Opinion No. (2006)

BILL LOCKYER Attorney General GREGORY L. GONOT Deputy Attorney General THE HONORABLE CHRISTINE KEHOE, MEMBER OF THE STATE SENATE, has requested an opinion on the following question: May an "on-line" charter school receive state funding for the instruction of pupils who do not reside in the county where the school is chartered or in an adjacent county? CONCLUSION An "on-line" charter school may not receive state funding for the instruction of pupils who do not reside in the county where the school is chartered or in an adjacent county. ANALYSIS The question presented for resolution concerns "on-line" charter schools that provide instruction through the use of computer and communications technology. (See Ed. Code, § 51865 , subd. (a); Cal. Code Regs., tit. 5, § 11963.5.) 1 We are asked whether such a school may receive state funding for the instruction of pupils who do not live in the school's home county or in an adjacent county. We conclude that state funding is unavailable in these circumstances. Preliminarily, we note that the Legislature encourages the use of computer and communications technology in providing instruction to the pupils of the state. In 1991, the…