Suburban districts call for changes to the independent study law during quarantines

An organization representing suburban school districts is calling on the Legislature to make several fixes to the law regulating independent study. Superintendents are complaining that the law, Assembly Bill 130 (sections 66 to 74) is handcuffing their ability to continue serving students placed in a Covid quarantine.

In an Aug. 30 letter, lobbyists for the California Association of Suburban School Districts asked for the authority to return to distance learning short-term, via Zoom, to serve groups of students and full classes while they are in quarantine. This is a vital issue for districts, since the current law does not permit funding students as the state authorized last year through hybrid and distance learning. Districts can only be funded for in-person instruction and through independent study, which requires individual families to sign contracts, and requires a minimum of daily live instruction and contact, and extensive paperwork showing students’ progress.

The letter calls limited-term distance learning a “reasonable solution” to the problem of massive numbers of quarantined students that the Legislature didn’t anticipate when it passed the law on independent study in early July.

Other proposed changes include:

• Extending the time permitted for short-term independent study, which entails fewer accountability requirements and documentation than long-term independent study, to more than the current 15-day limit. Some students may be placed on multiple quarantines that together will exceed 15 days;
• Allowing any certified teacher in the district, not just those supervising independent study, to teach independent study courses during quarantines Because of staff shortages, districts are having difficulty filling independent study positions amid fluctuating numbers of students moving in and out of quarantine. Districts are seeking flexibility so that teachers teaching in person can switch to teaching online to quarantined students, explained Andrea Ball, who represents the suburban districts and co-wrote the letter with Jeffrey Frost .