BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    



                                                                       



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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.

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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  5/24/10)

          Center for Applied Linguistics
          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  5/24/10   Senate Floor Analyses 

                         SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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