CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
99
Introduced by Assembly Member Johnson
February 10, 2026
An act to amend Sections 48352, 48354, and 48356 of, and to repeal Sections 48351, 48353, and 48360 of, the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.
Vote: majority Appropriation: no Fiscal committee: no Local program: no
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST
The Open Enrollment Act authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent resides, as specified. The act defines “low-achieving school” to mean a school on a list created annually by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing Academic Performance Index score with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year.
This bill would recast and revise the act. The bill would delete the definition of, and references to, the term “low-achieving school” in the act. The bill would instead generally revise the terminology of the act to specify that the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence, as defined, is authorized to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school district of enrollment, as defined. The bill would also delete from the act obsolete references to the Academic Performance Index and to the federal Race to the Top Fund.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 48351 of the Education Code is repealed.
The purpose of this article is to improve pupil achievement, in accordance with the regulations and guidelines for the federal Race to the Top Fund, authorized under the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5), and to enhance parental choice in education by providing additional options to pupils to enroll in public schools throughout the state without regard to the residence of their parents.
SEC. 2.
Section 48352 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48352.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(1) Excluding the schools, and taking into account the impact of the criteria in paragraph (2), the Superintendent annually shall create a list of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing API with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year.
(2) In constructing the list of 1,000 schools each year, the Superintendent shall ensure each of the following:
(A) A local educational agency shall not have more than 10 percent of its schools on the list. However, if the number of schools in a local educational agency is not evenly divisible by 10, the Superintendent shall round up to the next whole number of schools.
(B) Court, community, or community day schools shall not be included on the list.
(C) Charter schools shall not be included on the list.
(b)
(a) “Parent” means the natural or adoptive parent or guardian of a dependent child.
(b) “School district of enrollment” means a school district other than the school district in which the parent of a pupil resides, but in which the parent of the pupil nevertheless intends to enroll the pupil pursuant to this article.
(c) “School district of residence” means a school district in which the parent of a pupil resides and in which the pupil would otherwise be required to enroll pursuant to Section 48200.
SEC. 3.
Section 48353 of the Education Code is repealed.
The state board shall adopt emergency regulations to implement this article.
SEC. 4.
Section 48354 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48354.
(a) The parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school district of residence may submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article.
(2)
(b) (1) An application requesting a transfer pursuant to this article shall be submitted by the parent of a pupil to the school district of enrollment prior to before January 1 of the school year preceding the school year for which the pupil is requesting to transfer. The school district of
enrollment may waive the deadline specified in this paragraph.
(2) The application deadline specified in paragraph (2) (1) does not apply to an application requesting a transfer if the parent, with whom the pupil resides, is enlisted in the military and was relocated by the military within 90 days prior to
before submitting the application.
(3) The application may request enrollment of the pupil in a specific school or program within the school district of enrollment.
(4) A pupil may enroll in a school in the school district of enrollment in the school year immediately following the approval of his or her
the pupil’s application.
(5) In order to provide priority enrollment opportunities for pupils residing in the school district, a school district of enrollment shall establish a period of time for resident pupil enrollment prior to before accepting transfer applications pursuant to this article.
SEC. 5.
Section 48356 of the Education Code is amended to read:
48356.
(a) A school district of enrollment may adopt specific, written standards for acceptance and rejection of applications pursuant to this article. The standards may include consideration of the capacity of a program, class, grade level, school building, or adverse financial impact. Subject to subdivision (b), and except as necessary in accordance with Section 48355, the standards shall not include consideration of a pupil’s previous academic achievement, physical condition, proficiency in the English language, family income, or any of the individual characteristics set forth in Section 200.
(b) In considering an application pursuant to this article, a nonresident school district may apply its usual requirements for admission to a magnet school or a program designed to serve gifted and talented pupils.
(c) Subject to the rules and standards that apply to pupils who reside in the school district of enrollment, a resident pupil who is enrolled in one of the school district’s schools pursuant to this article shall not be required to submit an application in order to remain enrolled.
(1) First priority
(d) (1) Priority for approval for a transfer pursuant to this article shall be granted for the siblings of children who already attend the desired school.
(3)
(2) If the number of pupils who request a particular school exceeds the number of spaces available at that school, a lottery shall be conducted in the group priority order identified in paragraphs (1) and (2) to select pupils granting priority for pupils identified in paragraph (1) and then at random until all of the available spaces are filled.
(e) The initial application of a pupil for transfer to a school within a school district of enrollment shall not be approved if the transfer would require the displacement from the desired school of any other pupil who resides within the attendance area of that school or is currently enrolled in that school.
(f) A pupil approved for a transfer to a school district of enrollment pursuant to this article shall be deemed to have fulfilled the requirements of Section 48204.
SEC. 6.
Section 48360 of the Education Code is repealed.
(a) From federal funds appropriated for this purpose, the Superintendent shall contract for an independent evaluation of the open enrollment program operated pursuant to this article. The evaluation shall, at a minimum, consider all of the following:
(1) The levels of, and changes in, academic achievement of pupils in school districts of residence and school districts of enrollment for pupils who do and do not elect to enroll in a school district of enrollment.
(2) Fiscal and programmatic effects on school districts of residence and school districts of enrollment.
(3) Numbers and demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of pupils who do and do not elect to enroll in a school district of enrollment.
(b) The Superintendent shall provide a final evaluation report to the Legislature, Governor, and state board on or before October 1, 2014.