BILL NUMBER: AB 306 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 8, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 26, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 5, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Hadley
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Baker and Burke)
(Coauthor: Senator Allen)
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
An act to add Article 7.5 (commencing with Section 48318)
to Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2
amend Sections 48300 and 48301 of the Education Code, relating
to school districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 306, as amended, Hadley. Public schools: attendance
alternatives: children of military personnel.
Existing law requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age,
not otherwise exempt, to attend the public full-time day school in
the district in which their parent or guardian is a resident.
Existing law provides for attendance alternatives, authorizes the
governing board of any school district to accept interdistrict
transfers, and prescribes procedures for the acceptance and approval
of applications for interdistrict transfers. Existing law further
authorizes a school district of choice, as defined, to give priority
of attendance to children of military personnel.
This bill would authorize a parent of a pupil enrolled in
a school district of residence, as defined, to submit an application
for the pupil to attend a school in another school district if the
parent with whom the pupil resides is on active military duty, as
defined. The bill would require that an application requesting such a
transfer be submitted to the chosen school district before January 1
preceding the school year for which a pupil is requesting the
transfer, except as provided, and would specify that the application
may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program
within the school district. The bill would require a school district
to establish a time period for resident pupil enrollment, in order to
provide priority enrollment opportunities for pupils residing in the
school district, and, after that time period has concluded, if space
is available at a school in the school district, to consider and
approve transfer applications submitted pursuant to those provisions,
in accordance with specified priorities. The bill would require a
school district that receives such an application for a transfer to
allow the pupil to enroll in the school district in the school year
immediately following the approval of his or her application. The
bill would authorize a school district to adopt specific, written
standards for the acceptance of applicants pursuant to those
provisions. By imposing new duties on school districts with regard to
the review and acceptance of requests for alternative school
attendance by children of military personnel, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program. prohibit a school
district of residence from prohibiting the transfer of a pupil who is
a child of an active military duty parent to a school in any school
district, if the school district to which the parents of the pupil
applies approves the application for transfer.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes
no . State-mandated local program: yes
no .
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 48300 of the
Education Code is amended to read:
48300. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Active military duty" means full-time military duty status in
the active uniformed service of the United States, including members
of the National Guard and the State Reserve on active duty orders
pursuant to Sections 1209 and 1211 of the Title 10 of the United
States Code.
(b) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian of a
dependent child.
(a)
( c) "School district of choice" means a
school district for which a resolution is in effect as described in
subdivision (a) of Section 48301.
(b)
( d) "School district of residence" means
the school district that a pupil would be directed by this chapter to
attend, except as otherwise provided by this article.
SEC. 2. 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 of
a school district 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 of a school district
elects to accept under this article, approval for transfer
pursuant to this article shall be determined by a random drawing held
in public at a regularly scheduled meeting of the governing board of
the school district.
(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 school district determines that the transfer
would negatively impact any of the following:
(1) The court-ordered desegregation plan of the school
district.
(2) The voluntary desegregation plan of the school
district.
(3) The racial and ethnic balance of the school
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 school district.
(d) Communications to parents or guardians by school
districts electing to enroll pupils under the choice options provided
by this article shall be factually accurate and not target
individual parents or guardians 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
before 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.
(f) A school district of residence shall not prohibit the transfer
of a pupil who is a child of an active military duty parent to a
school in any school district, if the school district to which the
parent of the pupil applies approves the application for transfer.
SECTION 1. Article 7.5 (commencing with Section
48318) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Education Code, to read:
Article 7.5. Attendance Alternatives for Children of
MilitaryPersonnel
48318. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "Active military duty" means full-time military duty status in
the active uniformed service of the United States, including members
of the National Guard and the State Reserve on active duty orders
pursuant to Sections 1209 and 1211 of Title 10 of the United States
Code.
(b) "Parent" means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian of a
dependent child.
(c) Military family school district of choice" means a school
district for which an application for enrollment has been submitted
by the parent of a pupil requesting enrollment pursuant to Section
48318.1. A military family school district of choice may include a
school district in which the parent of a pupil resides or a school
district other than the school district in which the parent of a
pupil resides.
(d) "School district of residence" means the school district that
a pupil would be directed to attend, pursuant to this chapter, in the
absence of this article.
48318.1. (a) A parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of
residence may submit an application for the pupil to attend a school
in any school district, if the parent with whom the pupil resides is
on active military duty.
(b) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article
shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the military family
school district of choice before January 1 preceding the school year
for which the pupil is requesting the transfer. However, this
deadline does not apply to an application requesting a transfer if
the parent with whom the pupil resides was relocated by the military
within 90 days before submitting the application. The military family
school district of choice may waive the deadline specified in this
subdivision.
(c) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a
specific school or program within the military family school district
of choice.
(d) A pupil may enroll in the military family school district of
choice in the school year immediately following the approval of his
or her application.
(e) In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for
pupils residing in a military family school district of choice, a
school district shall establish a period of time for resident pupil
enrollment before considering transfer applications pursuant to this
article. After the period of time for resident pupil enrollment has
concluded, if space is available at a school in the desired military
family school district of choice, that school district shall accept
and approve a transfer application submitted pursuant to this
article, in accordance with the following priorities:
(1) First priority for transfer shall be given to the siblings of
pupils who already attend the desired school.
(2) After approving the applications for enrollment for siblings
of pupils pursuant to the priority specified in paragraph (1), if the
number of pupils who request a particular school exceeds the number
of spaces at that school, a lottery shall be conducted to select
pupils at random until all of the available spaces are filled.
48318.2. A military family school district of choice may adopt
specific, written standards for acceptance of applicants pursuant to
this article. The standards may include consideration of the capacity
of a program, class, grade level, school facilities, and adverse
financial impacts. However, these standards may not include
consideration of a pupil's previous academic achievement, physical
condition, proficiency in the English language, family income, or any
of the individual characteristics set forth in Section 200.
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.