Section 48412.

(a) Any person 16 years of age or older, or who has been enrolled in the 10th grade for one academic year or longer, or who will complete one academic year of enrollment in the 10th grade at the end of the semester during which the next regular examination will be conducted, shall be permitted to have his or her proficiency in basic skills taught in public high schools verified according to criteria established by the State Department of Education.

The State Board of Education shall award a "certificate of proficiency" to persons who demonstrate that proficiency. The certificate of proficiency shall be equivalent to a high school diploma, and the State Department of Education shall keep a permanent record of the issuance of all the certificates.

(b) The State Department of Education shall develop standards of competency in basic skills taught in public high schools and shall provide for the administration of examinations prepared by or with the approval of the department to verify competency. Regular examinations shall be held once in the fall semester and once in the spring of every academic year on a date, as determined by the State Department of Education, which will enable notification of examinees and the schools they attend, if any, of the results thereof not later than two weeks prior to the date on which that semester ends in a majority of school districts which maintain high schools.

In addition to regular examinations, the State Department of Education may, at the discretion of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, conduct examinations for all eligible persons once during each summer recess and may conduct examinations at any other time that the superintendent deems necessary to accommodate eligible persons whose religious convictions or physical handicaps prevent their attending one of the regular examinations.

(c) The State Department of Education may charge a fee for each examination application in an amount sufficient to recover the costs of administering the requirements of this section. However, the fee shall not exceed an amount equal to the cost of test renewal and administration per examination application. All fees levied and collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the State Treasury for remittance to the current support appropriation of the State Department of Education as reimbursement for costs of administering this section. Any reimbursements collected in excess of actual costs of administration of this section shall be transferred to the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund by order of the Director of Finance.

(d) The State Board of Education shall adopt rules and regulations as are necessary for implementation of this section.

(e) The State Department of Education shall periodically review the effectiveness of the examinations administered pursuant to this section. The costs of this review may be recovered through the fees levied pursuant to subdivision (c).

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 450, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 1996.)