Special education: pupil transfers: residency requirements: records.

Plain English Breakdown

The bill does not provide specific details about the enforcement mechanisms or penalties for non-compliance.

Special Education: Pupil Transfers and Residency Requirements

This law requires local educational agencies to adopt or create individualized education programs for transferring students with special needs within 30 days, ensures compliance with the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, and expands residency requirements for military families.

What This Bill Does

• Requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to either adopt an existing Individualized Education Program (IEP) or create a new one within 30 days of receiving official records when a student with special needs transfers between districts or states within the same academic year.
• Ensures that LEAs comply with the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children when transferring students' special education records, including accepting unofficial records until validated by official ones.
• Expands residency requirements to include all children of active duty members of the U.S. Armed Forces, ensuring they can attend local schools even if their family moves due to military orders.
• Requires school districts to coordinate with parents and previous schools when a student eligible for federal disability services enrolls under new residency rules.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students with special education needs who transfer between school districts or states within the same academic year.
• Military families whose children need to attend a new school due to their parent's military orders.
• Local educational agencies that must follow these new rules and may receive state funding for additional costs.

Terms To Know

Individualized Education Program (IEP)

A written plan tailored to the needs of a student with disabilities, outlining special education services and accommodations.

Local Educational Agency (LEA)

An organization responsible for providing public education in a specific area, such as a school district.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact timeline or process for state reimbursement of additional costs imposed on local educational agencies.
• It is unclear how this law will be enforced and what penalties might apply if LEAs do not comply with its requirements.

Official Summary Text

AB 1412, Jeff Gonzalez.
Special education: pupil transfers: residency requirements: records.
(1) If an individual with exceptional needs, as defined, transfers from outside the state to a district, as defined, in the state, or transfers from district to district, within the same academic year, existing law requires local educational agencies, as defined, to provide the pupil with a free appropriate public education, including services comparable to those described in the previously approved individualized education program, in consultation with the parents, until the local educational agency conducts a federally required assessment, if determined to be necessary by the local educational agency, and develops a new individualized education program, if appropriate, that is consistent with federal and state law.
This bill would require a local educational agency, within 30 days of
receipt of official records or specified unofficial records, to either adopt and implement the individualized education program previously adopted for the pupil or develop, adopt, and implement a new individualized education program for the pupil that is consistent with federal and state law, if applicable. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local education agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) Existing law ratifies the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, as specified.
Existing law requires the new school in which an individual with exceptional needs enrolls to take reasonable steps to promptly obtain the pupil’s records from their previous school, including the individualized education program and supporting documents and any other records relating to the provision of special
education and related services to the pupil, pursuant to specified federal law.
This bill would expressly require those reasonable steps to also be consistent with specified requirements of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, and would require the new school to accept unofficial records provided by the pupil’s parent or guardian until validated by official records, consistent with specified requirements of the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local
educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(3) Existing law provides that each person between 6 and 18 years of age not exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education and requires a person subject to compulsory education to attend the public full-time day school or continuation school or classes in the school district in which the residence of the parents or legal guardian is located. Existing law provides that a pupil complies with the residency requirements if the pupil’s parent is transferred or is pending transfer to a military installation within the state while on active military duty pursuant to an official military order, and requires a parent to provide proof of residence in the school district within 10 days after the published arrival date provided on official documentation.
This bill would expressly provide that the above-described provisions apply to
all pupils whose parent is an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the United States, including pupils eligible for services or accommodations pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, or the federal Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as applicable. The bill would require school districts, upon notification that a pupil who is enrolling pursuant to the above-described provisions is receiving, or may eligible to receive, services or accommodations pursuant to federal law, to promptly coordinate with the pupil’s parents and previous school, as provided. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(4) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory
provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.

Current Bill Text

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