Senate Bill No. 1308

Introduced by Senator Berryhill

February 21, 2014

An act to amend Section 42283 of the Education Code, relating to school finance.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 1308, as introduced, Berryhill. School finance: necessary small schools.

Existing law, for specified purposes, provides that a necessary small school is an elementary school with an average daily attendance of less than 97, exclusive of pupils attending the 7th and 8th grades of a junior high school, maintained by a school district to which any of certain conditions apply.

This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to that provision.

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

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

SECTION 1.  

Section 42283 of the Education Code is amended
to read:

42283.  

(a) For purposes of Sections 42281 and 42282, a
“necessary small school” is an elementary school with an average
daily attendance of less than 97, begin delete exclusive of end delete begin insert excluding end insert pupils
attending the seventh and eighth grades of a junior high school,
maintained by a school district to which any of the following
conditions apply:

(1) If as many as five pupils residing in the school district and
attending kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, begin delete exclusive of end delete
begin insert excluding end insert pupils attending the seventh and eighth grades of a junior
high school begin insert , end insert in the elementary school with an average daily
attendance of less than 97 would be required to travel more than
10 miles one way from a point on a well-traveled road nearest their
home to the nearest other public elementary school.

(2) If as many as 15 pupils residing in the school district and
attending kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, begin delete exclusive of end delete
begin insert excluding end insert pupils attending the seventh and eighth grades of a junior
high school begin insert , end insert in the elementary school with an average daily
attendance of less than 97 would be required to travel more than
five miles one way from a point on a well-traveled road nearest
their home to the nearest other public elementary school.

(3) If topographical or other conditions exist in a school district
begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert would impose unusual hardships if the number of miles
specified in paragraph (1) or (2) were required to be traveled, or
if during the fiscal year the roads begin delete which end delete begin insert that end insert would be traveled
have been impassable for more than an average of two weeks per
year for the preceding five years, the governing board of the school
district may, on or before April 1, request the Superintendent, in
writing, for an exemption from these requirements or for a
reduction in the miles required. The request shall be accompanied
by a statement of the conditions upon which the request is based,
giving the information in a form required by the Superintendent.
The Superintendent shall cause an investigation to be made, and
shall either grant the request to the extent he or she deems
necessary, or deny the request.

(b) For purposes of this section, “other public elementary
school” is a public school, including a charter school, that serves
kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, begin delete exclusive of end delete
begin insert excluding end insert grades 7 and 8 of a junior high school.