Amended in Assembly March 10, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1540

Introduced by Assembly Member Hagman

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Brown, Nestande, Olsen, and Waldron)

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(Coauthors: Senators Fuller, Padilla, and Vidak)

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January 23, 2014

An act to amend Section 48800 of, and to add Section begin delete 48803 end delete begin insert 48804 end insert to, the Education Code, relating to public schools.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1540, as amended, Hagman. Concurrent enrollment in secondary school and community college.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to allow pupils whom the district has determined would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to attend community college as special part-time or full-time students, subject to parental permission.

This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to authorize a pupil, begin delete upon end delete begin insert at end insert the recommendation begin delete from end delete begin insert of end insert a community college dean of a computer science department or other appropriate community college career computer science administrator, and with parental consent, to attend a community college during any session or term and to undertake one or more courses of computer science offered at the community college.

Existing law makes the authority of a school principal to recommend a pupil for community college summer session contingent upon a determination that the pupil meets various criteria and prohibits the principal from recommending more than 5% of the total number of pupils from any particular grade level who completed that grade immediately prior to the time of recommendation for summer session attendance, except as specified.

This bill would add specified computer science courses to the list of courses exempted from this 5% limitation.

This bill would also authorize the governing board of a community college district to enter into a formal partnership with a school district or school districts located within its immediate service area to allow secondary school pupils to undertake one or more courses of computer science at a community college if those pupils have exhausted all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent computer science course at the high school of attendance.

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 48800 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

48800.  

(a) The governing board of a school district may
determine which pupils would benefit from advanced scholastic
or vocational work. The intent of this section is to provide
educational enrichment opportunities for a limited number of
eligible pupils, rather than to reduce current course requirements
of elementary and secondary schools, and also to help ensure a
smoother transition from high school to college for pupils by
providing them with greater exposure to the collegiate atmosphere.
The governing board of a school district may authorize those
pupils, upon recommendation of the principal of the pupil’s school
of attendance, and with parental consent, to attend a community
college during any session or term as special part-time or full-time
students and to undertake one or more courses of instruction offered
at the community college level.

(b) If the governing board of a school district denies a request
for a special part-time or full-time enrollment at a community
college for any session or term for a pupil who is identified as
highly gifted, the governing board of the school district shall issue
its written recommendation and the reasons for the denial within
60 days. The written recommendation and denial shall be issued
at the next regularly scheduled board meeting that falls at least 30
days after the request has been submitted.

(c) The governing board of a school district may authorize a
pupil, begin delete upon end delete begin insert at end insert the recommendation begin delete from end delete begin insert of end insert a community college
dean of a computer science department or other appropriate
community college computer science administrator, and with
parental consent, to attend a community college during any session
or term as a special part-time or full-time student and to undertake
one or more courses of computer science offered at the community
college.

(d) A pupil shall receive community college credit for
community college courses that he or she completes at the level
determined appropriate by the governing boards of the school
district and community college district.

(e) (1) The principal of a school may recommend a pupil for
community college summer session only if that pupil meets both
of the following criteria:

(A) Demonstrates adequate preparation in the discipline to be
studied.

(B) Exhausts all opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course,
if any, at his or her school of attendance.

(2) For any particular grade level, a principal shall not
recommend for community college summer session attendance
more than 5 percent of the total number of pupils who completed
that grade immediately before the time of recommendation.

(3) A high school pupil recommended by his or her principal
for enrollment in a course shall not be included in the 5-percent
limitation of pupils allowed to be recommended pursuant to
paragraph (2) if the course in which the pupil is enrolled meets
one of the criterion listed in subparagraphs (A) to (D), inclusive,
and the high school principal who recommends the pupil for
enrollment provides the Chancellor of the California Community
Colleges, upon the request of that office, with the data required
for purposes of paragraph (4).

(A) The course is a lower division, college-level course for
credit that is designated as part of the Intersegmental General
Education Transfer Curriculum or applies toward the general
education breadth requirements of the California State University.

(B) The course is a college-level, occupational course for credit
assigned a priority code of “A,” “B,” or “C,” pursuant to the
Student Accountability Model, as defined by the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges and reported in the management
information system, and the course is part of a sequence of
vocational or career technical education courses leading to a degree
or certificate in the subject area covered by the sequence.

(C) The course is a college-level computer science course for
credit as determined by the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges, and the course is part of a sequence of
computer science courses leading to a degree in the subject matter
covered by the sequence.

(D) The course is necessary to assist a pupil who has not passed
the California High School Exit Examination (CAHSEE), does
not offer college credit in English language arts or mathematics,
and the pupil meets both of the following requirements:

(i) The pupil is in his or her senior year of high school.

(ii) The pupil has completed all other graduation requirements
before the end of his or her senior year, or will complete all
remaining graduation requirements during a community college
summer session, which he or she is recommended to enroll in,
following his or her senior year of high school.

(4) On or before March 1 of each year, the Chancellor of the
California Community Colleges shall report to the Department of
Finance the number of pupils recommended pursuant to paragraph
(3) who enroll in community college summer session courses and
who receive a passing grade. The information in this report may
be submitted with the report required by subdivision (c) of Section
76002.

(5) The Board of Governors of the California Community
Colleges shall not include enrollment growth attributable to
paragraph (3) as part of its annual budget request for the California
Community Colleges.

(6) Notwithstanding Article 3 (commencing with Section 33050)
of Chapter 1 of Part 20 of Division 2 of Title 2, compliance with
this subdivision shall not be waived.

(f) Paragraphs (3), (4), and (5) of subdivision (e) shall become
inoperative on January 1, 2017.

SEC. 2.  

Section 48804 is added to the Education Code, to read:

48804.  

(a) (1) The governing board of a community college
district may enter into a formal partnership with a school district
or school districts located within its immediate service area begin delete in
order end delete to provide secondary school pupils who have exhausted all
opportunities to enroll in an equivalent course at the high school
of attendance with the opportunity to benefit from one or more
computer science courses offered at a community college. A
secondary school pupil in a district subject to a formal partnership,
upon notification of the principal of the pupil’s school of attendance
that the pupil has exhausted all opportunities to enroll in an
equivalent course at the high school of attendance, and with
parental consent if the pupil is under 18 years of age, may attend
a community college during any session or term as a special
part-time or full-time student.

(2) (A) The partnership agreement shall outline the terms of
the partnership and may include, but is not necessarily limited to,
the scope, nature, and schedule of courses offered, the academic
readiness of pupils that is necessary for them to benefit from the
courses offered, and the ability of pupils to benefit from those
courses. The partnership agreement may establish protocols for
information sharing and joint facilities use.

(B) A copy of the partnership agreement shall be filed with the
department and with the Office of the Chancellor of the California
Community Colleges before the start of a program authorized by
this section.

(3) A pupil shall receive community college and high school
credit for community college courses that he or she completes at
the level determined to be appropriate by the governing boards of
the school district and the community college district pursuant to
the partnership agreement as described in paragraph (2).

(b) (1) A community college district shall not receive a state
allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which
a school district has been, or shall be, paid an allowance or
apportionment.

(2) The attendance of a pupil at a community college as a special
part-time or full-time student pursuant to this section is authorized
attendance for which the community college shall be credited or
reimbursed pursuant to Section 48802 or 76002, provided that no
school district has received reimbursement for the same
instructional activity. Credit for courses completed shall be at the
level determined to be appropriate by the governing boards of the
school district and the community college district pursuant to the
partnership agreement as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a).

(c) For purposes of this section, a special part-time student may
enroll in begin delete up to, and including, end delete begin insert not more than end insert 11 units per semester,
or the equivalent thereof, at the community college he or she
attends.

(d) Community college districts and school districts that enter
into a partnership pursuant to this section shall be exempt from
concurrent enrollment provisions pursuant to subdivisions (a) and
(b) of, and paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) of subdivision (e) of, Section
48800, if the governing board of the community college district
determines that enrollment of secondary school pupils will not
significantly displace regularly admitted students.