Article 1. General Provisions of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 26. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 1.

(a) In computing average daily attendance of a school district or county office of education, there shall be included the attendance of pupils while engaged in educational activities required of those pupils and under the immediate supervision and control of an employee of the district or county office who possessed a valid certification document, registered as required by law.
  (b) (1) For purposes of a work experience education program in a secondary school that meets the standards of the California State Plan for Career Technical Education, "immediate supervision," in the context of off-campus work training stations, means pupil participation in on-the-job training as outlined under a training agreement, coordinated by the school district under a state-approved plan, wherein the employer and certificated school personnel share the responsibility for on-the-job supervision.
  (2) The pupil-teacher ratio in a work experience program shall not exceed 125 pupils per full-time equivalent certificated teacher coordinator. This ratio may be waived by the state board pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 33050) of Chapter 1 of Part 20 of Division 2 under criteria developed by the state board.
  (3) A pupil enrolled in a work experience program shall not be credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day, and shall be a full-time pupil enrolled in regular classes that meet the requirements of Section 46141 or 46144.
  (c) (1) For purposes of the rehabilitative schools, classes, or programs described in Section 48917 that require immediate supervision, "immediate supervision" means that the person to whom the pupil is required to report for training, counseling, tutoring, or other prescribed activity shares the responsibility for the supervision of the pupils in the rehabilitative activities with certificated personnel of the district.
  (2) A pupil enrolled in a rehabilitative school, class, or program shall not be credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day.
  (d) (1) For purposes of computing the average daily attendance of pupils engaged in the educational activities required of high school pupils who are also enrolled in a regional occupational center or regional occupational program, the school district shall receive proportional average daily attendance credit for those educational activities that are less than the minimum schoolday, pursuant to regulations adopted by the state board; however, none of that attendance shall be counted for purposes of computing attendance pursuant to Section 52324.
  (2) A school district shall not receive proportional average daily attendance credit pursuant to this subdivision for a pupil in attendance for less than 145 minutes each day.
  (3) The divisor for computing proportional average daily attendance pursuant to this subdivision is 240, except that, in the case of a pupil excused from physical education classes pursuant to Section 52316, the divisor is 180.
  (4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, travel time of pupils to attend a regional occupational center or regional occupational program shall not be used in any manner in the computation of average daily attendance.
  (e) (1) In computing the average daily attendance of a school district, there shall also be included the attendance of pupils participating in independent study conducted pursuant to Article 5.5 (commencing with Section 51745) of Chapter 5 of Part 28 for five or more consecutive schooldays.
  (2) A pupil participating in independent study shall not be credited with more than one day of attendance per calendar day.
  (f) For purposes of cooperative career technical education programs and community classrooms described in Section 52372.1, "immediate supervision" means pupil participation in paid and unpaid on-the-job experiences, as outlined under a training agreement and individualized training plans wherein the supervisor of the training site and certificated school personnel share the responsibility for the supervision of on-the-job experiences.
  (g) (1) In computing the average daily attendance of a school district, there shall be included the attendance of pupils in kindergarten after they have completed one school year in kindergarten or pupils in a transitional kindergarten program after they have completed one year in that program if one of the following conditions is met:
  (A) The school district has on file for each of those pupils an agreement made pursuant to Section 48011, approved in form and content by the department and signed by the pupil's parent or guardian, that the pupil may continue in kindergarten for not more than one additional school year.
  (B) The pupils participated in a transitional kindergarten program pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48000.
  (2) A school district may not include for apportionment purposes the attendance of any pupil for more than two years in kindergarten or for more than two years in a combination of transitional kindergarten and kindergarten.

Commencing July 1, 1993, no school district may receive school district apportionments pursuant to Section 42238 for independent study by pupils 21 years of age or older or by pupils 19 years of age or older who have not been continuously enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, since their 18th birthday.

The State Department of Education shall apportion funds for community school and independent study average daily attendance only for average daily attendance claimed by school districts and county superintendents of schools for pupils who officially reside in the county in which the apportionment claim is reported, or who officially reside in a county immediately adjacent to the county in which the apportionment claim is reported.

If a pupil 21 years of age or older, or a pupil 19 years of age or older, has not been continuously enrolled in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, since his or her 18th birthday, any attendance credit for coursework he or she is pursuing through independent study shall be eligible for apportionment only if it is one or more of the types of courses set forth in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) of Section 51225.3 or any course required by the governing board as a prerequisite to receiving a diploma of high school graduation. This section shall become operative on July 1, 1990.

For the purposes of educational programs sponsored by the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Program, the term "immediate supervision" as used in Section 46300 means, in the context of classes conducted at the workplace, pupil participation in classes instructed by a person who is qualified, by means of education or experience, as a journeyman, and shares the responsibility for supervision of the pupils participating in the classes with certificated personnel of the district.

The State Department of Education shall not apportion funds to a local education agency for a pupil in the independent study program if that agency has provided any funds or other things of value to the pupil or his or her parent or guardian that the agency does not provide to pupils who attend regular classes or to their parents or guardians.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no school district or county office of education shall receive apportionments for any pupil in independent study unless that entity receives written permission from the parent or guardian of the pupil prior to the commencement of independent study by that pupil. The written permission shall specify the actual dates of participation, the methods of study and evaluation, and the resources to be made available for the independent study program for the pupil.

(a) Commencing with the 2014-15 school year, attendance of pupils in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, under the immediate supervision and control of a certificated employee of the school district or county office of education who is delivering synchronous, online instruction shall be included in computing average daily attendance, provided that all of the following occur:
  (1) The certificated employee providing the instruction confirms pupil attendance through visual recognition during the class period. A pupil logon, without any other pupil identification, is not sufficient to confirm pupil attendance.
  (2) The class has regularly scheduled starting and ending times, and the pupil is scheduled to attend the entire class period. Average daily attendance shall be counted only for attendance in classes held at the regularly scheduled time.
  (3) An individual with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, may participate in synchronous, online instruction only if his or her individualized education program developed pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 56340) of Chapter 4 of Part 30 specifically provides for that participation.
  (4) If a school district or county office of education elects to offer synchronous, online instruction pursuant to this paragraph, the school district or county office of education shall not deny enrollment to a pupil based solely on the pupil's lack of access to the computer hardware or software necessary to participate in the synchronous, online course. If a pupil chooses to enroll in a synchronous, online course and does not have access to the necessary equipment, the school district or county office of education shall provide, for each pupil who chooses to enroll in a synchronous, online course, access to the computer hardware or software necessary to participate in the synchronous, online course.
  (5) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to school district full-time equivalent certificated employees responsible for synchronous, online instruction, calculated as specified by the department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to full-time certificated employees for all other educational programs operated by the school district, unless a higher or lower ratio is negotiated in a collective bargaining agreement.
  (6) The ratio of average daily attendance for synchronous, online pupils who are 18 years of age or younger to county office of education full-time equivalent certificated employees who provide synchronous, online instruction, to be calculated in a manner prescribed by the department, shall not exceed the equivalent ratio of pupils to full-time certificated employees for all other educational programs operated by the high school or unified school district with the greatest average daily attendance of pupils in that county, unless a higher or lower ratio is provided for in a collective bargaining agreement. The computation of the ratios specified in paragraph (5) and this paragraph shall be performed annually by the reporting agency at the time of, and in connection with, the second principal apportionment report to the Superintendent.
  (b) The Superintendent shall establish rules and regulations for purposes of implementing this section that, at a minimum, address all of the following:
  (1) How school districts and county offices of education include pupil attendance in online courses in the calculation of average daily attendance pursuant to Section 46300.
  (2) How to ensure a pupil meets minimum instructional time requirements pursuant to the following:
  (A) Section 46141 and Section 46201, 46201.5, or 46202, as applicable, for pupils enrolled in a noncharter school in a school district or county office of education.
  (B) Section 46170, for pupils enrolled in a continuation school.
  (C) Section 46180, for pupils enrolled in an opportunity school.
  (3) Require statewide testing results for online pupils to be reported and assigned to the school in which the pupil is enrolled for regular classroom courses, and to any school district or county office of education within which that school's testing results are aggregated.
  (4) Require attendance accounted for pursuant to this section to be subject to the audit conducted pursuant to Section 41020.
  (c) The Superintendent may provide guidance regarding the ability of a school district or county office of education to provide synchronous, online instruction.
  (d) For purposes of this section, "synchronous, online instruction" means a class or course in which the pupil and the certificated employee who is providing instruction are online at the same time and use real-time, Internet-based collaborative software that combines audio, video, file sharing, and other forms of interaction.
  (e) This section shall become inoperative on July 1, 2019, and, as of January 1, 2020, is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that becomes operative on or before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends the dates on which it becomes inoperative and is repealed.

Whenever it is necessary to compute the average daily attendance of a school of a district for any certain purpose and no provision is made for the computation thereof for such purpose, the average daily attendance of the school shall be computed by dividing the total number of days of pupil attendance allowed by the number of days school was actually taught in the regular day schools of the district, exclusive of Saturdays or Sundays.

Where in a high school or elementary school four terms of school of at least 12 weeks each are maintained during a fiscal year, and where the course of instruction is so arranged that students may complete a full year's work in any three terms, the total number of days of pupils attendance shall be divided by the greatest number of days school was actually taught in any three of the four terms, but in no case shall the divisor be less than 175.

(a) If any computation of average daily attendance made under, or necessitated by, any provision of law, results in a fraction of less than one-half of a unit, the average daily attendance shall be taken as the next lowest whole number, except that if such computation results in an average daily attendance of less than one unit, the average daily attendance shall be deemed to be one unit; but if the fraction is one-half or more of a unit, the average daily attendance shall be taken as the next highest whole number.
  (b) Whenever any reference is made to a specific whole number of units of average daily attendance said number shall include any fraction above said number which is less than one-half of a unit, and any fraction of one-half or more of a unit above the next lowest whole number.

(a) Notwithstanding anything in this code to the contrary when as a result of the unification or other reorganization of school districts, or the change of school district boundaries, and if the Superintendent of Public Instruction determines that a school district in which pupils reside does not have suitable facilities in which to maintain school for all the day pupils of the district, or that for other good and sufficient reasons the education of pupils in the district in which they reside is not practical or in the best interests of the pupils, the governing board of the district of residence shall contract with the governing board of another school district for the education of those pupils for whom suitable facilities are not available, or who should be educated in another district, as determined by the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
  (b) Except as provided in subdivision (b) of Section 46607 and Sections 46610 and 46611, the average daily attendance of pupils attending a district other than the district in which they reside pursuant to a contract described in subdivision (a) shall be credited to the district of attendance for apportionment purposes.
  (c) Any reorganization proposal approved by the State Board of Education on or before December 31, 1994, shall be governed by Section 46304 as it existed on December 31, 1994.

Each elementary, high school, and unified school district shall report to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on forms prepared by the Department of Education in addition to all other attendance data as required, the active enrollment as of the third Wednesday of each school month and the actual attendance on the third Wednesday of each school month; except that if such day is a school holiday, the active enrollment and actual attendance of the first immediate preceding schoolday shall be reported. "Active enrollment" on a day a count is taken means the pupils in enrollment in the regular schooldays of the district on the first day of the school year on which the schools were in session, plus all later enrollees, minus all withdrawals since that day.

Attendance of individuals with exceptional needs, identified pursuant to Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 56300) of Part 30, enrolled in a special day class or given instruction individually or in a home, hospital, or licensed children's institution who attend school for either the same number of minutes that constitutes a minimum schoolday pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 46100), or for the number of minutes of attendance specified in that pupil's individualized education program developed pursuant to Article 3 (commencing with Section 56340) of Chapter 4 of Part 30, whichever is less, shall constitute a day of attendance.

The computation of average daily attendance pursuant to this chapter shall not include the attendance of minors between the ages of 18 months and three years, inclusive, enrolled in programs operated by a county superintendent of schools who are physically handicapped, deaf or hard of hearing, or have speech disorders or speech defects.