SB 630 - This act establishes the "Foster Care Education Bill of Rights Act." This act expresses the intent of the general assembly to ensure that all pupils in foster care have a meaningful opportunity to meet the academic achievement standards to which all pupils are held. Under this act, each school district shall designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster care children. The liaison shall ensure and facilitate the proper educational placement, enrollment in school, and checkout from school of foster children. The liaison shall also assist foster children when transferring from one school to another or from one school district to another in ensuring proper and timely transfer of credits, records, and grades. This act also provides that a child placing agency shall promote educational stability for foster care children by considering the child's school attendance area when making placement decisions. The foster care child shall have the right to remain enrolled in and attend his or her school of origin pending resolution of school placement disputes.
In addition, each school district shall accept for credit full or partial coursework satisfactorily completed by a pupil while attending a public school, nonpublic or nonsectarian school. The coursework shall be transferred by means of the standard state transcript. The school districts shall also ensure that if a pupil in foster care is absent from school due to a decision to change the placement of a pupil made by a court or child placing agency, or due to a verified court appearance or related court-ordered activity, the grades and credits of the pupil will be calculated as of the date the pupil left school, and no lowering of his or her grades shall occur as a result of the absence of the pupil under these circumstances. A school district shall also be authorized to permit access of pupil school records to any child placing agency for the purpose of fulfilling educational case management responsibilities required by the juvenile court or by law and to assist with the school transfer or placement of a pupil.
ADRIANE CROUSE