Partnership academies.

(1) Existing law provides for the establishment of partnership academies for pupils at risk of dropping out of school by participating school districts that meet specified eligibility requirements, and requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue grants to school districts for planning, establishing, and maintaining the partnership academies. This bill would request that the State Department of Education, using data collected from the yearly reports of the California Partnership Academies, provide an analysis of the partnership academies program components and make recommendations to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would also encourage the department to make recommendations that would be shared with the Senate Committee on Education and the Assembly Committee on Education at the beginning of each new 2-year regular session of the Legislature regarding the various types of partnership academies and the implications of program oversight by the department of multiple types of partnership academies. (2) Existing law requires the Superintendent to develop guidelines with respect to partnership academies, including, but not limited to, enrollment provisions, application procedures, and pupil eligibility. This bill would, for purposes of the guidelines relating to enrollment, authorize school districts to determine the number of pupils enrolled in a partnership academy. The bill would also require the guidelines to include strategies to encourage, establish, and fund partnership academies serving rural school districts. (3) Existing law limits the enrollment in partnership academies to pupils in grades 10 to 12, inclusive. This bill would authorize a school district to enroll grade 9 pupils, provided the school district complies with specified requirements. The bill would prohibit a school district from receiving partnership academy funding for the establishment or maintenance of grade 9 partnership academy courses. (4) The bill would require that, if funds are appropriated for the support of certain partnership academies in the annual Budget Act or any other measure, these funds be allocated in accordance with the provisions of law that govern partnership academies.