BILL ANALYSIS �
SB 381
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 381 (Pavley)
As Amended June 30, 2011
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :37-0
EDUCATION 10-0
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|Ayes:|Brownley, Norby, Ammiano, | | |
| |Buchanan, Butler, Carter, | | |
| |Eng, | | |
| |Beth Gaines, Morrell, | | |
| |Williams | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Extends, until July 1, 2017, the authorization to
enroll a student in a district where a parent is employed, if a
parent is employed within the boundaries of that school district
for a minimum of 10 hours during the school week. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Extends the authorization for a district to deem a pupil to be
a resident of the district if at least one parent or the legal
guardian of the pupil is physically employed within the
boundaries of the district.
2)Requires a parent or legal guardian of a pupil who is
physically employed within the boundaries of that district to
work within those boundaries for a minimum of 10 hours during
the school week.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes a pupil to attend school in a district where the
pupil's parent physically works, rather than where the pupil
and parent reside, however, the district is not required to
admit the pupil to its schools. Either the sending district
or receiving district may prevent a transfer under this law if
the transfer would exacerbate racial segregation. Once
established on the basis of parental employment, this
authorization allows a parent to maintain a pupil's enrollment
SB 381
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through the 12th grade. This section is scheduled to sunset
on July 1, 2012. (Education Code Section 48204(b))
2)The governing board of each school district shall fix the
length of the schoolday for the grades and classes of the
schools maintained by the district. (Education Code Section
46100)
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the
Legislative Counsel.
COMMENTS : Current law provides several means to authorize a
pupil who resides in one school district to attend public school
in another district. This bill extends the sunset date for
existing law that authorizes a parent to enroll their child in
the district where they are physically employed rather than
where they live. The extension of this enrollment option may
give more opportunity for parent involvement by continuing to
allow a pupil with a parent or legal guardian physically
employed within the district area to attend a school in that
district. This bill also requires a parent or legal guardian of
a pupil that is physically employed within the boundaries of
that district to work for a minimum of 10 hours during the
school week, in order to use this authorization. Existing law
requires that the parent or legal guardian only be physically
employed within the boundaries of the district and does not
specify a time requirement.
According to the author, continuing to provide parents and legal
guardians with the flexibility of enrolling their children in
school near their workplaces, gives them an opportunity to
participate in their children's education. The author supports
this argument with the example that parents and guardians who
must commute long distances to work have the opportunity to
attend school events or parent-teacher meetings and remain
involved in the educational community. This measure simply
extends an option that has been available to working parents.
This option has proven to be invaluable to families and should
be continued.
Arguments in Support: According to the Los Angeles Unified
School District (LAUSD), this bill "would extend the option of
parents to seek an inter-district permit based on their
employment location." LAUSD also states that requiring
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employment to "occur during the majority of the hours that a
pupil is scheduled to be in school?prevents parents who only
work on weekends from seeking a permit based on employment."
Previous legislation: SB 170 (Denham) Chapter 33, Statutes of
2007, extended, until July 1, 2011, the authorization to enroll
a student in a district where a parent is employed.
SB 136 (Denham) which was held at the author's request in the
Assembly Education Committee in 2005, would have required the
parent(s) or legal guardian(s) of a pupil to be employed within
the boundaries of the district and for employment to include a
minimum of 20 hours per week within the boundaries of that
school district.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001523