Pupil retention: COVID-19 impact.

Existing law requires the governing board of each school district and each county board of education to approve a policy regarding the promotion and retention of pupils between specified grades, and requires that policy to provide for the identification of pupils who should be retained or who are at risk of being retained in their current grade level on the basis of specified factors. Existing law requires that the policy provide for parental notification when a pupil is identified as being at risk of retention, and that the policy provide the pupil's parent or guardian the opportunity to consult with the teacher or teachers responsible for the decision to promote or retain the pupil. Existing law also requires, under specified circumstances, that the pupil's parent or guardian be provided the opportunity to discuss a teacher's recommendation with the teacher and the principal before any final determination of pupil retention or promotion is made. Existing law requires a pupil to be promoted or retained only as provided for in those policies. This bill would require school districts, upon receiving a request from a pupil's parent to retain the pupil for the 2021–22 school year, to offer to the pupil specified interventions and supports, offer to the pupil access to prior semester courses in which the pupil received a D or F letter grade or offer some other form of credit recovery, and provide to the parent information, made available by the State Department of Education, about research on the effects of pupil retention, and the types of interventions and supports that have been shown to be beneficial to pupils. The bill would require the department to compile existing research on the effects of pupil retention on future academic outcomes, and on other outcomes as determined by the department, for pupils who were retained, and on the types of interventions and supports that have been shown to be beneficial to pupils. The bill would require the department to make this information available on its internet website commencing on or before August 1, 2021. By imposing new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.