AB 523: School enrollment: City of La Palma: high school districts.
- Session Year: 2015-2016
- House: Assembly
- Latest Version Date: 2015-03-26
Existing law requires each person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not otherwise exempted to attend the public full-time day school or continuation school or classes 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 adopt a resolution to become a school district of choice, as defined, and accept interdistrict pupil transfers.
This bill would require a high school district that serves the City of La Palma in the County of Orange, upon the request of a parent or guardian who resides within the city limits, to enroll the child of the parent or guardian in a school located in that city without regard to the attendance boundaries of the high school district. The high school district from which a pupil transfers pursuant to the bill would be required to send all school records of the pupil to the new school in accordance with state law. By requiring the high school districts that serve the City of La Palma in the County of Orange to enroll pupils they were not previously required to enroll and performing other duties with regard to those pupils, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the high school districts that serve the City of La Palma in the County of Orange.
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.
Existing law, the Open Enrollment Act, authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school, as defined, to submit an application for the pupils transfer to another public school served by the school district of residence or another school district.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Existing law, the Open Enrollment Act, authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school, as defined, to submit an application for the pupils transfer to another public school served by the school district of residence or another school district.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to these provisions.
Notwithstanding any other law, a high school district that serves the City of La Palma in the County of Orange, upon the request of a parent or guardian who resides within the city limits, shall enroll the child of the parent or guardian in a school located in the City of La Palma without regard to the attendance boundaries of the high school district. The high school district from which the pupil transfers shall send all school records of the pupil to the new school in accordance with state law. A pupil attending a school in the City of La Palma pursuant to this section has the same right to continue to attend the school as any other pupil who otherwise satisfies the residency requirements of the high school district.
SEC. 2.The Legislature finds and declares that a special law is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California Constitution because of the number of school districts that serve the residents of the City of La Palma in the County of Orange and the antiquated school district boundaries within the city.
SEC. 3.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.
SECTION 1.Section 48354 of the Education Code is amended to read:48354.(a)The parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school may submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article.
(b)(1)Consistent with the requirements of Section 1116(b)(1)(E) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), on or before the first day of the school year, or, if later, on the date the notice of program improvement, corrective action, or restructuring status is required to be provided under federal law, the district of residence shall provide the parents and guardians of all pupils enrolled in a school determined in subdivision (a) of Section 48352 with notice of the option to transfer to another public school served by the school district of residence or another school district.
(2)An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the school district of enrollment before January 1 of the school year preceding the school year for which the pupil is requesting to transfer. The school district of enrollment may waive the deadline specified in this paragraph.
(3)The application deadline specified in paragraph (2) does not apply to an application requesting a transfer if the parent, with whom the pupil resides, is enlisted in the military and was relocated by the military within 90 days before submitting the application.
(4)The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program within the school district of enrollment.
(5)A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district of enrollment in the school year immediately following the approval of his or her application.
(6)In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for pupils residing in the school district, a school district of enrollment shall establish a period of time for resident pupil enrollment before accepting transfer applications pursuant to this article.
(a)The parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school may submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article.
(b)(1)Consistent with the requirements of Section 1116(b)(1)(E) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), on or before the first day of the school year, or, if later, on the date the notice of program improvement, corrective action, or restructuring status is required to be provided under federal law law, the district of residence shall provide the parents and guardians of all pupils enrolled in a school determined in subdivision (a) of Section 48352 with notice of the option to transfer to another public school served by the school district of residence or another school district.
(2)An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the school district of enrollment prior to before January 1 of the school year preceding the school year for which the pupil is requesting to transfer. The school district of enrollment may waive the deadline specified in this paragraph.
(3)The application deadline specified in paragraph (2) does not apply to an application requesting a transfer if the parent, with whom the pupil resides, is enlisted in the military and was relocated by the military within 90 days prior to before submitting the application.
(4)The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program within the school district of enrollment.
(5)A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district of enrollment in the school year immediately following the approval of his or her application.
(6)In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for pupils residing in the school district, a school district of enrollment shall establish a period of time for resident pupil enrollment prior to before accepting transfer applications pursuant to this article.
|
Date
|
Status
|
|---|---|
| Feb 23, 2015 | Read first time. To print. |
| Feb 24, 2015 | From printer. May be heard in committee March 26. |
| Mar 26, 2015 | From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on ED. Read second time and amended. |
| Mar 26, 2015 | Referred to Com. on ED. |
| Apr 6, 2015 | Re-referred to Com. on ED. |
| Apr 8, 2015 | In committee: Set, first hearing. Failed passage. |
| Apr 29, 2015 | In committee: Reconsideration granted. |
| Jan 31, 2016 | Died pursuant to Article IV, Sec. 10(c) of the Constitution. |
| Feb 1, 2016 | From committee: Filed with the Chief Clerk pursuant to Joint Rule 56. |
|
Date
|
Description
|
Location
|
Votes
|
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 29, 2015 | Reconsideration. | Assembly Standing Committee on Education |
Passed |
|
| Apr 8, 2015 | Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] | Assembly Standing Committee on Education |
Failed |
This list shows positions taken on this bill by organizations on the date displayed, which is linked to the original source.
Positions by individuals are not included.
|
Organization
|
Position
|
Date
|
|---|---|---|
| City of La Palma | * Support | Apr 8, 2015 |
| Compton Unified School District | * Indeterminate | Apr 8, 2015 |
| Fullerton Joint Union High School District Board of Trustees | * Against | Apr 8, 2015 |
AB 523
Page 3
Date of Hearing: April 8, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
AB 523
Kim – As Amended March 26, 2015
SUBJECT: Open Enrollment Act: option to transfer to another school
SUMMARY: Requires a high school district with a high school campus within the city limits of La Palma to accept students who reside within the city limits without regard to the attendance boundaries. Specifically, this bill:
Requires, notwithstanding any other law, a high school district that serves the City of La Palma in the County of Orange, upon the request of a parent or guardian who resides within the city limits to enroll the child of the parent of guardian in a school located in the City of La Palma without regard to the attendance boundaries of the high school district.
Requires the high school district from which the pupil transfers to send all school records of the pupil to the new school in accordance with state law.
Specifies that a pupil attending a school in the City of La Palma has the same right to continue to attend the school as any other pupil who otherwise satisfies the residency requirements of the high school district.
EXISTING LAW:
Authorizes the governing boards of two or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed five school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils. The agreement may also provide for the admission and enrollment of a pupil in a district other than that pupil's district of residence (DOR) if the district of enrollment is a party to the agreement, and requires that the district of enrollment maintain schools and classes in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12. (Education Code 46600)
Authorizes a school board to declare the district to be a District of Choice (DOC) that is willing to accept a specified number of students from outside of the DOC, as determined by the DOC. A DOC is not required to admit pupils but is required to select those pupils that it does elect to admit through a random process that does not choose pupils based upon academic or athletic talent. (Education Code 48300)
Establishes the Open Enrollment Program, which authorizes a pupil enrolled in the 1000 lowest achieving schools, as defined, to attend any higher achieving school in the state. (Education Code 48350 – 48361)
Provides that a school district may deem a pupil to have complied with the residency requirements for school attendance in the district if at least one parent or the legal guardian of the pupil is physically employed within the boundaries of that district. (Education Code 48204)
EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:
Provides that when a Title I school fails to meet adequate yearly progress (AYP) goals for two or more consecutive years, parents of children in that school have the choice to transfer their children to schools which are (1) not identified for Program Improvement (PI) and (2) not identified by the state as persistently dangerous schools. (No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB))
Provides that if all public schools served by the district are identified for PI, the district should try to establish a cooperative agreement with other districts in order to provide school choice. (NCLB)
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS: This bill authorizes high school students who reside within the City of La Palma to attend a high school outside their attendance boundary, but within the city limits. Two high school districts split La Palma. John F. Kennedy High School is located in the southern part of La Palma, within the Anaheim Union High School District. Students in La Palma who reside south of Houston Avenue attend Kennedy High School. Students who reside north of Houston Avenue attend Buena Park High School which is four miles away in the Fullerton Joint Union High School District (FJUHSD). This bill would authorize students who live north of Houston Ave to attend Kennedy High School.
The
map below shows the outline of the city of La Palma, and the darker
shaded area illustrates how the city is divided by two high school
districts. The light colored square in the southeast corner of the
city limits is the John F. Kennedy High School campus. The light
colored square in the north east corner of the larger map is the
campus of Buena Park High School District.
Interdistrict Transfer Requests: Existing law allows students to request an interdistrict transfer from their home district to attend a school in another district. According to FJUHSD in 2014-15, they received 11 interdistrict applications to transfer from Buena Park High School to John F. Kennedy High School, with seven approved and four denied. In 2013-14, they received 15 interdistrict applications, with 12 approved and three denied. In 2012-13, they received 22 interdistrict applications, with 21 approved and one denied. FJUHSD has a district policy that interdistrict transfers can be approved if the student wishes to attend a specialized program that the district does not offer, or if the parents work in another district and the student wishes to attend school in that area. The above approvals and denials are based on these criteria. In the last 12 years, none of the interdistrict transfer requests have been appealed to Orange County Office of Education (OCDE).
With this data in mind, the committee should consider whether a problem has been demonstrated that necessitates a change in state statute specifically for La Palma high school students to attend Kennedy High School.
School Performance: John F. Kennedy High School's 2012 API was 860, placing the school in decile 9. Buena Park High School's 2012 API was 763, placing the school is decile 6. The committee may wish to consider whether school performance is a factor with regard to these interdistrict transfer requests.
Local Control: Existing authority to change school district boundaries and to unify school districts rests at the local level. It is the duty of local school districts and county committees on school district reorganization to work together to create solutions for these types of issues. This bill would create a new precedent for the Legislature to intervene in a local school district boundary issue.
Arguments in Support: The City of La Palma supports the bill and states, "A recent survey of La Palma residents located within the boundaries of the high school district without a school in La Palma, indicated that over 98% favored legislation to allow for this choice and over 99%, if given the choice, would choose the school within La Palma. The legislation would not change any school district boundaries, just allow a choice to remain in the community and at their nearest high school. This is not a reflection on one district as better than another; simply that students want to remain in the community."
Previous Legislation: SB 1445 (Harman) from 2008, which failed passage in the Senate Education Committee, was substantially similar to this bill.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
City of La Palma
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by: Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087
