) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2018, and, as
of January 1, 2019, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2019, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.