BILL NUMBER: AB 2491 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 6, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Blumenfield
FEBRUARY 24, 2012
An act to amend Section 52212 52203
of the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2491, as amended, Blumenfield. Pupil instruction: gifted and
talented pupil program: application approval.
standard for pupil identification.
Existing law states the intent of the Legislature to improve the
quality of existing programs for gifted and talented pupils, and to
ensure that pupils from economically disadvantaged and varying
cultural backgrounds be provided with full participation in gifted
and talented education (GATE) programs. Existing law requires the
State Board of Education to review criteria, as specified, for
programs for gifted and talented pupils proposed by applicant school
districts.
This bill would, upon the next revision of the specified criteria,
require the state board to adopt a standard for pupil identification
to ensure the identification procedures of an applicant school
district provide economically disadvantaged pupils and pupils of
varying cultural backgrounds with full participation in GATE
programs, and would make other nonsubstantive changes.
Existing law authorizes a school district to provide a program for
gifted and talented pupils, as specified, and requires each
applicant school district to submit an application for approval for a
proposed program for gifted and talented pupils to the State Board
of Education. Existing law requires an application to be approved for
a period of one, 2, or 3 years, or denied, based on the quality of
the plan, in accordance with criteria adopted by the state board.
This bill would require the state board not to approve an
application for a period of more than one year unless the application
describes the processes used by the applicant school district to
identify for eligibility in the program, pupils of ethnic minorities
and pupils of diverse socioeconomic status.
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 52203 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
52203. (a) The State Board of
Education state board shall maintain regulations
governing the following areas:
(a)
(1) Procedures that school district governing boards
shall use in identifying gifted and talented pupils who are eligible
for the program and in providing programs pursuant to this chapter.
(b)
(2) Definitions of special day classes, part-time
grouping, enrichment activities, cluster grouping, independent study,
acceleration, postsecondary education opportunities , and
other programs that the State Board of Education
state board deems appropriate.
(c)
(3) Establishment of allowable indirect cost
expenditures that may be funded by gifted and talented program funds.
(d)
(4) Other areas that the state board deems
necessary to implement fully the intent and provisions of this
chapter.
(b) Upon the next revision of the criteria adopted pursuant to
Section 52212, the state board shall adopt a standard for pupil
identification to ensure the identification procedures of an
applicant school district provide economically disadvantaged pupils
and pupils of varying cultural backgrounds with full participation in
the programs pursuant to this chapter.
SECTION 1. Section 52212 of the Education Code
is amended to read:
52212. (a) (1) Each applicant school district shall submit an
application for approval for a proposed program for gifted and
talented pupils to the state board. The application shall be
submitted in the form and manner prescribed by the Superintendent. An
application shall be approved for a period of one, two, or three
years, or denied, based on the quality of the plan, in accordance
with criteria adopted by the state board. Those criteria shall be
reviewed by the state board at least once every four years and shall
address, but are not limited to, the elements of program design,
identification, curriculum and instruction, social and emotional
development, professional development, parent and community
involvement, and program assessment and budgeting. The application
shall include budget information including separate data on
identification and program costs, and any other data required by the
Superintendent to administer and evaluate the program effectively.
Each time a school district submits an application for renewal of its
GATE authorization, the school district shall submit a program
assessment in accordance with criteria adopted by the state board.
(2) Each participating governing board shall maintain auditable
records.
(3) Each applicant school district shall designate, in its
application to the state board, a person with responsibility for the
development, identification procedure, and implementation of the
local program for gifted and talented pupils, fiscal management, and
the collection of auditable records for the independent evaluation.
(4) Applications for district programs shall be developed by the
department and made available to school districts no later than April
1 of each year. The application shall not be part of the
consolidated application.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), the state board may approve
an application for a period of five years, if following a site
validation of the application by the department, it determines that
the school districts's program for gifted and talented pupils is
exemplary.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), an application shall
not be approved by the state board for a period of more than one
year unless the application describes the processes used by the
applicant school district to identify for eligibility in the program,
pupils of ethnic minorities and pupils of diverse socioeconomic
status.