California Governor Brown signed AB 644/Chapter 579 on September 26. It takes effect January 1 and will provide that online, synchronous students in grades 9 to 12 will be included in computing average daily attendance beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, if all of the following apply:
- The certificated employee providing the instruction confirms pupil attendance through visual recognition during the class period. A pupil login without any other pupil identification will not be sufficient.
- The class has a regularly scheduled starting and ending time, and the pupil is scheduled to attend the entire class period.
- An individual with exceptional needs will be allowed to participate in synchronous, online instruction only if his or her individualized education program specifically provides for that participation.
- If a school district elects to offer synchronous online courses, it will not be permitted to deny enrollment to a pupil based on his or her lack of access to the necessary technology. The district will be required to provide that pupil with the necessary equipment.
- The ratio of online students to full-time certificated employees will not exceed the equivalent ratio for all other educational programs operated by the district, unless a higher or lower ratio is negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
The Superintendent of Public Instruction will be required to establish rules and regulations for the purposes of implementing the online provisions and will be authorized to provide guidance regarding the ability of a school district to provide synchronous, online instruction.
California Governor Brown signed AB 1246 on September 27. It takes effect January 1 and will, for the purpose of transitioning to instructional materials that are aligned with the common core, state the intent of the legislature that textbooks be aligned with the content standards. The bill will provide that the format of the instructional materials may include but not be limited to, print, digital, and open-source instructional materials. The materials will be permitted to be in a digital format as long as each student, at a minimum, has and can access the same materials in the class and to take home, as all other students in the same class or course in the
school district.
California Governor Brown vetoed AB 1790 and SB 1154 on September 27. AB 1790 would have required a publisher or manufacturer that is submitting a printed instructional material for adoption by the state to ensure that the printed instructional material is also available in an equivalent digital format during the entire term of the adoption. SB 1154 would have required a publisher or manufacturer that offers printed instructional materials or supplemental materials in an equivalent digital format to offer the digital format at the same or lower cost than the cost of the purchased printed format.
According to Brown’s veto message concerning SB 1154, providing online instructional materials “is an educational goal that I very much share. This bill, however does not accomplish that goal. Instead it puts unrealistic requirements on California’s businesses that will lead to increased costs of instructional materials.”
Enactment of AB 1790 is contingent upon enactment of SB 1154 and as a consequence the bill cannot become operative, according to Brown’s veto message for AB 1790.