BILL NUMBER: AB 644 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
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 to
of the Education Code, relating to schools.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 644, as amended, Blumenfield. 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
immediate 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 require the Superintendent of Public
Instruction to establish rules and regulations for purposes of
implementing these provisions and require those rules and
regulations to, at a minimum, address specified matters. 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 immediate
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
synchronous, online course. If a pupil chooses to enroll
in a synchronous, online 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 synchronous, online
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 shall
establish rules and regulations for purposes of implementing this
section . that, at a minimum, address all of
the following:
(1) How school districts and county offices of education include
pupil attendance in online courses in the calculation of average
daily attendance pursuant to Section 46300.
(2) How to ensure a pupil meets minimum instructional time
requirements pursuant to the following:
(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.
(3) Provide guidance to school districts and county offices of
education on how to offer synchronous, online instruction.
(4) Require statewide testing results for online pupils to be
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.
(5) Require attendance accounted for pursuant to this section to
be subject to the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
(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.
(d) 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.