Pupil instruction: Open Enrollment Act., the official text

An act to amend Sections 48352, 48354, and 48356 of, and to repeal Sections 48351, 48353, and 48360 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

The Open Enrollment Act authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent resides, as specified. The act defines “low-achieving school” to mean a school on a list created annually by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing Academic Performance Index score with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year.
This bill would recast and revise the act. The bill would delete the definition of, and references to, the term “low-achieving school” in the act. The bill would instead generally revise the terminology of the act to specify that the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence, as defined, is authorized to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school district of enrollment, as defined. The bill would also delete from the act obsolete references to the Academic Performance Index and to the federal Race to the Top Fund.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 48351 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 2.
Section 48352 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48352.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) “Parent” means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian of a dependent child.
(b) “School district of enrollment” means a school district other than the school district in which the parent of a pupil resides, but in which the parent of the pupil nevertheless intends to enroll the pupil pursuant to this article.
(c) “School district of residence” means a school district in which the parent of a pupil resides and in which the pupil would otherwise be required to enroll pursuant to Section 48200.

SEC. 3.
Section 48353 of the Education Code is repealed.

SEC. 4.
Section 48354 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48354.
(a) The parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence may submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article.
(b) (1) 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.
(2) The application deadline specified in paragraph (1) 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.
(3) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program within the school district of enrollment.
(4) A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district of enrollment in the school year immediately following the approval of the pupil’s application.
(5) 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.

SEC. 5.
Section 48356 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48356.
(a) A school district of enrollment may adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications pursuant to this article. The standards may include consideration of the capacity of a program, class, grade level, school building, or adverse financial impact. Subject to subdivision (b), and except as necessary in accordance with Section 48355, the standards shall 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.
(b) In considering an application pursuant to this article, a nonresident school district may apply its usual requirements for admission to a magnet school or a program designed to serve gifted and talented pupils.
(c) Subject to the rules and standards that apply to pupils who reside in the school district of enrollment, a resident pupil who is enrolled in one of the school district’s schools pursuant to this article shall not be required to submit an application in order to remain enrolled.
(d) (1) Priority for approval for a transfer pursuant to this article shall be granted for the siblings of children who already attend the desired school.
(2) If the number of pupils who request a particular school exceeds the number of spaces available at that school, a lottery shall be conducted granting priority for pupils identified in paragraph (1) and then at random until all of the available spaces are filled.
(e) The initial application of a pupil for transfer to a school within a school district of enrollment shall not be approved if the transfer would require the displacement from the desired school of any other pupil who resides within the attendance area of that school or is currently enrolled in that school.
(f) A pupil approved for a transfer to a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article shall be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of Section 48204.

SEC. 6.
Section 48360 of the Education Code is repealed.