Article 3. Pupils of California Education Code >> Division 4. >> Title 2. >> Part 32. >> Chapter 2. >> Article 3.

Every blind person resident of this state, of suitable age and capacity, is entitled to an education in the California School for the Blind free of charge.

All pupils in the school shall be maintained at the expense of the state, except as provided in Sections 59121, 59124 to 59128, inclusive, and 59131.

The governing board of each school district of residence shall, from the general fund of the school district, pay for the transportation cost of each pupil of the district in attendance at the California School for the Blind as a day-class pupil. For determining the school district responsible under the provisions of this section for making the payment when the pupils reside in other than a unified school district, pupils 15 years of age or older as of September 1 of each fiscal year shall be considered residents of the high school district, and pupils 14 years of age or under as of September 1 shall be considered residents of the elementary district.

The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall allow to the California School for the Blind, an amount not to exceed three hundred eighty-nine dollars ($389) per fiscal year per unit of average daily attendance of each blind pupil attending the school as a five-day residential pupil for the purpose of providing transportation to and from the pupil's home on weekends and school holiday periods. In no case shall the total apportionment made to the school exceed the actual total transportation expenditures of the school. The administrators of such schools shall arrange for transportation of such pupils utilizing the most practical means including, but not limited to, commercial bus, rail, or air, charter bus or private passenger vehicle.

If the parent or guardian of any pupil in the school is unable either himself or from the estate of the child to clothe the child, or pay for its transportation to and from school, or for necessary dental work, eye care, operations, and hopitalization of the child while at the school, or is unable either himself or from the estate of the child to reimburse the Department of Education for expenses incurred by it in providing dental work, eye care, operations, or hospitalization for the child in an emergency, the parent or guardian may apply for a certificate to that effect to the superior court of the county of which the parent or guardian of the child is resident. If the court is satisfied that the parent or guardian either himself or from the estate of the child is unable to pay for any such service, it shall issue a certificate to that effect. The application for the certificate may also be made to the court by the superintendent of the school.

The certificate shall be presented to the superintendent of the school and the superintendent when the certificate shows the parent or guardian of the child is unable either himself or from the estate of the child to clothe the child, or pay for his transportation to and from school, or for necessary dental work, eye care, operations, and hospitalization of the child while in school, shall clothe the child and provide the transportation, dental work, eye care, operations, and hospitalization. The expense of the services, or any of them, shall be advanced by the Department of Education out of money appropriated for the support of the school.

All money expended under the authority of any such certificate for clothing and transportation, necessary dental work, eye care, operations and hospitalization, and all money expended by the Department of Education for expenses incurred by it in providing dental work, eye care, operations, or hospitalization for the child in an emergency for which the Department of Education cannot be reimbursed by the parent or guardian of the child as shown by the certificate, constitutes a legal charge against the county from which the certificate is issued. Expenditures for clothing and transportation shall not exceed the sum of three hundred eighty-five dollars ($385) for the 1974-75 school year, and an amount thereafter which shall be adjusted annually in conformance with the Consumer Price Index, all items, of the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, measured for the calendar year next preceding the fiscal year to which is applies. The State Controller shall determine the amount authorized pursuant to this section for the 1975-76 school year and thereafter.

Upon presentation to the county in which the certificate is issued, of an itemized claim, duly sworn to by the superintendent of the school before an officer authorized to administer oaths, for the expense for clothing, transportation, and other items provided and furnished under the authority of the certificate, or for the reimbursement of the Department of Education, the claim shall be processed and paid pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 29700) of Division 3 of Title 3 of the Government Code. The amount paid and all reimbursements of the Department of Education under this section shall be credited to the current appropriation for the support and maintenance of the school.

If it appears to the satisfaction of the court that the parent or guardian has sufficient pecuniary ability or that there are sufficient funds in the estate of the child to provide the service for the child or to reimburse the Department of Education for expenses incurred by it on providing the service for the child in an emergency, the court shall not issue the certification, but shall according to the nature of the application before it, either order the superintendent to provide the child with the service, or order the parent or guardian either himself or from the estate of the child, as the court determines, to reimburse the Department of Education for expenses incurred by it in providing the service for the child in an emergency.

If the Department of Education is not reimbursed by the parent or guardian personally or from the estate of the child for expenditures made by the superintendent under the order of the court or if the parent or guardian does not comply with an order of the court to reimburse the Department of Education either personally or from the estate of the child for expenses incurred by it in providing the service for the child in an emergency the superintendent may sue the parent or guardian, in the name of the state, to recover any money paid out by order of the court or due the Department of Education as reimbursement under an order of the court.

Blind persons not residents of this state may be admitted to the benefits of the school upon paying to the Department of Education the sum of the school year cost for the maintenance, care, and instruction of persons at the school, payable quarterly in advance. The cost of the care, maintenance, and instruction shall be determined by the Department of Education with the approval of the Department of Finance.