AB 734: School intervention: parent empowerment: petition appeal.

Session Year: 2015-2016
House: Assembly

Version:

Existing law requires a local educational agency to implement one of several specified interventions for a school not identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school that, after one full school year, is subject to corrective action, as specified, and fails to meet specified criteria and has a specified percentage of parents and legal guardians of pupils sign a petition requesting the local educational agency to implement at least one of 5 specified interventions. Existing law requires a local educational agency to implement the intervention option requested by the petition unless the agency makes a specified finding in a regularly scheduled public hearing.

This bill would apply these petition provisions to schools identified as persistently lowest-achieving schools, and to schools ranked in deciles 1 to 3, inclusive, on the Academic Performance Index. The bill would make nonsubstantive changes by updating cross-references and reorganizing language. By imposing additional duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

If a local educational agency receives a petition and does not implement the option requested in the petition in its final disposition of the petition, this bill would authorize the petitioners to appeal the final disposition to the county board of education. The bill would authorize the county board of education to approve the appeal if it finds that the local educational agency acted in violation of specified requirements or did not act in good faith. If the county board of education approves the appeal, the bill would require the local educational agency to implement the option requested in the petition. To the extent that these provisions impose additional duties on a county board of education or a local educational agency, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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.

Discussed in Hearing