Bill Text: CA AB306 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Public schools: attendance alternatives: children of military personnel.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 771, Statutes of 2015. [AB306 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB306-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 306 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 771
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 24, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 27, 2015
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 amend Sections 48300 and 48301 of the Education Code,
relating to school districts.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 306, 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 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 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.
(c) "School district of choice" means a school district for which
a resolution is in effect as described in subdivision (a) of Section
48301.
(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 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.
