Article 3. Parent Empowerment of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 28. >> Chapter 18. >> Article 3.

For any school not identified as a persistently lowest-achieving school under Section 53201 which, after one full school year, is subject to corrective action pursuant to paragraph (7) of Section 1116(b) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and continues to fail to make adequate yearly progress, and has an Academic Performance Index score of less than 800, and where at least one-half of the parents or legal guardians of pupils attending the school, or a combination of at least one-half of the parents or legal guardians of pupils attending the school and the elementary or middle schools that normally matriculate into a middle or high school, as applicable, sign a petition requesting the local educational agency to implement one or more of the four interventions identified pursuant to paragraphs (1) to (4), inclusive of subdivision (a) of Section 53202 or the federally mandated alternative governance arrangement pursuant to Section 1116(b)(8)(B)(v) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.), the local educational agency shall implement the option requested by the parents unless, in a regularly scheduled public hearing, the local educational agency makes a finding in writing stating the reason it cannot implement the specific recommended option and instead designates in writing which of the other options described in this section it will implement in the subsequent school year consistent with requirements specified in federal regulations and guidelines for schools subject to restructuring under Section 1116(b)(8) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.) and regulations and guidelines for the four interventions.

(a) The local educational agency shall notify the Superintendent and the state board upon receipt of a petition under Section 53300 and upon its final disposition of that petition.
  (b) If the local educational agency indicates in writing that it will implement in the upcoming school year a different alternative governance arrangement than requested by the parents, the local educational agency shall notify the Superintendent and the state board that the alternative governance option selected has substantial promise of enabling the school to make adequate yearly progress as defined in the federally mandated state plan under Section 1111(b)(2) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 6301 et seq.).

No more than 75 schools shall be subject to a petition authorized by this article.
  (b) A petition shall be counted toward this limit upon the Superintendent and state board receiving notice from the local educational agency of its final disposition of the petition.

A local educational agency shall not be required to implement the option requested by the parent petition if the request is for reasons other than improving academic achievement or pupil safety.