Amended in Assembly April 25, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly BillNo. 643


Introduced by Assembly Member Stone

February 20, 2013


An act to amend begin deleteSections 49076 and 49077end deletebegin insert Section 49076end insert of the Education Code, relating to public schools.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 643, as amended, Stone. Public schools: pupil records: confidentiality.

Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to any person without written parental consent or judicial order, except as provided.

This bill would make various changes to thesebegin delete and other pupil recordend delete provisions to conform them to federal law.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

P1    1

SECTION 1.  

Section 49076 of the Education Code is amended
2to read:

3

49076.  

(a) A school district shall not permit access to pupil
4records to a person without written parental consent or under
5judicial order except as set forth in this section and as permitted
P2    1by Part 99 (commencing with Section 99.1) of Title 34 of the Code
2of Federal Regulations.

3(1) Access to those particular records relevant to the legitimate
4educational interests of the requester shall be permitted to the
5following:

6(A) School officials and employees of the school district,
7members of a school attendance review board appointed pursuant
8to Section 48321 who are authorized representatives of the school
9district, and any volunteer aide, 18 years of age or older, who has
10been investigated, selected, and trained by a school attendance
11review board for the purpose of providing followup services to
12pupils referred to the school attendance review board, provided
13that the person has a legitimate educational interest to inspect a
14record.

15(B) Officials and employees of other public schools or school
16systems, including local, county, or state correctional facilities
17where educational programs leading to high school graduation are
18provided or where the pupil intends to or is directed to enroll,
19subject to the rights of parents as provided in Section 49068.

20(C) Authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of
21the United States, the Secretary of Education, and state and local
22educational authorities, or the United States Department of
23Education’s Office for Civil Rights, if the information is necessary
24to audit or evaluate a state or federally supported education
25program, or in connection with the enforcement of, or compliance
26with, the federal legal requirements that relate to such a program.
27Records released pursuant to thisbegin delete sectionend deletebegin insert subparagraphend insert shall
28comply with the requirements of Section 99.35 of Title 34 of the
29Code of Federal Regulations.

30(D) Other state and local officials to the extent that information
31is specifically required to be reported pursuant to state law adopted
32before November 19, 1974.

33(E) Parents of a pupil 18 years of age or older who is a
34dependent as defined in Section 152 of Title 26 of the United States
35Code.

36(F) A pupil 16 years of age or older or having completed the
3710th grade who requests access.

38(G) A district attorney who is participating in or conducting a
39truancy mediation program pursuant to Section 48263.5, or Section
40601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or participating in the
P3    1presentation of evidence in a truancy petition pursuant to Section
2681 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

3(H) A district attorney’s office for consideration against a parent
4or guardian for failure to comply with the Compulsory Education
5Law (Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 48200)) or with
6Compulsory Continuation Education (Chapter 3 (commencing
7with Section 48400)).

8(I) (i) A probation officer, district attorney, or counsel of record
9for a minor for purposes of conducting a criminal investigation or
10an investigation in regards to declaring a person a ward of the court
11 or involving a violation of a condition of probation.

12(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a probation officer,
13district attorney, and counsel of record for a minor shall be deemed
14to be local officials for purposes of Section 99.31(a)(5)(i) of Title
1534 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

16(iii) Pupil records obtained pursuant to this subparagraph shall
17be subject to the evidentiary rules described in Section 701 of the
18Welfare and Institutions Code.

19(J) A judge or probation officer for the purpose of conducting
20a truancy mediation program for a pupil, or for purposes of
21presenting evidence in a truancy petition pursuant to Section 681
22of the Welfare and Institutions Code. The judge or probation officer
23shall certify in writing to the school district that the information
24will be used only for truancy purposes. A school district releasing
25pupil information to a judge or probation officer pursuant to this
26subparagraph shall inform, or provide written notification to, the
27parent or guardian of the pupil within 24 hours of the release of
28the information.

29(K) A county placing agency when acting as an authorized
30representative of a state or local educational agency pursuant to
31subparagraph (C). School districts, county offices of education,
32and county placing agencies may develop cooperative agreements
33to facilitate confidential access to and exchange of the pupil
34information by email, facsimile, electronic format, or other secure
35means,begin delete providedend deletebegin insert ifend insert the agreement complies with the requirements
36set forth in Section 99.35 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
37 Regulations.

38(L) (i) An agency caseworker or other representative of a state
39or local child welfare agency, or tribal organization, as defined in
40Section 450b of Title 25 of the United States Code, that has legal
P4    1responsibility, in accordance with state law, for the care and
2protection of the pupil.

3(ii) Pupil records obtained pursuant to this subparagraph, or
4personally identifiable information contained in those records,
5may be disclosed by the agency or organization specified in clause
6(i) to an individual or entity who is engaged in addressing the
7pupil’s educational needs and who is authorized by that agency or
8organization to receive the disclosure. The records, or the
9personallybegin delete identifiedend deletebegin insert identifiableend insert information contained in those
10records, shall not otherwise be disclosed by that agency or
11organization, except as provided under the federal Family
12Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) and
13state law, including paragraph (3).

14(2) School districts may release information from pupil records
15to the following:

16(A) Appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if
17the knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health
18or safety of a pupil or other persons. Schools or school districts
19releasing information pursuant to thisbegin delete sectionend deletebegin insert subparagraphend insert shall
20comply with the requirements set forth in Section 99.32(a)(5) of
21Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

22(B) Agencies or organizations in connection with the application
23of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid. However, information
24permitting the personal identification of a pupil or his or her parents
25may be disclosed only as may be necessary for purposes as to
26determine the eligibility of the pupil for financial aid, to determine
27the amount of the financial aid, to determine the conditions that
28will be imposed regarding the financial aid, or to enforce the terms
29or conditions of the financial aid.

30(C) Pursuant to Section 99.37 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
31Regulations, a county elections official, for the purpose of
32identifying pupils eligible to register to vote, or for conducting
33programs to offer pupils an opportunity to register to vote. The
34information shall not be used for any other purpose or given or
35transferred to any other person or agency.

36(D) Accrediting associations in order to carry out their
37accrediting functions.

38(E) Organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of,
39educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of developing,
40validating, or administering predictive tests, administering student
P5    1aid programs, and improving instruction, if the studies are
2conducted in a manner that will not permit the personal
3identification of pupils or their parents by persons other than
4representatives of the organizations, the information will be
5destroyed when no longer needed for the purpose for which it is
6obtained, and the organization enters into a written agreement with
7the educational agency or institution that complies with Section
899.31(a)(6) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

9(F) Officials and employees of private schools or school systems
10where the pupil is enrolled or intends to enroll, subject to the rights
11of parents as provided in Section 49068 and in compliance with
12the requirements in Section 99.34 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
13Regulations. This information shall be in addition to the pupil’s
14permanent record transferred pursuant to Section 49068.

15(G) (i) A contractor or consultant with a legitimate educational
16interest who has a formal written agreement or contract with the
17school district regarding the provision of outsourced institutional
18services or functions by the contractor or consultant.

19(ii) Notwithstanding Section 99.31(a)(1)(i)(B) of Title 34 of the
20Code of Federal Regulations, a disclosure pursuant to this
21begin deleteparagraphend deletebegin insert subparagraphend insert shall not be permitted to a volunteer or
22other party.

23(3) A person, persons, agency, or organization permitted access
24to pupil records pursuant to this section shall not permit access to
25any information obtained from those records by another person,
26persons, agency, or organization, except for allowable exceptions
27contained within the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy
28Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) and state law, including this section,
29and implementing regulations, without the written consent of the
30pupil’s parent. This paragraphbegin delete doesend deletebegin insert shallend insert not require prior parental
31consent when information obtained pursuant to this section is
32shared with other persons within the educational institution, agency,
33 or organization obtaining access, so long as those persons have a
34legitimate educational interest in the information pursuant to
35Section 99.31(a)(1)(i)(A) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
36Regulations.

37(4) Notwithstanding any other law, a school district, including
38a county office of education or county superintendent of schools,
39may participate in an interagency data information system that
40permits access to a computerized database system within and
P6    1between governmental agencies or school districts as to information
2or records that are nonprivileged, and where release is authorized
3as to the requesting agency under state or federal law or regulation,
4if each of the following requirements are met:

5(A) Each agency and school district shall develop security
6procedures or devices by which unauthorized personnel cannot
7access data contained in the system.

8(B) Each agency and school district shall develop procedures
9or devices to secure privileged or confidential data from
10unauthorized disclosure.

11(C) Each school district shall comply with the access log
12requirements of Section 49064.

13(D) The right of access granted shall not include the right to
14add, delete, or alter data without the written permission of the
15agency holding the data.

16(E) An agency or school district shall not make public or
17otherwise release information on an individual contained in the
18database if the information is protected from disclosure or release
19as to the requesting agency by state or federal law or regulation.

20(b) The officials and authorities to whom pupil records are
21disclosed pursuant to subdivisionbegin delete (f)end deletebegin insert (e)end insert of Section 48902 and
22subparagraph (I) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall certify
23in writing to the disclosing school district that the information
24shall not be disclosed to another party, except as provided under
25the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C.
26Sec. 1232g) and state law, without the prior written consent of the
27parent of the pupil or the person identified as the holder of the
28pupil’s educational rights.

29(c) (1) begin deleteAny end deletebegin insertA end insertperson or party who is not permitted access to
30pupil records pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may request access
31to pupil records as provided for in paragraph (2).

32(2) A local educational agency or other person or party who has
33received pupil records, or information from pupil records, may
34release the records or information to a person or party identified
35in paragraph (1) without the consent of the pupil’s parent or
36guardian pursuant to Section 99.31(b) of Title 34 of the Code of
37Federal Regulations, if the records or information are deidentified,
38which requires the removal of all personally identifiable
39information,begin delete provided thatend deletebegin insert ifend insert the disclosing local educational agency
40or other person or party has made a reasonable determination that
P7    1a pupil’s identity is not personally identifiable, whether through
2single or multiple releases, and has taken into account other
3pertinent reasonably available information.

begin delete
4

SEC. 2.  

Section 49077 of the Education Code is amended to
5read:

6

49077.  

Information concerning a pupil shall be furnished in
7compliance with a court order or a lawfully issued subpoena. The
8school district shall make a reasonable effort to notify the parent
9or legal guardian and the pupil in advance of compliance with a
10lawfully issued subpoena and, in the case of compliance with a
11court order, if lawfully possible within the requirements of the
12order, except that additional notice by the school district to the
13parent or legal guardian is not required when the parent or legal
14guardian is a party to a court proceeding involving child abuse and
15neglect, as defined in Section 3 of the federal Child Abuse
16Prevention and Treatment Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 5101 notes) or
17dependency matter and the order is issued in the context of that
18proceeding.

end delete


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