Open Enrollment Bill Becomes State Law.
GovernorSchwarzenegger signed into law the Open Enrollment Act (SBx5 4) on January 7th and, with that, brings to California new school enrollment rules which, for many California public school students, changes the long-standing practice of students attending schools in their hometowns.Likely starting this summer, families of students in any grade attending the 1,000 lowest performing non-charter public schools in the state (out of ~ 8,000 schools statewide) will be sent a notice advising them that they may apply to specific schools or programs in school districts of their choosing outside their home district. (No morethan 10 percent of a district’s schools can appear on the“transfer out” list.)
Generally,school districts are required to accept “OpenEnrollment” transfer applicants by March for the following school year, but a school board may adopt specific written standards for ruling on these transfer requests which consider:
- The capacity of a program, classroom, grade or building, or
- “Adverse financial impact.”
A school board may reject a transfer application if it determines that thetransfer would negatively impact a desegregation plan or their district’s racial or ethnic balance if consistent with state and federal law. Students who have not satisfied the entry requirements for a magnet school or gifted program they applied to also may be rejected.
State Senator Simitian’s office has said that 70 percent of the state revenue limit funding associated with these students will travel with them to their new district starting their second year of enrollment. That funding is expected to be approximately $3,500 per student per year.
The Open Enrollment Act can be found at http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/sen/sb_0001-0050/sbx5_4_bill_20100106_enrolled.html.
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