SECTIONS 48300-48316 - California Statutes

EDUCATION CODE

SECTION 48300-48316

48300. For purposes of this article, the following definitions
apply:
(a) "School district of choice" means a school district for which
a resolution is in effect as described in subdivision (a) of Section
48301.
(b) "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.

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 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 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 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.

48302. School districts are encouraged to hold informational
hearings on the current educational program the district is offering
so that parents may provide input to the district on methods to
improve the current program and so that parents may make informed
decisions regarding their children's education.

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. 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.

48304. An application of any pupil for transfer may not be approved
under this article if the transfer would require the displacement,
from a school or program conducted within any attendance area of the
school district of choice, of any other pupil who resides within that
attendance area or is currently enrolled in that school.

48305. School districts of choice may employ existing entrance
criteria for specialized schools or programs if the criteria are
uniformly applied to all applicants.

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.

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 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.
(d) Notwithstanding any prior or existing certification of a
school district of residence pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with
Section 42130) of Chapter 6 of Part 24, only if the county
superintendent of schools determines that the district would not meet
the standards and criteria for fiscal stability specified in Section
42131 for the subsequent fiscal year exclusively due to the impact
of additional pupil transfers pursuant to this article in that year,
the district may limit the number of additional pupils who transfer
in the upcoming school year pursuant to this article up to the number
that the county superintendent identifies beyond which number of
additional transfers would result in a qualified or negative
certification in that year exclusively as a result of additional
transfers pursuant to this article.
(e) If a school district of residence limits the number of pupils
who transfer out of the district pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d),
pupils who have already been enrolled or notified of eligibility for
enrollment, including through the random, public selection process
prior to the action by the district to limit transfers shall be
permitted to attend the school district of choice.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, a pupil
attending a school district of choice or a pupil who received a
notice of eligibility to enroll in a school district of choice,
including a pupil selected by means of a random selection process
conducted on or before June 30, 2009, pursuant to this article, as it
read on June 30, 2009, shall be permitted to attend the school
district of choice.

48308. (a) (1) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to
this article shall be submitted by the parent or guardian of a pupil
to the school district of choice that has elected to accept transfer
pupils pursuant to Section 48301 prior to January 1 of the school
year preceding the school year for which the pupil is requesting to
be transferred. This application deadline may be waived upon
agreement of the school district of residence of the pupil and the
school district of choice.
(2) The application deadline specified in paragraph (1) does not
apply to an application requesting a transfer if the parent or
guardian of the pupil, with whom the pupil resides, is enlisted in
the military and was relocated by the military within 90 days prior
to submitting the application.
(b) The application may be submitted on a form provided for this
purpose by the department and may request enrollment of the pupil in
a specific school or program of the school district.
(c) (1) Not later than 90 days after the receipt by a school
district of an application for transfer, the governing board of the
school district may notify the parent or guardian in writing whether
the application has been provisionally accepted or rejected or of the
placement of the pupil on a waiting list. Final acceptance or
rejection shall be made by May 15 preceding the school year for which
the pupil is requesting to be transferred.
(2) (A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the governing board of a
school district shall, not later than 90 days after receipt of an
application submitted according to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a),
make a final acceptance or rejection of that application. A pupil may
enroll in a school in the school district immediately upon his or
her acceptance.
(B) If an application submitted according to paragraph (2) of
subdivision (a) is submitted less than 90 days prior to the beginning
of the school year for which the pupil seeks to be transferred, the
governing board of the school district shall accept or deny the
application prior to the commencement of the school year. A pupil may
enroll in a school in the school district immediately upon his or
her acceptance.
(3) If the application is accepted, the notice required by this
subdivision may be provided to the school district of residence. If
the application is rejected, the district governing board may set
forth in the written notification to the parent or guardian the
specific reason or reasons for that determination, and may ensure
that the determination, and the specific reason or reasons therefor,
are accurately recorded in the minutes of a regularly scheduled board
meeting in which the determination was made.
(d) Final acceptance of the transfer is applicable for one school
year and will be renewed automatically each year unless the school
district of choice through the adoption of a resolution withdraws
from participation in the program and no longer will accept any
transfer pupils from other districts. However, if a school district
of choice withdraws from participation in the program, high school
pupils admitted under this article may continue until they graduate
from high school.

48309. (a) Any school district of choice that admits any pupil
under this section may accept any completed coursework, attendance,
and other academic progress credited to that pupil by the school
district or districts previously attended by that pupil, and may
grant academic standing to that pupil based upon the district's
evaluation of the academic progress credited to that pupil.
(b) Any school district of choice that admits a pupil under this
section may revoke the pupil's transfer if the pupil is recommended
for expulsion pursuant to Section 48918.

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.

48311. Upon request of the pupil's parent or guardian, each school
district of choice that admits a pupil under this section to any
school or program of the district may provide to the pupil
transportation assistance within the boundaries of the district to
that school or program, to the extent that the district otherwise
provides transportation assistance to pupils.

48312. Each school district may make information regarding its
schools, programs, policies, and procedures available to any
interested person upon request.

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 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, the
Superintendent, and the Department of Finance. The Department of
Finance shall make the information reported to it pursuant to this
subdivision available upon request to the Legislative Analyst.
(c) The Legislative Analyst annually shall make all of the
following information available to the Governor and the appropriate
fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature:
(1) The number and characteristics of pupils who use the school
district of choice option pursuant to this article.
(2) The Academic Performance Index scores of schools in school
districts of residence and school districts of choice.
(3) The graduation rates of school districts of residence and
school districts of choice.
(4) The enrollment of school districts of residence and school
districts of choice for the previous five years.
(5) The fiscal health of school districts of residence and school
districts of choice, including, but not limited to, both of the
following:
(A) Increasing or declining enrollment.
(B) Whether a school district received a negative or qualified
rating pursuant to Section 42131.
(6) Whether a school district has exceeded the transfer limits
specified in Section 48307.
(7) Other information the Legislative Analyst deems appropriate.
(d) As necessary and practicable, the Legislative Analyst shall
survey school districts of residence and school districts of choice
to gather the information described in subdivision (c).

48314. It is the intent of the Legislature that every parent in
this state be informed of their opportunity for currently existing
choice options under this article regardless of ethnicity, primary
language, or literacy.

48315. This article shall become inoperative on July 1, 2016, and,
as of January 1, 2017, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute,
which becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017, deletes or
extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

48316. The Legislative Analyst shall conduct, after consulting with
appropriate legislative staff, a comprehensive evaluation of the
interdistrict transfer program established pursuant to this article
and recommendations regarding the extension of the program. The
evaluation shall incorporate the data described in Section 48313 and
shall be completed and submitted, along with the recommendations
regarding extension, to the appropriate education policy committees
of the Legislature and the Governor by November 1, 2014.