58520-58524
EDUCATION CODE
SECTION 58520-58524
58520. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the Single Gender Academies Pilot Program Act of 1996. 58521. (a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that a primary goal of the Single Gender Academies Pilot Program is to increase the diversity of California's public educational offering by making single gender academies available to those pupils of each gender who because of their unique educational needs will benefit from single gender education. (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that single gender academies operated pursuant to this chapter shall be tailored to the differing needs and learning styles of boys as a group and girls as a group. It is further the intent of the Legislature that if a particular program or curriculum is available to one gender, it shall also be available to those pupils in the other gender who would benefit from the particular program or curriculum. (c) It is further the intent of the Legislature that single gender academies operated pursuant to this chapter offer the following: (1) Diversity in educational opportunity. (2) Equal opportunities at both boys' and girls' academies. (3) Equal funding and facilities at both boys' and girls' academies. 58522. (a) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall administer this chapter. (b) A school district may submit an application to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to receive a grant for the establishment and operation of a single gender academy pursuant to this chapter. To be eligible to receive a grant pursuant to this chapter, the single gender academy for which the school district has applied for a grant shall meet the following requirements: (1) Enrollment in the single gender academy must be on a voluntary basis. (2) Boys and girls enrolled in similar schools must have equal access to the schools. (3) In all aspects of the curricula, the educational opportunity must be equal for boys and girls. (4) A plan for conducting an evaluation of the results of the single gender academies. (c) The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall award grants to 10 applicant school districts for the establishment of one single gender academy for girls and one single gender academy for boys in each of those selected school districts. Grant recipients shall be selected on a competitive basis. In selecting grant recipients, the superintendent shall consider whether the proposed single gender academy meets the requirements set forth in subdivision (b). The superintendent shall select grant recipients that have clearly demonstrated the expected benefits of single gender education at the proposed academy and how a single gender academy will meet the unique educational needs of the pupils and communities they serve. When choosing between grant applicants that have similar qualifications, the superintendent shall give preference to applicant school districts seeking to establish single gender academies for both boys and girls that will be in close geographical proximity to ensure equal access to single gender academies for both genders in the school districts. 58523. The governing board of a school district receiving a grant pursuant to this chapter shall establish a single gender academy as a magnet school pursuant to its general power established under Section 35160 or as an alternative education magnet school pursuant to Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 58500). 58524. The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall allocate two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) for each single gender academy established pursuant to this chapter to the school district establishing the academy.