California Senate Bill SB680 Amended / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: SB 680AMENDED BILL TEXT AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 24, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Senators Romero and Huff  (   Coauthors:   Assembly Members   Hagman   and Huffman   )  FEBRUARY 27, 2009 An act to amend Sections 48301,  48303,  48306, 48307, 48310  and 48313 of,   , 48313, and 48315 of, to add Section 48316 to,  and to repeal  Sections 48314.5 and 48315   Section 48314.5  of, the Education Code, relating to school attendance, and declaring the urgency thereof, to take effect immediately. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 680, as amended, Romero. School attendance: interdistrict transfers. (1) Existing law requires each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years, who is not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time day school in the school district in which his or her parent or guardian is a resident. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to accept interdistrict transfers by adopting a resolution to become a school district of choice, as defined.  Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district that elects to accept transfers   to ensure, by resolution,   that pupils accepted for transfer 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.  Existing law requires each school district that elects to become a school district of choice to keep an accounting of all requests made for alternative attendance, as specified, and to report this information to the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Existing law requires the Superintendent to annually make this information available to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public on or before April 1. Existing law prohibits a school district that has not elected to become a school district of choice prior to August 24, 2007, from becoming a school district of choice. Existing law makes the provisions governing interdistrict transfers inoperative on July 1, 2009, and repeals  these provisions   them  on January 1, 2010. This bill would  delete the prohibition on becoming a school district of choice. The bill also would delete the   extend those  inoperative and repeal dates  of these provisions, thereby extending their operation indefinitely. This   to July 1, 2016, and January 1, 2017, respectively. The bill would require any communication made by a participating school district to parents or guardians to be factually accurate and not target individual parents or g   uardians or residential neighborhoods on the basis of specified personal characteristics of pupils. The bill would require a school district of choice, at its expense, to ensure that the auditor who conducts the annual financial audit of the district, as specified, reviews compliance with the requirements for a random, unbiased selection process and appropriate communications at the same time that he or she is conducting the annual audit, and would require the district to notify the   auditor regarding this compliance review prior to the commencement of the annual audit. The  bill would  also  delete the requirement that the Superintendent annually make the information provided by school districts available to the Governor, the Legislature, and the public on or before April 1. This bill would require local school districts  who   that  have adopted a resolution, or elect to become a school district of choice, to publicly report information regarding requests made for interdistrict transfers to adjacent school districts and the county office of education in which the district is located.  The bill would also require any communication made by a participating school district to parents or guardians to be factually accurate and not target individual pupils as specified.  The bill would make other technical and clarifying changes.  The bill would declare the intent of the Legislature to request that the Legislative Analyst conduct, after consulting with appropriate legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the interdistrict transfer program, and that the evaluation be completed and submitted to the appropriate education policy committees of the Legislature and the Governor by November 1, 2014.  (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute. Vote: 2/3. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 48301 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48301. (a) The governing board of any school district may accept interdistrict transfers. A school district that receives an application for attendance under this article is not required to admit pupils to its schools. If, however, the governing board elects to accept transfers as authorized under this article, it may, by resolution, elect to accept transfer pupils, determine and adopt the number of transfers it is willing to accept under this article, and ensure that pupils admitted under the policy 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. Any pupil accepted for transfer shall be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of Section 48204. If the number of transfer applications exceeds the number of transfers the governing board elects to accept under this article, approval for transfer pursuant to this article shall be determined by a random drawing held in public. (b) Either the pupil's school district of residence, upon notification of the pupil's acceptance to the school district of choice pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48308, or the school district of choice may prohibit the transfer of a pupil under this article or limit the number of pupils so transferred if the governing board of the district determines that the transfer would negatively impact any of the following: (1) The court-ordered desegregation plan of the district. (2) The voluntary desegregation plan of the district. (3) The racial and ethnic balance of the district. (c) The school district of residence may not adopt policies that in any way block or discourage pupils from applying for transfer to another district. (d) Communications to parents or guardians by districts electing to enroll pupils under the choice options provided by this article shall be factually accurate and not target individual parents or guardians  on the basis of their   or residential neighborhoods on the basis of a  child's actual or perceived academic or athletic performance  or any other personal characteristic  .  (e) A school district of choice, at its expense, shall ensure that the auditor who conducts the annual audit pursuant to Section 41020, at the same time that he or she is conducting that annual audit, reviews compliance with the provisions in this section regarding a random, unbiased selection process and appropriate communications. The compliance review specified in this subdivision is not subject to the requirements in subdivision (d) of Section 41020. The school district of choice shall notify the auditor regarding this compliance review specified in this subdivision prior to the commencement of the annual audit. The governing board of the school district of choice shall include a summary of audit exceptions, if any, resulting from the compliance review conducted pursuant to this subdivision in the report it provides pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 48313.   SEC. 2.   Section 48303 of the   Education Code   is amended to read:  48303. (a) The school district of choice may not prohibit a transfer of a pupil under this article based upon a determination by the governing board of that school district that the additional cost of educating the pupil would exceed the amount of additional state aid received as a result of the transfer.  However, a   A  school district may reject the transfer of a pupil if the transfer of that pupil would require the district to create a new program to serve that pupil  , except that a school district of choice shall not reject the transfer of a special needs pupil,   including an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, and an English learner  . (b) This section is intended to ensure that special education, bilingual,  English learner,  or other special needs pupils are not discriminated against by the school district of choice because of the costs associated with educating those pupils. Pupils with special needs may take full advantage of the choice options available under this section.  SEC. 2.   SEC. 3.  Section 48306 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48306. (a) A school district of choice shall give priority for attendance to siblings of children already in attendance in that district. (b) A school district of choice may give priority for attendance to children of military personnel.  SEC. 3.   SEC. 4.  Section 48307 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48307. (a) A school district of residence with an average daily attendance greater than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils transferring out each year to 1 percent of its current year estimated average daily attendance. (b) A school district of residence with an average daily attendance of less than 50,000 may limit the number of pupils transferring out to 3 percent of its current year estimated average daily attendance and may limit the maximum number of pupils transferring out  of the district pursuant to   for the duration of the program authorized by  this article to 10 percent of the average daily attendance  for that period  .  (c) A school district of residence that has a negative status on the most recent budget certification completed by the county superintendent of schools in any fiscal year may limit the number of pupils who transfer out of the district in that fiscal year.   SEC. 4.  SEC. 5.  Section 48310 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48310. (a) The average daily attendance for pupils admitted by a school district of choice pursuant to this article shall be credited to that district pursuant to Section 46607. The attendance report for the school district of choice may include an identification of the school district of residence. (b) Notwithstanding other provisions of law, state aid for categorical education programs for pupils admitted under this article shall be apportioned to the school district of choice. (c) For any school district of choice that is a basic aid district, the apportionment of state funds for any average daily attendance credited pursuant to this section shall be 70 percent of the district revenue limit calculated pursuant to Section 42238 that would have been apportioned to the district of residence. For purposes of this subdivision, the term "basic aid district" means a school district that does not receive from the state, for any fiscal year in which the subdivision is applied, an apportionment of state funds pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 42238. (d) The average daily attendance of pupils admitted by a school district of choice pursuant to this article shall be credited to that school district for the purposes of any determination under Article 2 (commencing with Section 17010) of Chapter 12 of Part 10 that utilizes an average daily attendance calculation.  SEC. 5.   SEC. 6.  Section 48313 of the Education Code is amended to read: 48313. (a) Pursuant to this article, each school district electing to accept transfer pupils shall keep an accounting of all requests made for alternative attendance and records of all disposition of those requests that shall include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (1) The number of requests granted, denied, or withdrawn. In the case of denied requests, the records  may   shall  indicate the reasons for the denials. (2) The number of pupils transferred out of the district pursuant to this article. (3) The number of pupils transferred into the district pursuant to this article.  (4) The race, ethnicity, gender, self-reported socioeconomic status, and the school district of residence of each of the pupils described in paragraphs (2) and (3).   (5) The number of pupils described in paragraphs (2) and (3) who are classified as English learners or identified as individuals with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026.  (b) The information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a) shall be reported to the governing board of the school district at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board. No later than May 15th of each year, the school district shall report the information maintained pursuant to subdivision (a) in addition to information regarding the district's status as a school district of choice in the upcoming school year to each school district that is geographically adjacent to the district electing to accept transfer pupils, the county office of education in which the district is located,  and the Superintendent   the Superintendent, and the Legislative Analyst  .  SEC. 6.   SEC. 7.  Section 48314.5 of the Education Code is repealed.  SEC. 7.   Section 48315 of the Education Code is repealed.   SEC. 8.   Section 48315 of the   Education Code   is amended to read:  48315. This article shall become inoperative on July 1,  2009   2016  , and, as of January 1,  2010   2017  , is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, which becomes effective on or before January 1,  2010   2017  , deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.  SEC. 9.   Section 48316 is added to the   Education Code   , to read:   48316. It is the intent of the Legislature to request that the Legislative Analyst conduct, after consulting with appropriate legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the interdistrict transfer program established pursuant to this article. It is further the intent of the Legislature that the evaluation be completed and submitted to the appropriate education policy committees of the Legislature and the Governor by November 1, 2014.   SEC. 8.   SEC. 10.  This act is an urgency statute necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health, or safety within the meaning of Article IV of the Constitution and shall go into immediate effect. The facts constituting the necessity are: In order to ensure that pupils continue to have the opportunity to apply for interdistrict transfers, it is necessary that this act take effect immediately.