Existing law authorizes the governing boards of two or more school districts to enter into an agreement, for a term not to exceed 5 school years, for the interdistrict attendance of pupils who are residents of the school districts.
This bill amends existing law by authorizing the governing board of a school district, a county board of education, or the governing body of a charter school to enter into an agreement with one or more local educational agencies (LEA). The purpose of the agreement is to offer the same or similar corresponding individual courses and coursework to pupils from other LEA impacted by disruptions, cancellations, or teacher shortages in science, technology, engineering, mathematics classes, or dual language immersion programs.
The bill requires an LEA subject to the agreement to accept pupils through an unbiased process that prohibits an inquiry into, or evaluation or consideration of, the pupil’s academic or athletic performance, proficiency in English, physical condition, family income, or based any protected characteristic. If the number of pupils seeking a classroom opportunity exceeds the available number of seats in a classroom, the LEA must hold random drawings to determine approval for the study and publicly post certain information related to these opportunities.
The bill requires the State Department of Education, on or before January 1, 2028, to evaluate the success of these LEA collaborations.
(SB 941 adds and repeals Article 9.5, commencing with Section 48345, of Chapter 2 of Part 27 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Education Code.)