BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1116|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1116
Author: Huff (R), Romero (D) & Yee (D), et al
Amended: 5/17/10
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 7-0, 3/24/10
AYES: Romero, Huff, Alquist, Liu, Maldonado, Price,
Simitian
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hancock, Wyland
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 9-0, 5/10/10
AYES: Kehoe, Cox, Alquist, Leno, Price, Walters, Wolk,
Wyland, Yee
NO VOTE RECORDED: Corbett, Denham
SUBJECT : Heritage school instruction
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill establishes in statute heritage
schools as a category of schools that are not full-time day
schools that offer education in a foreign language or on
the culture and traditions of a country other than the
United States. This bill requires heritage schools to file
an affidavit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction
detailing specific information relative to personnel and
the course of study, and requires employees of a heritage
school to be fingerprinted, and undergo background checks,
as specified.
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS : Existing law requires every entity offering or
conducting private school instruction on the elementary or
high school level to annually verify information by filing
with the Superintendent of Public Instruction an affidavit
or statement under penalty of perjury setting forth
specified information relating to the current year. The
affidavit or statement must be made available to any parent
or guardian whose child is currently enrolled or is
considering whether to enroll his/her child in the school,
as specified. If the employees of any entities that have a
contract with a private school to provide specified
services may have any contact with pupils, those employees
are required to submit their fingerprints to the Department
of Justice (DOJ) for a background check. The DOJ is
authorized to notify the private school when the employee
has a pending criminal case, or a criminal conviction, of
specified crimes. Private schools contracting with an
entity for construction or other related services where
employees of the entity will have other than limited
contact with pupils, are required to ensure the safety of
the pupils by utilizing one or more methods.
This bill requires heritage schools, as defined, to file an
affidavit with the Superintendent of Public Instruction
detailing specific information relative to personnel and
the course of study, and requires employees of a heritage
school to be fingerprinted. Specifically this bill:
1. Defines a heritage school as a school that serves
children who are between the ages of four years and nine
months and 18 years, who attend a public or private
full-time day school, that does all of the following:
A. Specifies regular hours of operation.
B. Offers education or academic tutoring, or both,
in a foreign language.
C. Offers education on the culture, traditions, or
history of a country other than the United States.
D. Offers culturally enriching activities,
including but not limited to, art, dancing, games
or singing, based on the culture or customs of a
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country other than the United States.
E. Maintains membership in a state or national
cultural or language association.
F. Complies with relevant local government
regulations.
G. Does not operate out of a residential home.
2. Requires every person, firm, association, partnership or
corporation offering or conducting heritage school
instruction to file, between the first and 15th day of
October of each year (beginning October 1, 2010) with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction an affidavit or
statement, under penalty of perjury, by the owner or
other head setting forth the following information for
the current year:
A. All names of the person, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation under which it has done
and is doing business.
B. The address of every place of doing business of
the person, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation within the State of California.
C. The address of the location of the records of
the person, firm, association, partnership or
corporation, and the name and address of the
custodian of the records.
D. The names and addresses of the directors and
principal officers of the person, firm,
association, partnership, or corporation.
E. The school enrollment, by grades, number of
teachers, co-educational or enrollment limited to
boys or girls, and boarding facilities.
G. That specified records are kept at the address
stated, and are true and accurate.
H. Criminal records summary information has been
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obtained pursuant to current law affecting private
school employees.
3. Beginning October 1, 2010, requires the affidavit or
statement to include, under penalty of perjury, a
statement that the heritage school is in compliance with
requirements for fingerprinting and a criminal record
summary as set forth in this bill.
Contracting for specific services
1. Requires employees of any entity contracting with a
heritage school providing any of the following services,
and who may have any contact with pupils, to submit
their fingerprints in a manner authorized by the DOJ,
with any fee charged by DOJ:
A. School and classroom janitorial.
B. School site administrative.
C. School site grounds and landscape maintenance.
D. Pupil transportation.
E. School site food-related services.
2. Exempts an entity providing any of the services listed
above in an emergency or exceptional situation from the
fingerprinting and criminal records summary
requirements.
3. Exempts an entity providing any of the services listed
above from fingerprinting and criminal record summary
requirements if the heritage school determines that the
employees of the entity will have limited contact with
pupils.
4. Authorizes a heritage school to determine, on a
case-by-case basis, to require an entity providing
school site services other than those listed above to
comply with fingerprinting and criminal records summary
requirements.
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5. Requires the heritage school contractor to submit to the
DOJ fingerprint images and related information required
by the DOJ of all employees of the entities that
contract with a heritage school. This bill also
requires the DOJ to forward requests for federal summary
criminal history information to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), review information returned by the
FBI, compile a fitness determination and send it to the
heritage school. This bill requires the heritage school
to request from the DOJ subsequent arrest notification
service, and requires the DOJ to charge a fee sufficient
to cover the cost of processing the request for
information.
6. Prohibits an entity from permitting an employee to come
in contact with pupils until the DOJ has ascertained
that the employee has not been convicted of a felony.
7. Requires an entity having a contract with a heritage
school to certify in writing that neither the employer
nor any of its employees who are required to submit
fingerprints have been convicted of a felony.
8. Requires an entity currently under contract with a
heritage school to complete the fingerprinting
requirements within 90 days of the effective date of
this bill.
Contracting for construction or repair of facilities
1. Requires a heritage school contracting with an entity
for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or
repair of a school facility where the employees of the
entity will have contact, other than limited contact,
with pupils to ensure the safety of the pupils by one or
more of the following methods:
A. The installation of a physical barrier at the
worksite to limit contact with pupils.
B. Continual supervision and monitoring of all
employees of the entity by an employee of the
entity whom the DOJ has ascertained has not been
convicted of a violent or serious felony.
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C. Surveillance of employees of the entity by
school personnel.
2. Provides that an entity that contracts with a heritage
school for construction or repair of a school facility
is not required to comply with fingerprinting and
criminal record summary requirements if one or more of
the methods described above is used. This bill also
exempts an entity providing construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, or repair services in an
emergency or exceptional situation from the requirement
to keep those employees separated from pupils, or that
they be monitored.
3. Prohibits the filing of an affidavit pursuant to this
bill from being interpreted to mean that the State of
California, the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
the State Board of Education, the California Department
of Education (CDE), or any division or bureau of the
CDE, or any accrediting agency has made any evaluation,
recognition, approval or endorsement of the school or
course, unless this is an actual fact. This bill
provides that it is unlawful for any school to expressly
or impliedly represent the filing of an affidavit as an
evaluation, recognition, approval or endorsement.
Heritage Enrichment Resource Fund
1. Establishes the Heritage Enrichment Resource Fund in the
State Treasury, and authorizes monies deposited in the
fund to be used by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction upon appropriation by statute, for the
purposes of this bill.
2. Requires the affidavit or statement to be filed together
with a fee determined by the Superintendent to be
sufficient to cover, but not exceed, the costs of the
CDE in implementing this bill. The fees shall be
deposited into the Heritage Enrichment Resource fund.
Prior/Related Legislation
SB 129 (Huff), 2009-2010 Session , was nearly identical to
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this bill. Was held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
SB 379 (Huff), 2009-2010 Session , exempts heritage schools
from child day care licensure. SB 379 was passed by the
Senate Human Services Committee on an 13-0 vote on April
15, 2009, but was held on the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
AB 1888 (Huff), 2007-08 Session , would have exempted
heritage schools from child care licensure requirements.
This bill was held on the Assembly Appropriations
Committee's suspense file.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/17/10)
Chinese Confucius Temple of Los Angeles
Confucius Chinese Language School
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Oak League Education Institute
Palos Verdes Chinese School
Superior Education, Myo Ho Chinese School
Temple Education Center Corp.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
"heritage schools play an integral role in our communities,
as they are a major source of language and heritage
instruction at the K-12 level. These schools vary in size
and location and rely heavily on parent volunteers. The
teachers and administrators often come from their native
country and are well skilled and educated. Absent
legislation, several of these schools will close down.
Since heritage schools are not defined in state code as
educational entities, DSS (the Department of Social
Services) views them as childcare centers. Without proper
child care licensing requirements, DSS creatively
interprets existing law, or forces these schools to shut
down, denying future generations of students the rich
cultural opportunity these schools provide."
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PQ:do 5/19/10 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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