BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                  AB 352
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          Date of Hearing:   April 15, 2009

                           ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                                Julia Brownley, Chair
            AB 352 (Audra Strickland) - As Introduced:  February 19, 2009
           
           [This bill has been double referred to the Assembly Committee on  
          Governmental Organization and will be heard as it relates to the  
          issues under its jurisdiction.]
           
          SUBJECT  :   Public Records: California Interscholastic  
          Federation.

           SUMMARY  :  Declares the intent of the Legislature that the  
          California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in consultation with  
          the California Department of Education (CDE), comply with the  
          California Public Records Act. 

           EXISTING LAW  : 

          1)Declares the California Interscholastic Federation as a  
            voluntary organization that consists of school and  
            school-related personnel with responsibility for administering  
            interscholastic athletic activities in secondary schools; and,  
            sunsets this declaration on January 1, 2012. 

          2)Declares the intent of the Legislature that the California  
            Interscholastic Federation, in consultation with the  
            department, implement the following policies:
             a)   Give the governing boards of school districts specific  
               authority to select their athletic league representatives.
             b)   Require that all league, section, and state meetings  
               affiliated with the California Interscholastic Federation  
               be subject to the notice and hearing requirements of the  
               Ralph M. Brown Act.
             c)   Establish a neutral final appeals body to hear  
               complaints related to interscholastic athletic policies.
             d)   Provide information to parents and pupils regarding the  
               state and federal complaint procedures for discrimination  
               complaints arising out of interscholastic athletic  
               activities.

          3)Requires the California Interscholastic Federation to report  
            to the Legislature and the Governor on its evaluation and  
            accountability activities undertaken on or before January 1,  








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            2010; and, requires the report to include: 
             a)   The governing structure of the California  
               Interscholastic Federation, and the effectiveness of that  
               governance structure in providing leadership for  
               interscholastic athletics in secondary schools.
             b)   Methods to facilitate communication with agencies,  
               organizations, and public entities whose functions and  
               interests interface with the California Interscholastic  
               Federation.
             c)   The quality of coaching and officiating, including, but  
               not limited to, professional development for coaches and  
               athletic administrators, and parent education programs.
             d)   Gender equity in interscholastic athletics, including,  
               but not limited to, the number of male and female pupils  
               participating in interscholastic athletics in secondary  
               schools, and action taken by the California Interscholastic  
               Federation in order to ensure compliance with Title IX of  
               the Education Amendments of 1972.
             e)   Health and safety of pupils, coaches, officials, and  
               spectators.
             f)   The economic viability of interscholastic athletics in  
               secondary schools, including, but not limited to, the  
               promotion and marketing of interscholastic athletics.
             g)   New and continuing programs available to pupil-athletes.
             h)   Awareness and understanding of emerging issues related  
               to interscholastic athletics in secondary schools.

          4)Declares the intent of the Legislature that the California  
            Interscholastic Federation accomplish all of the following:
             a)   During years in which the California Interscholastic  
               Federation is not required to report to the Legislature and  
               the Governor, it shall hold a public comment period  
               relating to the report at three regularly scheduled  
               federation council meetings per year.
             b)   Annually allow public comment on the policies and  
               practices of the California Interscholastic Federation at a  
               regularly scheduled federation council meeting.
             c)   Require sections of the California Interscholastic  
               Federation to allow public comment on the policies and  
               practices of the California Interscholastic Federation and  
               its sections, and the report required, at each regularly  
               scheduled section meeting.
             d)   Engage in a comprehensive outreach effort to promote the  
               public hearings.









                                                                  AB 352
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           FISCAL EFFECT  :   This bill is keyed non-fiscal.

           COMMENTS  :  This bill declares Legislative intent for CIF to  
          comply with the California Public Records Act.  Currently, CIF  
          complies with the Brown Act which requires all meetings to be  
          publicly noticed and open to the public.  

           Background on CIF  .  Since 1914, the California Department of  
          Education (CDE) has allowed the California Interscholastic  
          Federation, a voluntary association of schools, to regulate  
          interscholastic athletics statewide.  The Federation consists of  
          ten regional sections, each of which is divided into several  
          "leagues," for purposes of scheduling athletic contests,  
          assigning referees, etc.  Similar organizations exist in other  
          states.  Almost all public, private and parochial schools are  
          CIF members.

          The California Interscholastic Federation was organized at a  
          high school athletic convention held at the Y.M.C.A. Field  
          House, Los Angeles, on March 28, 1914.  The primary  
          responsibilities of CIF are to administer high school athletic  
          programs and to promulgate and enforce rules relating to a  
          student's involvement in athletics - age, semesters in school,  
          scholarship, residence, transfer status, and amateur standing.   
          Such regulations, which are generated by the 1,400 member base  
          of secondary schools, prevent undesirable exploitation of high  
          school students, provide for the welfare of participants, and  
          ensure that interscholastic athletics offer major benefits to  
          students in a safe, rewarding environment.  For purposes of  
          administration, California is divided into the following 10  
          sections: Southern Section, Central Section, Los Angeles City  
          Section, North Coast Section, Sac-Joaquin Section, Northern  
          Section, Oakland City Section, San Francisco Section, San Diego  
          Section and Central Coast Section.  The State Federated Council  
          has complete control of all State championships in high school  
          athletics and may specify all details as to methods and places  
          for conducting the contests.  The CIF is one of the 50 state  
          associations that belong to the National Federation of State  
          High School Associations and actively participates in the  
          national organization.  Generally, rules recommended by the  
          national body are adopted by CIF.

          According to the author, because the California Interscholastic  
          Federation (CIF) is a public entity whose authority to govern  
          interscholastic sports in California was delegated by the  








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          Legislature, it is important their records be subject to the  
          Public Records Act.  The Public Records Act is designed to give  
          the public access to information in possession of public  
          agencies for the purposes of transparency and accountability to  
          the public.  AB 352 will declare the intent of the Legislature  
          for the CIF to comply with the Act to promote transparency and  
          accountability.  There is a need for the CIF to comply with the  
          Act so that the public has access to records or precedence often  
          dealing with the eligibility of student athletes to participate  
          in sports and CIF sanctions on students, teams, or schools that  
          violate CIF policies.
           
           The California Association for Health, Physical Education,  
          Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) supports the bill and argues that  
          passage of this bill would implement many of the recommendations  
          presented by CAHPERD last year in a hearing before the Assembly  
          Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet  
          Media.  The expected result of implementing this legislation  
          would be improved transparency and accountability of CIF to the  
          public it serves.  They also propose an amendment to specify  
          that CIF shall annually "actively solicit" public comment on  
          their policies and practices.

          According to CIF, the proposed amendments by CAHPERD are not  
          necessary.  CIF complies with the Brown Act and solicits public  
          comment at every section and state meeting.  They also solicit  
          input on their website.

          According to CIF, AB 352 is overbroad in that it does not  
          provide exemptions for records held by CIF which may be  
          privileged and protected from disclosure by the Family Education  
          Privacy Rights Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and  
          Accountability Act (HIPAA), the California Education Code, and  
          other privacy statutes.  Information submitted to the CIF as  
          part of the student eligibility appeal process or personnel  
          matters often includes confidential information that should not  
          be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the Public Records  
          Act.
           
          Committee Amendments  :  If the committee chooses to pass this  
          measure, staff recommends the bill be amended to specify that  
          when CIF complies with Public Record Act requests, CIF should  
          protect the privacy rights of student athletes and school  
          district personnel.  
           








                                                                 AB 352
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          Related legislation  .  AB 1154 (Strickland) from 2009 requires  
          the California Interscholastic Federation, if it imposes a  
          sanction on an interscholastic team of a member school, to post  
          online the name of the school, the team that has been penalized,  
          the violation that has occasioned the sanction, and a  
          description of the sanction.  This bill is set to be heard by  
          the Assembly Education Committee on April 15, 2009.

          AB 1039 (Strickland) from 2009 authorizes a pupil to appeal a  
          final decision made by the California Interscholastic Federation  
          to suspend or terminate a pupil from participation in a sport  
          for a violation of its codes and regulations; and, requires the  
          county board of education to be the final arbiter in the matter.  
           At the request of the author, the bill is being held in the  
          Assembly Education Committee as a two year bill.

           Previous legislation  . AB 2312 (Strickland) from 2006 would have  
          prohibited school districts, associations or consortia of school  
          districts, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF),  
          voluntary associations, or any other entity that governs  
          interscholastic athletics or activities from prohibiting a pupil  
          who transfers to a school from participating in interscholastic  
          athletics or activities at that school, as specified.  The bill  
          failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee.

          SB 1411 (Ortiz) from 2006 would have allowed students to  
          transfer between high schools and retain varsity athletic  
          eligibility in sports in which the student competed during the  
          previous year.  The bill failed passage in the Senate Education  
          Committee.

          SB 562 (Torlakson), Chapter 301, Statutes of 2005, extended the  
          sunset provisions relating to the California Interscholastic  
          Federation from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2012.  Specified  
          certain reporting requirements and extended, indefinitely,  
          provisions granting authority to the California Department of  
          Education (CDE) to supervise physical education courses.
           
          REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :   

           Support 
           
          California Association for Health, Physical Education,  
          Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD)









                                                                  AB 352
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           Opposition 
           
          None on file.
           
          Analysis Prepared by  :    Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087