California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1866

Introduced by Assembly Member Bocanegra

February 19, 2014

An act to amend Section 60901 of the Education Code, relating to pupil attendance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1866, as introduced, Bocanegra. Pupil attendance: California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, contingent upon the receipt of federal funds, to prepare the system to include data on pupil attendance, as specified. Existing law requires the system to support local educational agencies in their efforts to identify and support pupils at risk of dropping out and be capable of issuing periodic reports to local educational agencies that include district, school, class, and individual pupil reports on the rates of absence and chronic absentees, as defined.

This bill would, among other things, instead require the State Department of Education to enhance the system, as provided. The bill would require the periodic reports to local educational agencies to also include reports on the rates of absence, rates of chronic absenteeism and the number of chronic absentees, rates of truancy and the number of truants, rates of habitual truancy and the number of habitual truants, and rates of chronic truancy and the number of chronic truants. The bill would revise the definition of “chronic absentee” and establish a definition for “rates of absence”. The bill would delete the federal funding requirement on these provisions.

(2) Existing law, once the system is prepared to accept data on a quarterly rate of pupil attendance, authorizes a local educational agency to submit data to the State Department of Education on a quarterly rate of pupil attendance, and other indicators as identified by the department.

This bill would, once the system is enhanced to accept data on pupil attendance, require a local educational agency to submit specified data, and other indicators identified by the department, to the department at least 4 times per school year on dates to be determined by the department. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(3) This bill would also make conforming and nonsubstantive changes.

(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions.

(5) This bill would become operative only if legislation is enacted in the 2013-14 Regular Session that establishes an annual report on elementary school truancy and chronic absenteeism, that takes effect on or before January 1, 2015.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.  

Section 60901 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

60901.  

(a)  begin delete Contingent upon the receipt of federal funds for
this purpose, the end delete begin insert The end insert begin insert end insert department, in consultation with the
Department of Finance and the Legislative Analyst’s Office, shall
begin delete prepare end delete begin insert enhance end insert the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement
Data System established pursuant to Section 60900 to include data
on a quarterly rate of pupil attendance. begin delete Preparation end delete begin insert The
enhancement end insert shall include all of the following:

(1) The addition of fields to facilitate the transfer of data.

(2) System development activities including any business rules
and definitions that would be needed to improve the quality and
consistency of the data.

(3) Processes for the transfer of data from local educational
agencies.

(4) Consultation with organizations representing school, begin insert school end insert
district, and county begin insert office of end insert education administrators, classified
and certified staff, and parents in order to develop the criteria and
frequency of reports on pupil attendance data and other indicators
as may be submitted by local educational agencies.

(b) The system shall support local educational agencies in their
efforts to identify and support pupils at risk of dropping out and
shall be capable of issuing to local educational agencies periodic
reports that include, but may not be limited to, district, school,
class, and individual pupil reports begin delete on both of the following: end delete begin insert for
pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, regarding: end insert

(1) Rates of absence.

(2)  begin delete Chronic end delete begin insert Rates of chronic absenteeism and the number end insert begin insert of
chronic end insert absentees.

begin insert

(3) Rates of truancy and the number of truants, as defined in
Section 48260.

end insert begin insert

(4) Rates of habitual truancy and the number of habitual truants,
as defined in Section 48262.

end insert begin insert

(5) Rates of chronic truancy and the number of chronic truants,
as defined in Section 48263.6.

end insert

(c) (1) For purposes of this begin delete section, end delete begin insert section and subdivision (d)
of Section 52060, end insert “chronic absentee” begin delete means end delete begin insert refers to end insert a pupil who
is begin delete absent on 10 percent or more of the schooldays in the school
year when the total number of days a pupil is absent is divided by
the total number of days the pupil is enrolled and school was
actually taught in the regular day schools of the district, exclusive
of Saturdays and Sundays. end delete begin insert subject to compulsory full-time
education or compulsory continuation education and who is absent
for 10 percent or more of the school days in a school year, as
measured from the date of enrollment to the date that the data is
submitted to the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data
System. end insert

begin insert

(2) For purposes of this section, “rates of absence” means the
following, to be calculated as of the date that a local educational
agency submits the reports required pursuant to subdivision (e),
with respect to each individualized pupil record:

end insert begin insert

(A) The number of school days enrolled.

end insert begin insert

(B) The number of school days on which the pupil had an
unexcused absence of more than 30 minutes but less than a full
day.

end insert begin insert

(C) The number of school days on which the pupil had a full
day of unexcused absence.

end insert begin insert

(D) The number of school days on which the pupil had a full
day of excused absence.

end insert begin insert

(E) Whether the pupil has been designated a habitual truant,
as defined in Section 48262.

end insert begin delete

(2)

end delete

begin insert (3) end insert  Once available, begin delete chronic absentee rates end delete begin insert the data listed in
subdivision (b) end insert shall be incorporated into the annual report on
dropouts required pursuant to Section begin delete 48070.6. end delete begin insert 48070.6 and the
annual report on elementary school truancy and chronic
absenteeism required pursuant to Section 48070.7. end insert

(d) It is the intent of the Legislature to support the development
of early warning systems to enable the identification and support
of individual pupils who are at risk of academic failure or dropping
out of school. The systems shall encompass the following
characteristics:

(1) The utilization of highly predictive indicators, including
attendance, course grades or completion, performance on
assessments of pupil achievement, suspensions, and expulsions.

(2) A thorough validation process to ensure the predictive
reliability of the systems.

(3) Periodic reports that inform principals, teachers, and parents
in a manner that enables timely identification and support of
individual pupils who are at risk of academic failure or dropping
out.

(e)  begin delete When end delete begin insert Once end insert the system established pursuant to Section 60900
is begin delete prepared end delete begin insert enhanced end insert to accept data on begin delete a quarterly rate of end delete pupil
attendance, a local educational agency begin delete may end delete begin insert shall end insert submit begin insert the end insert data
begin insert specified in subdivision (b), and other indicators as identified by
the department, end insert to the department begin delete on a quarterly rate of pupil
attendance and other indicators as identified by the department. end delete begin insert at
least four times per school year, on dates to be determined by the
department. end insert It is the intent of the Legislature that schools identified
on the list of persistently lowest-achieving schools will fully utilize
the early warning systems described in subdivision (d).

(f) A local educational agency that reports attendance data for
pupils to the system established pursuant to Section 60900 may
request, and the department shall provide, the early warning report
described in subdivision (d) up to four times each school year.

begin delete

(g) The department shall notify local educational agencies that
reporting pupil attendance and chronic absentee data pursuant to
this section is voluntary. The notice shall include a description of
the benefits of reporting pupil attendance and chronic absentee
data in fostering the development of effective supports and
interventions for at-risk pupils.

end delete begin delete

(h) This section shall not be implemented unless federal funds
are appropriated specifically for the purposes of this section.

end delete

SEC. 2.  

If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.

SEC. 3.  

This act shall become operative only if legislation is
enacted in the 2013-14 Regular Session that establishes an annual
report on elementary school truancy and chronic absenteeism that
takes effect on or before January 1, 2015.