New Legislation July 2021

Assembly Bill 130, Independent Study

Long term independent study may be an educational option for your student for the 2021-22 school year if your student’s health is at risk by in-person instruction. Long term independent study has been revised to include the following components:

• Students in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten and grades 1 to 3, receive opportunities for daily synchronous instruction throughout the school year.

• Students in grades 4 to 8, are offered opportunities for both daily live interaction and at least weekly synchronous instruction throughout the school year.

• Students in grades 9 to 12 are provided opportunities for at least weekly synchronous instruction throughout the school year.

If you are interested in finding out more information about whether a long term independent study learning agreement of 15 days or more is appropriate for your student, please contact your student’s school office for a conference with the administrator. The short term independent study option has been revised to encompass absences of a minimum of 3 consecutive days up to a maximum of 14 consecutive school days. You may arrange a meeting with your school principal to discuss independent study options. Learning agreements may be requested at your student’s school.

Assembly Bill 104, Retention

Parents/guardians of students who were in grades 11 and below during the 2020-21 school year who earned a D, F, or No Pass in at least half of their coursework during that school year, may request retention for the 2021-22 school year. You may request in writing, a consultation meeting which will occur within 30 calendar days of the receipt of request. During the consultation meeting, learning options, academic data, interventions, and the effects of retention will be discussed. The school will make a decision on the retention request within 10 calendar days of the consultation meeting. A decision will be made within 10 calendar days after the meeting. For more information, please contact your student’s school administration.

Assembly Bill 104, High School Grade Change

Parents/guardians may request a letter grade on a student’s transcript be changed to a Pass or No Pass for courses in which the student was enrolled during the 2020-21 school year. The request must be made within 15 calendar days of the first day of school. The school will respond within 15 days of receipt of the request. After this window closes, no requests will be accepted. Post-secondary institutions that will accept the pass/no pass grades are CA State Universities. The University of California and other post-secondary institutions including those in California and in other states, may not accept the pass/no pass grades. Click here https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/gs/ps/ab104surveyresults.asp for the California Department of Education’s list of postsecondary institutions accepting pass/no pass grades. If you would like to request a grade change, complete the form (see link) and bring it to your high school within 15 days of the posting of this information. Please contact your high school administration if you would like more information.