Attorney General Bonta Announces Settlement with Sacramento School District to Address Unlawful Enrollment Practices

SACRAMENTO — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced a settlement with the Sacramento City Unified School District to address unlawful enrollment policies and practices that unfairly disadvantaged students of color, students with limited English proficiency, socioeconomically disadvantaged students, students with disabilities, and students experiencing homelessness or in foster care. The complaint, filed today in Sacramento County Superior Court, and the stipulated judgment, which memorializes the settlement, are the result of a comprehensive investigation by the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Bureau of Children’s Justice into Sacramento City Unified’s enrollment and after the start of the school year student transfer policies, practices, and procedures. The investigation found that Sacramento City Unified violated state laws related to open enrollment and non-discrimination, failed to provide required protections for students experiencing homelessness or foster care, and created discriminatory barriers to enrollment for certain groups, including Black and Latinx students. DOJ worked cooperatively with Sacramento City Unified to identify changes necessary to come into compliance with law and to remove these barriers.

“Every student has the right to equal access to a quality public education. That starts with enrollment,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “Protecting the academic futures and overall well-being of our kids is a top priority — and we’re committed to taking action when we hear concerns. My team conducted a thorough investigation of the Sacramento City Unified School District’s enrollment practices and worked cooperatively with them to reach this agreement. I am confident that that Sacramento City Unified will implement these necessary reforms to ensure that state laws are followed and no one is unfairly disadvantaged when it comes to enrolling their kids in school.”

“We believe strongly in the principles of equity and access," said Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Lisa Allen. “While we stand by our enrollment practices, we recognize there are areas where the district can further improve. Sacramento City Unified looks forward to the support of the Attorney General’s Office as we continue implementing process and procedural changes for the benefit of all students and families."  

In July 2024, DOJ began an investigation under Government Code section 11180 et seq. to determine whether Sacramento City Unified had complied with laws and regulations related to school enrollment and transfers after the start of the school year. Sacramento City Unified has two types of enrollment processes: registration and Open Enrollment. Registration is a mandatory process that occurs on a rolling basis throughout the year. Open Enrollment is a voluntary process that allows parents and guardians to apply to 1) certain schools with no neighborhood boundary; and 2) schools which prioritize students within its neighborhood boundaries, but that have identified space to enroll non-neighborhood students. When class sizes reach a certain level, Sacramento City Unified also uses a process it calls ConCapping to transfer students after the start of the school year from schools where contractual class size caps are reached to another school where those caps have not been reached. 

Following a comprehensive investigation, DOJ found that Sacramento City Unified’s enrollment and ConCapping policies and practices violated state laws that focus on ensuring equal access to public education and Open Enrollment. Among other things, the investigation identified barriers to Open Enrollment, which gave an advantage to higher income and well-educated parents and guardians with internet, computer, and car access. Some families who wished to apply to Open Enrollment but lacked internet or car access could be required to travel up to one and a half hours by public transit to the central District enrollment office located in South Sacramento during a designated two-week window in February, which was generally only open during business hours. Some schools in the district also mandated that families attend a school visit during the workday to complete Open Enrollment and complete a separate, lengthy questionnaire before an application was entered into the lottery for admission. DOJ’s investigation also found that one school’s parent and student handbook stated that volunteer hours were required for admission to the school. Sacramento City Unified began implementing several changes to its policies after DOJ brought the violations to its attention, and Sacramento City Unified has committed to maintaining these reforms.

In addition, to address DOJ's concerns, DOJ and Sacramento City Unified worked cooperatively on an extensive five-year plan memorialized in a stipulated judgment that enjoins Sacramento City Unified from violating laws and regulations and requires, among other things:

• Centralized assistant superintendent position to supervise enrollment; seat capacity calculations; and ConCapping and ensure equal access in enrollment.
• Centralized internal dashboard to display enrollment data and trends to ensure accessibility, transparency, and fairness in seat availability and allocation.
• Diverse and representative community advisory groups to provide public recommendations related to Open Enrollment and ConCapping policies and practices.
• Staff training, including training related to Open Enrollment, ConCapping, and the rights of foster youth and youth experiencing homelessness.
• DOJ-approved public communications, enrollment portal and website descriptions, and instructions related to enrollment and transfers to ensure accessibility regardless of education or socio-economic level or language.
• DOJ review of any complaints of legal violations related to registration, Open Enrollment, ConCapping, intradistrict permitting, and transportation of students with disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, and foster youth for corrective action.
• Evaluation of Sacramento City’s admission exams for incoming kindergarten and first grade students to ensure non-discrimination.
• Compensatory educational services for foster youth and youth experiencing homeless who were impacted by the District’s unlawful enrollment and transfer practices.