Home & Hospital Instruction Program Summary
Provides information on program purpose, services, outcomes, students served, and results for Home and Hospital Instruction.Purpose
The purpose of home and hospital instruction is to provide instruction to a student with a temporary disability in the student’s home or in a hospital or other residential health facility, excluding state hospitals.
A temporary disability is defined as a physical, mental or emotional disability incurred while a student is enrolled in regular day classes or an alternative education program, and after which the student can reasonably be expected to return to regular day classes or the alternative education program without special intervention.
A temporary disability does not include a disability for which a student is identified as an individual with exceptional needs pursuant to California Education Code (EC) Section 56026.
Program/Services
School districts shall notify parents at the beginning of a school term of the availability of individualized instruction for pupils with a temporary disability. (EC sections 48206.3[d] and 48980)
A student with a temporary disability who is in a hospital or other residential health facility, excluding a state hospital, located outside of the school district in which the student’s parent or guardian resides, shall be deemed to have complied with the residency requirements for school attendance in the school district in which the hospital in located. (EC Section 48207)
It is the primary responsibility of the parent or guardian of a student with a temporary disability to notify the school district in which the student is deemed to reside of the student’s presence in a qualifying hospital. Within five working days following notification from the parent or guardian, the school district shall determine whether the student will be able to receive individualized instruction, and, if the determination is positive, when the individualized instruction may begin. Individualized instruction shall start no later than five working days after the positive determination has been made. (EC Section 48208)
EC Section 48206.3 specifies that for attendance accounting each clock hour of individualized instruction counts as one day of attendance. No student shall be credited with more than five days of attendance per calendar week or credited with more than the total number of calendar days that regular classes are offered by the district in any fiscal year.
EC Section 48207.3 (a) specifies that a pupil receiving instruction who is well enough to return to school shall be allowed to return to school, including a charter school, that he or she attended immediately before receiving individual instruction, if the pupil returns during the school year in which the individual instruction was initiated.
EC Section 48207.3 (b) specifies that a pupil who attends a school operated by a school district or a charter school, who is subsequently enrolled in individual instruction in a hospital or other residential facility for a partial week, shall be entitled to attend school in his or her school district of residence, or receive individual instruction by the school district of residence in the pupil’s home, on days in which he or she is not receiving individual instruction in a hospital or other residential health facility, if he or she is well enough to do so.
EC Section 48207.5 specifies that individual instruction in a pupil’s home pursuant to Section 48206.3 shall commence no later than five working days after a school district has determined that the pupil shall receive this instruction.
Outcomes
The primary outcome of Home and Hospital Instruction is to maintain a student at the student’s former level of performance while recovering from the temporary disability so as not to jeopardize the student’s future performance upon returning to a regular day class or alternative education program.
Funding
General Fund apportionment is based on average daily attendance.
Students Served
Home and Hospital Instruction serves students with a temporary disability (EC Section 48206.3[b][2]) that makes attendance in the regular day classes or alternative education program in which the student is enrolled impossible or inadvisable, excluding students with “exceptional needs” (EC Section 56026).
Results
Students are prepared to return to their regular day class or an alternative education program at their former level of performance.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Are the special education rights of students automatically modified or reduced when the students incur a temporary disability which requires them to transfer to individual instruction?
No, the individualized education program (IEP) may be modified due to the change to individual instruction, but EC Section 48206.3(e) states that nothing in the Home & Hospital Instruction legislation may be construed to limit any rights accruing to a pupil with a temporary disability who is also identified as an individual with exceptional needs, as defined in EC Section 56026. The IEP will still ensure that the child receives specialized instruction and related services as specified while served through individual instruction.
- May a school district or charter school continue to enroll a pupil with a temporary disability who is receiving individual instruction in a hospital or other health facility in order to facilitate the timely reentry of the pupil in his or her prior school after the hospitalization has ended, or in order to provide a partial week of instruction to a pupil who is receiving individual instruction in a hospital or other residential health facility for fewer than five days of instruction per week?
Yes, EC Section 48207(b) states that the school district may continue to enroll the pupil, and EC Section 48207(c)(1) states that the student may be counted by the school district of residence or the charter school for computing average daily attendance for days on which that student is in attendance in that school district or charter school.
- If the student remains enrolled in the school district of residence or a charter school while also receiving individual instruction in a hospital or other residential health facility, may the student still be counted for the purposes of average daily attendance at the hospital or other residential facility on the days the student received individual instruction at the hospital or other residential health facility?
Yes, EC Section 48207(c)(2) states that a pupil with a temporary disability who remains enrolled in the school district of residence or a charter school can still be counted for the purposes of average daily attendance on days in which he or she receives individual instruction by another district through the hospital or other residential health care facility. EC Section 48207(d) states, "The total attendance counted for the purposes of computing average daily attendance pursuant to Section 42238.05 for a pupil with a temporary disability, including days in a hospital or other residential health facility, shall not exceed five days per week, or the equivalent, as described in subdivision (c) of Section 48206.3."
- Who ensures that a pupil with a temporary disability who is receiving individual instruction in the home or a hospital or other residential health facility is excused from absences at the pupil’s regular school until the pupil is able to return to the regular school program?
EC Section 48240(c) states that the supervisor of attendance shall ensure that the absences from the student’s regular school are excused while the student is receiving individual instruction at home or at a hospital or other residential facility.
- May the school district where the hospital or other residential health facility is located enter into an agreement with the school district in which the student previously attended regular day classes or an alternative education program to have the school district the student previously attended provide the pupil with individual instruction pursuant to EC Section 48206.3?
Yes, EC Section 48208(b)(2) states that the school district may enter into an agreement with the school district the student previously attended to provide individual instruction. The school district which the student previously attended will be provided with written notice that the student will not be counted by the district where the hospital is located for the purposes of average daily attendance.