BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1101
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB
1101 (Bonilla)
As Amended May 20, 2015
Majority vote
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|Committee |Votes |Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+------+---------------------+---------------------|
|Education |7-0 |O'Donnell, Chávez, | |
| | |Kim, McCarty, | |
| | |Santiago, Thurmond, | |
| | |Weber | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: Requires a school district that elects to undertake an
investigation to determine whether a pupil meets residency
requirements to adopt a policy regarding the investigation of a
pupil before investigating any pupils. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the policy to identify the circumstances upon which the
school district may initiate an investigation, which shall, at a
minimum, require the school district employee to be able to
identify specific, articulable facts supporting the belief that
the parent or legal guardian of the pupil has provided false or
unreliable evidence of residency.
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2)Requires the policy to describe the investigatory methods that
may be used by the school district in the conduct of the
investigation, including whether the district will be employing
the services of a private investigator.
3)Requires the policy to prohibit the surreptitious photographing
of pupils who are being investigated.
4)Specifies that the policy shall require that employees and
contractors of the school district engaged in the investigation
must identify themselves truthfully as such to individuals
contacted or interviewed during the course of the investigation.
5)Requires the policy to provide a process whereby the
determination of a school district as to whether a pupil meets
the residency requirements for school attendance in the school
district may be appealed, and specify the basis for that
determination. Specifies that if an appeal is made, the burden
shall be on the appealing party to show why the decision of the
school district should be overruled.
6)Requires the policy required pursuant to this bill to be adopted
at a public meeting of the governing board of the school
district.
FISCAL EFFECT: None
COMMENTS: Under current law, compulsory education begins at age
six until age 18. Any person subject to compulsory education
found away from home without a valid excuse for not attending
school can be arrested by school officials or peace or probation
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officers. A pupil is required to attend school in the district in
which the residency of either the parent or legal guardian is
located. Documentation of residency includes property tax payment
receipts; rental property contract, lease, or payment receipts;
utility service contract, statement, or payment receipts; pay
stubs; voter registration; correspondence from a government
agency; or declaration of residency executed by the parent or
legal guardian. If an employee of a school district reasonably
believes that the parent or legal guardian of a pupil has provided
false or unreliable evidence of residency, the school district is
authorized to make reasonable efforts to determine whether the
pupil meets residency requirements.
What does this bill do? This bill requires a school district that
elects to investigate a pupil's residency to adopt a policy
regarding such investigations. This bill requires the policy to
be adopted at a governing board meeting and to contain the
following:
1)Identify the circumstances upon which the school district may
initiate an investigation, which shall, at a minimum, require
the school district employee to be able to identify specific,
articulable facts supporting the belief that the parent or legal
guardian of the pupil has provided false or unreliable evidence
of residency. The policy must also describe the investigatory
method to be used by the school district to conduct the
investigation, including whether the district will be hiring
private investigators.
2)Prohibit photographing of a pupil involved in the investigation.
3)Require that employees and contractors of the school district
must identify themselves truthfully when contacting or
interviewing individuals during the investigation.
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4)Provide an appeals process. If a parent or legal guardian
appeals the decision of a school district, the burden for
showing why the decision should be overruled falls on the
appealing party.
Purpose of this bill. The author states, "Schools should have
tools available to investigate residency issues, but we need to
ensure safeguards are in place to protect those students being
investigated especially elementary school-aged children." The
author cites, as an example, a Contra Costa Times report of the
investigatory tactics undertaken by investigators hired by the
Orinda Union School District to investigate a seven-year-old girl
the school district disenrolled last fall. According to the
article, the investigator told the mother of the child named
Vivian and neighbors at the family's old neighborhood that he was
a car insurance investigator. The school district later reversed
the decision to remove the child from the school district when it
learned that the mother was a live-in nanny for a couple residing
in the Orinda Union School District that was her primary
residence. The little girl was in the other neighborhood spending
time with her great-grandmother, who was ill. The article reports
that hiring investigators to investigate residency issues is not
uncommon, especially for smaller school districts that are unable
to dedicate staff for this purpose. Investigators interviewed in
the article acknowledge that they do hide their identity in hopes
that people will "rat the kids out" unwittingly.
Current law simply says that a school district may make
"reasonable efforts" to determine a pupil's residency. The law
does not specify how that is to be done.
It is unclear how many districts hire private investigators to
conduct residency checks. School districts are funded through the
Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) based on an average daily
attendance basis. Increasing enrollment increases funding for
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schools, except for those deemed basic aid districts. Basic aid
districts do not receive or receive minimal LCFF because their
local property taxes provide higher levels of funding than they
would receive through LCFF. These districts would not benefit
from increased enrollment. A basic aid status can fluctuate from
year to year. In 2014 to 2015, there were 144 basic aid districts
in the state.
The author may wish to consider requiring a school district to
make an attempt to reconcile any questions or problems (e.g., two
documents containing two different addresses) prior to hiring an
investigator. A parent or legal guardian may be able to clear up
any discrepancy or the parent or legal guardian may tell the
truth, which could avoid the employment of a private investigator.
Arguments in support. The author states, "AB 1101 protects
student safety and privacy by requiring school boards to adopt a
policy when a private investigator is hired to conduct an
investigation to determine whether a student resides within the
school district boundaries. AB 1101 protects children, like
Vivian, from questionable investigatory techniques such as lying
to family members and neighbors and taking surreptitious photos of
young students. This bill creates more transparency and disclosure
in student residency investigations and provides for due process
in challenging a student's home residency."
Arguments in opposition. The California School Boards Association
states that this bill "enables those looking to evade a school
district's efforts to implement statutory residency criteria by
requiring governing boards to adopt board policies containing
details about the procedures and parameters of these
investigations. The requirement that districts' identify
specific, articulable facts' supporting their findings could force
districts to compromise the confidentiality of those who provide
information in connection to investigations. The latter would
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have a detrimental effect on the willingness of school district
employees and community members to provide true and accurate
information to investigators."
Analysis Prepared by:
Sophia Kwong Kim / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN:
0000485