BILL ANALYSIS Ó ----------------------------------------------------------------- |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1068| |Office of Senate Floor Analyses | | |1020 N Street, Suite 524 | | |(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | | |327-4478 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- THIRD READING Bill No: AB 1068 Author: Bloom (D) Amended: 4/1/13 in Assembly Vote: 21 SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/26/13 AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff, Monning, Torres SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13 AYES: De León, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote SUBJECT : Pupil records SOURCE : National Association for the Education of Homeless Youth and Children DIGEST : This bill prohibits the release of directory information for homeless pupils, and requires schools to permit access to pupil records to a pupil who is at least 14 years old, homeless and unaccompanied. ANALYSIS : The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prohibits federal funds from being provided to any educational agency or institution which has a policy or practice of permitting the release of a pupil's educational records to any individual, agency, or organization without the written CONTINUED AB 1068 Page 2 consent of the pupil's parents. FERPA exempts from the general parental consent requirement certain kinds of disclosures, including disclosures to state and local officials for the purposes of conducting truancy proceedings, a criminal investigation, auditing or evaluating an educational program, or in relation to the application for financial aid. Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to pupil records to a person without parental consent or under judicial order, with some exceptions: 1. School districts are required to permit access to records relevant to the legitimate educational interests of specified requesters, including: A. School officials and employees of the districts, members of a school attendance review board and any volunteer aide, as specified, provided that the person has a legitimate educational interest to inspect a record. B. Officials and employees of other public schools or school systems where the pupil intends to or is directed to enroll. C. Other federal, state and local officials, as specified. D. Parents of a pupil 18 years of age or older who is a dependent. E. A pupil 16 years of age or older or having completed the 10th grade who requests access. F. A district attorney, judge or probation officer, in relation to truancy proceedings. G. A district attorney's office for consideration against a parent for failure to comply with compulsory education laws. H. A probation officer, district attorney, or counsel of record for a minor, in relation to a criminal investigation or in regard to declaring a person a ward CONTINUED AB 1068 Page 3 of the court or involving a violation of a condition of probation. I. A county placing agency when acting as an authorized representative of a state or local educational agency. 2. School districts are authorized to release information from pupil records to the following: A. Appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if the information is necessary to protect the health or safety of a pupil or other person. B. Agencies or organizations in connection with the application of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid. C. The county elections official for the identification of pupils who are eligible to register to vote. D. Accrediting associations in order to carry out accrediting functions. E. Organizations conducting studies on behalf of educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of developing, validating or administering predictive tests, administering student aid programs, and improving instruction. F. Officials and employees of private schools or school systems where the pupil is enrolled or intends to enroll. G. A contractor or consultant with a legitimate educational interest who has a formal written agreement or contract with the school district regarding the provision of outsourced institutional services or functions by the contractor or consultant. Existing law: 1. Requires school districts to adopt a policy identifying categories of directory information that may be released, and authorizes directory information to be released according to the local policy. School districts are required to provide CONTINUED AB 1068 Page 4 notice at least annually of the categories of information that the school plans to release and of the recipients. The release of directory information is prohibited if the parent has notified the school district that the information is not to be released. 2. Defines "directory information" as one or more of the following: pupil's name, address, telephone number, date of birth, email address, major field of study, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of athletics teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous public or private school attended by the pupil. 3. Requires school districts to notify parents in writing of their rights, including the types of pupil records kept by the district, the position of the official responsible for the records, the policies for reviewing and expunging records, and the criteria used by the district to define "school officials and employees" and to determine "legitimate educational interest." 4. Establishes the Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit for the purpose of authorizing enrollment of a minor in school and to authorize school-related medical care. This affidavit requests the name of the minor, the minor's birthdate, the adult's name, and the adult's home address at which he/she and the minor are living. This affidavit must also be signed by the adult attesting that he/she is 18 years of age or older and that the named minor lives in the adult's home. The affidavit states that the declaration does not affect the rights of the minor's parents or legal guardian regarding the care, custody, and control of the minor, and does not mean that the caregiver has legal custody of the minor. The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act defines "homeless children and youths" as children and youths who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes children and youths who, among other situations, are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations. Unaccompanied youth are considered homeless pursuant to McKinney-Vento and who is not in the CONTINUED AB 1068 Page 5 physical custody of his/her parent or legal guardian. This bill prohibits the release of directory information for homeless pupils, and requires schools to permit access to pupil records to a pupil who is at least 14 years old, homeless and unaccompanied. Specifically, this bill: 1. Prohibits the release of directory information regarding a pupil identified as being homeless unless a parent, or pupil with parental rights, has provided written consent for such release. 2. Expands the existing requirement that school districts permit access to pupil records relevant to the legitimate educational interests of the requester, to permit access to the following individuals: A. A pupil who is 14 years of age or older and is both a homeless child or youth and an unaccompanied youth as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. B. An individual who completes the Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit and signs the affidavit for the purpose of enrolling a minor in school. FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes According to the Senate Appropriations Committee: Mandate : This bill imposes a new mandate on local education agencies (LEAs) which is likely to be deemed reimbursable, by the Commission on State Mandates. While the workload increase for any one LEA is likely to be minor, reimbursable costs could exceed $500,000 (General Fund) statewide. SUPPORT : (Verified 8/30/13) National Association for the Education of Homeless Youth and Children (source) California Coalition for Youth California Federation of Teachers California Partnership to End Domestic Violence Children Now CONTINUED AB 1068 Page 6 ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Unaccompanied homeless youth are youth experiencing homelessness who are not in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Most of these students have left home due to severe family dysfunction, including abuse and neglect. Unaccompanied youth who have not yet turned 18 are not considered 'eligible students' and therefore cannot access their own educational records and cannot give consent for the school to disclose their records to advocates, community agencies, health care providers, tutoring programs, or other agencies or individuals that do not fall within one of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act exceptions." ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/13 AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal, Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. Pérez NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy PQ:d 8/30/13 Senate Floor Analyses SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE **** END **** CONTINUED