BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair
AB 644 (Blumenfield) - On-line Instruction: Average Daily
Attendance.
Amended: August 6, 2012 Policy Vote: Education 8-0
Urgency: No Mandate: No
Hearing Date: August 6, 2012
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 644 authorizes a school district or county
office of education (COE) to claim attendance for pupils in
grades 9-12 participating in online synchronous courses, as
specified, toward average daily attendance (ADA) for the purpose
of calculating revenue limit funding. This bill requires the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to establish rules
and regulations for implementing the bill's provisions.
Fiscal Impact:
Rules and regulations: $90,000-$120,000 (General Fund) in
one-time costs to develop implementation regulations and
guidelines.
SPI/CDE support: Approximately $25,000 (General Fund) in
annual costs to provide local assistance.
ADA: Potentially substantial increase in ADA and related
funding, depending upon how online attendance is calculated
in ADA per the new regulations.
Background: Existing law establishes the minimum school day for
a high school student to be 240 instructional minutes in a
classroom, in independent study programs, or in a combination of
the two settings. Students taking a combination must meet
attendance standards for both the classroom and independent
study courses in order for a district to claim a pupil's
attendance for funding purposes. (EC � 46141)
Existing law further requires that pupils in grades 9 through 12
attend school for at least 64,800 minutes per year in no less
than 180 days (or 175 days under budget flexibility language
through 2014-15). (EC � 46201)
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Existing law also requires the majority of the state's revenue
limit funding allocated to local educational agencies (LEAs) to
be based on ADA. ADA is the average amount of time a pupil
attends class under the immediate supervision of a certificated
employee. (Education Code � 46300 et. seq.)
Within existing ADA requirements, LEAs are able to provide
online courses to pupils in the following ways: a) pupils
receive online instruction in a classroom setting under the
immediate supervision of a certificated employee; b) pupils are
enrolled in a part-time or full-time independent study program;
c) pupils meet the minimum instructional requirement in
traditional classroom instruction and take additional online
courses; and, d) pupils are enrolled in a charter school, which
has less traditional accounting and attendance requirements for
its pupils; and typically must meet statutory requirements,
where applicable, or regulatory guidelines adopted by the State
Board of Education.
Proposed Law: This bill defines "synchronous online instruction"
as 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. It authorizes, commencing with the 2013-14 fiscal
year, a school district or COE to claim attendance for pupils in
grades 9 to 12, toward ADA for the purpose of calculating
revenue limit funding for online synchronous courses. This bill
provides that ADA can be computed for synchronous online
instruction provided that all of the following occur:
1) The certificated employee providing instruction confirms
pupil attendance through visual recognition or periodic
voice responses during the class period.
2) The class has a regularly scheduled starting and ending
time, and the pupil is scheduled to attend the entire class
period.
3) An individual with exceptional needs, as specified, may
participate in synchronous online instruction only if his
or her individualized education program, as specified,
provides for that participation.
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4) A school district or COE offering synchronous online
instruction 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 does not have access to the necessary
equipment, the school district or COE shall provide such
access.
5) The ratio of teachers to pupils shall not exceed the
equivalent ratio for all other educational programs by the
school district or COE, as specified, unless a higher or
lower ratio is negotiated in a collective bargaining
agreement.
This bill requires the SPI to establish rules and regulations
for purposes of implementing this measure that, at a minimum,
address: a) How school districts and COEs include pupil
attendance in online courses in the calculation of ADA; and b)
How to ensure a pupil meets the minimum instructional time
requirements pursuant to various code sections governing
district schools, continuation schools, opportunity schools,
etc.
This bill further requires the SPI to provide guidance to LEAs
on how to offer synchronous, online education, and to require
attendance accounted for under this bill's provisions to be
subject to audit requirements. The provisions of this bill
sunset on July 1, 2018.
Related Legislation: AB 853 (Blumenfield) 2011, was similar to
this measure, but also contained provisions related to funding
of asynchronous instruction. That bill was gut and amended in
this Committee, and withdrawn to the Senate Rules Committee. It
was subsequently gut and amended again to deal with an unrelated
issue.
AB 2027 (Blumenfield) 2010, was similar to AB 853, as it
initially arrived in this Committee. That bill was held under
submission in this Committee.
Staff Comments: This bill allows LEAs to count synchronous
online course attendance toward ADA, and requires the SPI to
develop extensive rules and regulations for LEAs to implement a
qualifying program. The CDE estimates that developing the
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regulations governing how schools will count online courses
toward ADA, and how minimum instructional time requirements are
to be met, will require up to 1 PY Educational Programs
Consultant for one year. Staffing costs will be up to $105,000.
The CDE will also require approximately $15,000 in legal staff
time to assist in developing the required regulations.
Operating synchronous online programs, and counting the
students' attendance toward ADA, would be optional for LEAs. To
the extent that they choose to do so, LEAs will have additional
local costs for technology and materials. The CDE will have to
provide support for LEAs in navigating the new rules and
regulations, and estimates requiring .25 PY Education Programs
Consultant ongoing to provide guidance. The cost will be
approximately $25,000 per year.
The impact this bill has on ADA and revenue limit funding will
depend on the number of schools that opt to use the new
authority, and the number of high school pupils who opt to take
qualifying online courses. The intent of the bill is make these
courses more attractive to offer, since schools will be able to
count on receiving ADA funding for them. If online courses are
taken by students who would otherwise be enrolled in traditional
schools, there will likely be no change in ADA-related revenue
limit funding for those students. The rules the SPI develops for
implementing these provisions, however, will ultimately
determine the impact to ADA changes and revenue limit funding.