Pupils: diploma alternatives: fees.

(1) Existing law authorizes certain persons, including, among others, any person 16 years of age or older, to have his or her proficiency in basic skills taught in public high schools verified according to criteria established by the State Department of Education. Existing law requires the State Board of Education to award a certificate of proficiency to persons who demonstrate that proficiency. Existing law requires the department to develop standards of competency in basic skills taught in public high schools and to provide for the administration of examinations prepared by, or with the approval of, the department to verify competency. Existing law authorizes the department to charge a fee for each examination application in an amount sufficient to recover the costs of administering the requirements of these provisions, but prohibits the fee from exceeding an amount equal to the cost of test renewal and administration per examination application. This bill would prohibit the department from charging the fee to a homeless child or youth who is under 25 years of age and can verify his or her status as a homeless child or youth. The bill would authorize a homeless services provider, as defined, that has knowledge of the examinee's housing status to verify the examinee's status for purposes of these provisions. The bill would provide that no additional state funds shall be appropriated for purposes of implementing the above provisions. The bill would authorize the state board to adopt emergency regulations for purposes of these provisions. (2) Existing law separately requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to issue a high school equivalency certificate and an official score report, or an official score report only, to a person who has not completed high school and who meets specified requirements, including, among others, having taken all or a portion of a general education development test that has been approved by the state board and administered by a testing center approved by the department, with a score determined by the state board to be equal to the standard of performance expected from high school graduates. Existing law authorizes the Superintendent to charge an examinee a one-time fee to pay costs related to administering these provisions and issuing a certificate, as specified. Existing law limits the amount of the fee to $20 per person and requires each scoring contractor to forward that fee to the Superintendent. This bill would, for purposes of those provisions, prohibit a contractor or testing center that charges its own separate fee from charging that separate fee to a homeless child or youth who is under 25 years of age and can verify his or her status as a homeless child or youth. The bill would authorize a homeless services provider, as defined, that has knowledge of the examinee's housing status to verify the examinee's status for purposes of these provisions. The bill would provide that no additional state funds shall be appropriated for purposes of implementing these provisions, and would authorize the Superintendent to adopt emergency regulations for purposes of these provisions. (3) Existing law establishes in the State Treasury a Special Deposit Fund Account, which consists of certain fees, and is continuously appropriated for the support of the department to be used for purposes of the provisions above relating to high school equivalency tests. This bill would authorize the Superintendent, until July 1, 2019, to use surplus funds, as defined, in the Special Deposit Fund Account to reimburse contractors for the loss of fees, if any, pursuant to provisions above relating to high school equivalency tests. By authorizing the expenditure of money in a continuously appropriated fund for a new purpose, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require a contract executed by the department for the provision of those tests to require a contracting party to accept all examinees, including those entitled to a fee waiver pursuant to those provisions. The bill also would require the department to include a provision in all memorandums of understanding with contractors for purposes of providing a high school equivalency test, that if the surplus funds in the Special Deposit Fund Account are depleted, the ongoing costs of a fee waiver for an examinee deemed eligible for a waiver shall be absorbed by the contractor. (4) This bill also would require the department, on or before December 1, 2018, to submit 2 reports to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, one relating to high school proficiency tests, and one relating to high school equivalency tests, that each include, among other things, the number of homeless youth that took a high school proficiency or equivalency test in each of the 2016, 2017, and 2018 calendar years, and the impact of the opportunity to take a high school proficiency or equivalency test at no cost on the number and percentage of homeless youth taking a high school proficiency or equivalency test.