BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de Le�n, Chair
AB 1806 (Bloom) - Pupil services: Homeless youth
Amended: As Introduced Policy Vote: Education
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: June 23, 2014
Consultant: Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez
This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill Summary: AB 1806 extends policies and procedures for
suspension, expulsion, graduation requirements and completed
coursework to students who are homeless that are currently
provided to students who are in foster care.
Fiscal Impact:
Mandate: Potentially significant costs to expand a
statutory mandate on local educational agencies (LEAs).
Costs would likely be minor for each LEA, but would likely
exceed $100,000 (General Fund) statewide.
Background: The federal McKinney-Vento Act defines "homeless
children and youths" as children and youths who lack a fixed,
regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes children
and youths who, among other situations, are sharing the housing
of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or
camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate
accommodations. (United States Code, Title 42, � 11431 et seq.)
The McKinney-Vento Act further requires each LEA to designate a
staff person as a liaison for homeless children and youth, and
carry out specific duties, such as ensuring immediate
enrollment, access to educational opportunities offered to other
students, and providing notice of the rights of homeless youth.
(42 USC � 11432(g)(1)(j)(ii))
With regard to expulsion, existing law:
1) Authorizes schools to suspend and recommend expulsion for
various acts, and requires schools to immediately suspend
and recommend expulsion for certain acts. (Education Code
AB 1806 (Bloom)
Page 1
� 48900 and � 48915)
2) Entitles students to a hearing to determine whether the
student should be expelled, to be held within 30 schooldays
after the date the principal or superintendent recommended
expulsion. Written notice of the hearing must be sent to
the student at least 10 calendar days prior to the hearing,
and include specific information. (EC � 48918)
3) Requires school districts that use discretion to recommend
expulsion (rather than mandatory recommendation for
expulsion) of a student with exceptional needs who is also
a foster youth to invite the youth's attorney and a
representative of the county child welfare agency to the
individualized education program (IEP) team meeting that
makes a manifestation determination. (EC � 48915.5)
4) If the decision to recommend expulsion is discretionary and
the student is a foster youth, requires school districts to
provide notice of the expulsion hearing to the student's
attorney and representative of the county child welfare
agency at least 10 calendar days before the date of the
hearing. School districts are authorized to provide this
notification if a recommendation for expulsion is required.
(EC � 48918.1)
With regard to graduation requirements, school districts are
required to exempt a student in foster care from district
graduation requirements that exceed state requirements if the
student transfers schools any time after the completion of the
student's second year of high school, unless the district makes
a finding that the student is reasonably able to complete the
additional requirements in time to graduate from high school by
the end of the student's fourth year of high school. (EC �
51225.1)
Existing law also requires school districts to accept coursework
satisfactorily completed by a student in foster care while
attending another public school, a juvenile court school, or a
non-public school or agency even if the student did not complete
the entire course. School districts are required to issue full
or partial credit for the coursework completed. (EC � 51225.2)
Proposed Law: This bill extends policies and procedures for
AB 1806 (Bloom)
Page 2
expulsion, graduation requirements and completed coursework to
students who are homeless that are currently provided to
students who are in foster care.
With regard to expulsion, this bill:
1) Requires school districts to provide notice to the
district's liaison for homeless students at least 10
calendar days prior to a hearing when the decision to expel
a homeless student is discretionary.
2) Authorizes school districts to provide notice to the
district's liaison for homeless students at least 10
calendar days prior to a hearing when the decision to expel
a homeless student is mandatory.
3) Requires school districts to invite the district's liaison
for homeless students to the individualized education
program team meeting that makes a manifestation
determination prior to the expulsion of a student with
exceptional needs and who is homeless.
With regard to graduation requirements, this bill:
1) Requires school districts to exempt homeless students who
transfer schools any time after the completion of the
student's 2nd year of high school from all requirements
adopted by the school district that are in addition to the
statewide requirements, unless the district finds that the
student is reasonably able to complete the additional
coursework in time to graduate by the end of the student's
4th year of high school.
2) Requires school districts to take specified action relative
to the exempting homeless students from additional
graduation requirements that districts currently undertake
with regard to exempting foster youth from additional
graduation requirements, such as:
a) Notify the student, person holding the right to
make educational decisions, and district liaison of
the availability of the exemption and whether the
student qualifies; as specified.
AB 1806 (Bloom)
Page 3
b) Inform the student of the option to remain in
school for a 5th year to complete the additional
coursework and permit the student to stay in school
for a 5th year to complete the additional coursework.
c) Notify the student and the person holding the
right to make educational decisions for the student
how any of the requirements that are waived may affect
the student's ability to gain admission to a
postsecondary educational institution, as specified.
d) Exempt an eligible student at any time, and not
revoke or restrict the exemption, as specified
With regard to completed coursework, this bill:
1) Requires LEAs to accept coursework satisfactorily completed
by a homeless student even if the entire course was not
completed, and requires the issuance of full or partial
credit for the coursework completed.
2) Prohibits LEAs from requiring homeless students to retake a
course if the student has satisfactorily completed the
entire course, and prohibits the student to be required to
retake any portion of the course that the student
satisfactorily completed.
3) Requires a homeless student to be enrolled in the same or
equivalent course when partial credit is awarded, and
prohibits a homeless student from being prevented from
retaking a course to meet eligibility for admission to
postsecondary educational institutions.
Related Legislation: AB 216 (Stone) Ch.495/2012 provided
clarification and expanded implementation requirements for LEAs
relative to exempting certain pupils in foster care from local
graduation requirements and notifying them of their option to
remain in high school for a 5th year to complete the local
requirements, as specified.
Staff Comments: This bill expands the requirements on LEAs
related to local graduation requirements exemptions and
coursework completion rules for pupils who are homeless. While
the graduation exemptions and entitlements for the pupil are
AB 1806 (Bloom)
Page 4
consistent with existing law pertaining to pupils in foster
care, this bill's expansion to homeless pupils will likely to
constitute a new reimbursable mandate on LEAs to develop
implementing procedures and to apply them to a new population.
School districts will incur costs to modify procedures for
determining which pupils are exempt, notifying appropriate
parties, and give required guidance.
This bill also requires new notification and meeting procedures
related to expulsion proceedings. Because certain offenses,
listed in statute, require expulsion, these requirements would
also expand mandated activities.
The extent of this bill's costs will depend upon how the new
mandates are implemented at the local level. Most LEAs will only
have minor costs, and may not seek reimbursement for these
changes; if they do, however, those costs are likely to be
deemed reimbursable by the Commission on State Mandates.