BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1279
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Joan Buchanan, Chair
AB 1279 (Conway) - As Amended: March 21, 2013
SUBJECT : Open Enrollment Act: expansion to all school
districts of residence
SUMMARY : Expands the Open Enrollment Act. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Provides that any pupil enrolled in any school in any district
of residence (the district in which the pupil resides) may
submit an application to attend a school in a school district
of enrollment (a district other than the district in which the
pupil resides but in which the pupil is enrolled).
2)Requires school districts of residence to provide the parents
and guardians of all pupils enrolled in the district with
notice of the option to transfer to another school within the
district of residence or another school district.
3)Adds pupils transferring from a school that is ranked in
decile 2 on the Academic Performance Index (API) as a third
priority for approval of transfers.
4)Deletes the requirement that only pupils who are enrolled in
one of 1,000 low performing schools identified by the
Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) may apply for a
transfer under the Act.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes the Open Enrollment Act, which:
a) Requires the SPI to annually create a list of 1,000 low
performing schools based on API;
b) Provides that no local education agency shall have more
than 10% of its schools on the list;
c) Exempts court, community or community day schools and
charter schools from the list; and
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d) Authorizes the parent or guardian of a pupil enrolled in
a low performing school on the SPI's list to apply to
transfer to another school within the district or to
another district.
2)Makes the following provisions in addition to the Open
Enrollment Act:
a) Establishes school districts of choice, which authorizes
school districts to accept interdistrict transfers, subject
to specified restrictions;
b) Requires school districts to establish and adopt rules
and regulations to allow open enrollment within the
district for residents of the district;
c) Permits two or more school districts to enter into an
agreement for the interdistrict transfer of pupils who are
residents of the districts; and
d) Permits a pupil to be enrolled in a district other than
the district of residence if at least one parent or
guardian is physically employed within the boundaries of
the district at least 10 hours per school week.
FISCAL EFFECT : State-mandated local program
COMMENTS : Existing law establishes several opportunities for
pupils to attend school in a district other than their district
of residence, including the Open Enrollment Act and districts of
choice. Both of these programs have restrictions to ensure a
fair interdistrict transfer process and to protect districts
from potentially harmful consequences. Restrictions that are
common to both programs include:
1)The district of enrollment must ensure that pupils admitted
are selected through a random, unbiased process that prohibits
an evaluation of whether or not the pupil should be enrolled
based upon his or her academic or athletic performance, except
districts that accept transfers pursuant to the Open
Enrollment Act shall assign first priority to the siblings of
pupils who already attend the desired school and second
priority to pupils transferring from a program improvement
school ranked in decile 1 on the API.
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2)A transfer may be prohibited if it would negatively affect the
court-ordered or voluntary desegregation plan or the racial
and ethnic balance of either district.
3)Communications to the parents or guardians from the potential
district of enrollment must be factually accurate and not
target individual parents or guardians or residential
neighborhoods on the basis of a child's actual or perceived
academic or athletic performance or any other personal
characteristics.
Under the Open Enrollment Act, the school district of enrollment
must ensure that transferred pupils are enrolled in a school
with a higher API than the school in which the pupil was
previously enrolled.
The district of choice program prohibits a participating
district from prohibiting a transfer based upon a determination
that the additional cost of educating that pupil would exceed
the amount of additional state aid received as a result of the
transfer. In addition, existing law limits the number of
outbound transfers pursuant to the district of choice program to
no more than 1% of ADA in any year for a district with more than
50,000 ADA and no more than 3% in any year and no more than a
total of 10% for a district with less than 50,000 ADA. The
district of choice program also permits a district of residence
to limit outbound transfers if its budget has a negative
certification or if the county superintendent of schools
determines that transfers would prevent the district from
meeting the standards and criteria for fiscal stability for the
subsequent fiscal year.
This bill repeals the requirement that only pupils enrolled in a
school that is on the SPI's list of 1,000 low achieving schools
may apply for a transfer under the Open Enrollment Act, thereby
expanding the program beyond its original purpose of providing
transfer opportunities for pupils in low achieving schools. The
bill also adds enrollment in a school ranked in decile 2 on the
API as a third priority for acceptance by the district of
enrollment.
Existing law requires parents and guardians of only the pupils
in the designated 1,000 low performing schools to be notified of
the right to transfer. This bill extends the notification
requirement to all parents and guardians in all schools, thereby
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creating a state-mandated local program, according to the
Legislative Counsel.
An evaluation report is pending . Existing law requires the SPI
to contract for an independent evaluation of the Open Enrollment
Act. The evaluation shall, at a minimum, consider all of the
following:
1)The levels of, and changes in, academic achievement of pupils
in school districts of residence and school districts of
enrollment for pupils who do and do not elect to enroll in a
school district of enrollment.
2)Fiscal and programmatic effects on school districts of
residence and school districts of enrollment.
3)Numbers and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of
pupils who do and do not elect to enroll in a school district
of enrollment.
The evaluation report is due to the Legislature by October 1,
2014. The Committee may wish to consider whether it is
appropriate to expand the program prior to its evaluation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None received
Opposition
California School Boards Association
Small School Districts' Association
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087