A L E R T
Romero Bill Transfers: State Releases Proposed Regulations and List of 1,000 Low-Performing Schools
As reported in
Lozano Smith Client News Brief No. 16 the Open Enrollment Act of 2010 (Education Code section 48350 et seq.), otherwise known as the "Romero Bill," allows pupils attending one of a list of 1,000 low-achieving schools, identified by the State based on the school's Academic Performance Index ("API") ranking, to transfer to a school in another school district not on the list of low-achieving schools and with a higher API ranking. The list of 1,000 lowest performing schools excludes alternative schools such as community day and charter schools, and schools that would result in a given school district having more than 10% of its schools on the low performance list. The Romero Bill also requires the issuance of emergency regulations by the State Board of Education. In recent days, significant, and somewhat unexpected, events have occurred in relation to these elements of the Romero Bill.
In the last week, California Department of Education staff made public the SBE's proposed emergency and final regulations for implementation of the Romero Bill.
These proposed regulations are available on the SBE's website. The SBE will consider both sets of regulations at its upcoming July 15, 2010 Board meeting, and may take action at that time to adopt the emergency regulations as well as initiate the rulemaking process for the final Romero Bill regulations. Of note, the proposed emergency regulations allow a period of time in September 2010 for students to seek Romero Bill transfers for the coming 2010-2011 school year, and both sets of regulations limit the definition of "adverse financial impact" as a basis for denying Romero Bill transfers. The proposed regulations do not address the apparent challenges to implementation and conflict in statutory timelines for purposes of resolving Romero Bill transfer applications in harmony with school districts' traditional intradistrict open enrollment processing.
In recent days the CDE has also released a
proposed list of Romero Bill 1,000 low-achieving schools. The draft list contains at least one school from hundreds of California school districts, but is not yet final. In fact, the emergency regulations establishing the basis for calculation of the list, as noted above, will not be considered by the SBE until Thursday, July 15, 2010. As a result, the list is subject to change unless and until the SBE takes action.
Due to the changing understanding of implementation and ramifications of the Romero Bill, its regulations, and the list of 1,000 low performing schools, please anticipate further updates and Clients News Briefs from Lozano Smith regarding this issue--one which is shaping up to present significant issues for California school districts in the 2010-2011 school year.
Should you have any questions regarding the proposed Romero Bill regulations, the list of 1,000 low-performing schools, or any other question regarding the Romero Bill and how it may impact your district, please do not hesitate to contact any of our
seven offices located statewide or consult our
website.