Governor Brown Signs Bipartisan Bill to Keep CART Operational Indefinitely

CLOVIS ROUNDUP STAFF

The Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART). (Photo courtesy of CUSD)

California Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 760 into law on Monday to allow the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART) in Clovis to continue teaching students without seeking legislative approval every five years. The bill was introduced by Assemblymembers Jim Patterson and Dr. Joaquin Arambula.

“The passage of SB 760 is great news for our students and community, and will allow CART to continue under its current operating model into the future,” Clovis Unified Superintendent Eimear O’Farrell said in a news release. “Assemblyman Patterson’s effort to protect CART’s funding model, and the bipartisan support this bill received in Sacramento, are wonderful examples of communities working together to provide engaging, high quality education that makes a positive difference for students.”

CART’s unique education model allows junior and senior high school students from Fresno and Clovis Unified to spend 40 percent of their day at their home school and 60 percent of their day at the CART campus. Students are also taught by teachers from both districts. Neither were allowed in the current state education code.

This pioneering structure was unheard of when CART began and required legislation to change the education code in order to allow this type of blended learning structure. A law passed in 2008 was approved with the understanding that it would need to be renewed in five years. This same five year “sunset clause” was part of a 2011 bill that extended the same change to the education code.

The state education code will now be updated to remove the sunset clause so CART can operate in its current form indefinitely.