AB 1670

Bill Subjects

Abstract

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 pupil to attend a school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent of the pupil resides, as specified. The Open Enrollment Act requires a school district of enrollment, as defined, to ensure that pupils enrolled pursuant to the act are enrolled in a school with a higher Academic Performance Index than the school in which the pupil was previously enrolled and are selected through a random, unbiased process, except that pupils applying for transfer are required to be assigned specified priorities for approval. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district or a county office of education, on a districtwide or countywide basis or on behalf of one or more of its schools or programs, after a public hearing on the matter, to request the State Board of Education to waive all or part of any section of the Education Code or any regulation of the state board that implements a provision of the Education Code that may be waived, except as specified. The provisions of the Open Enrollment Act are among those provisions that may be waived by the state board. This bill would require the governing board of any school district requesting a waiver of the provisions of the Open Enrollment Act that require a school to be included on the list of low-achieving schools, as defined, to send a written notice to the parents or guardians of each pupil attending each school that would otherwise be listed. The bill would require this notice to include, but not be limited to, instruction on how to contact the state board regarding the request by the school district to waive the listing requirement. The bill would also update cross-references and delete obsolete provisions.