BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: AB 1101
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|Author: |Bonilla |
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|Version: |June 17, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: June 24, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |No |
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|Consultant:|Lynn Lorber |
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Subject: Pupil school enrollment: residency requirements:
policy on investigations
SUMMARY
This bill requires a school district that elects to investigate
the residency of a student to first adopt a policy regarding
such investigations.
BACKGROUND
Existing law:
1)Requires students to attend the public full-time day school or
continuation school or classes in which the residency of
either the parent or legal guardian is located. (Education
Code § 48200)
2)Provides that a student complies with the residency
requirements for school attendance in a school district if the
student:
a) Is placed within the boundaries of the school district
in a licensed children's institution, licensed foster home,
or a foster family home.
b) If a foster child who remains in his or her school of
origin.
c) Has been approved for interdistrict attendance.
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d) Resides within the boundaries of the school districts
and whose parent or legal guardian is relieved of
responsibility, control, and authority through
emancipation.
e) Lives in the home of a caregiving adult that is located
within the boundaries of that school district.
f) Resides in a state hospital located within the
boundaries of the school district. (EC § 48204)
1)Until July 1, 2017, authorizes school districts to deem a
student to have complied with the residency requirements for
school attendance in a school district if at least one parent
or the legal guardian is physically employed within the
boundaries of that district for a minimum of 10 hours during
the school week.
a) School districts are not required to admit a student
with at least one parent or legal guardian who is
physically employed in the district.
b) A school district may prohibit the transfer of a student
if the district determines that the transfer would
negatively impact the court-ordered or voluntary
desegregation plan of the district, or if the district
determines that the additional cost of educating the
student would exceed the amount of additional state aid
received as a result of the transfer. (EC § 48204)
1)Requires school districts to accept from the parent or legal
guardian reasonable evidence that the student meets the
residency requirements for school attendance in the district.
Current law requires reasonable evidence of residency to be
established by documentation showing the name and address of
the parent or legal guardian within the school district,
including but not limited to the following:
a) Property tax payment receipts.
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b) Rental property contract, lease, or payment receipts.
c) Utility service contract, statement, or payment
receipts.
d) Pay stubs.
e) Voter registration.
f) Correspondence from a government agency.
g) Declaration of residency executed by the parent or legal
guardian.
(EC § 48204.1)
1)Authorizes school districts to make reasonable efforts to
determine that the student actually meets the residency
requirements if an employee of the district reasonably
believes that the parent or legal guardian has provided false
or unreliable evidence of residency. (EC § 48204.1)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires a school district that elects to investigate
the residency of a student to first adopt a policy regarding
such investigations. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires the governing board of a school district, if the
district elects to undertake an investigation to determine if
a student meets residency requirements, to adopt a policy
regarding the investigation of a student to determine
residency for school attendance before investigating any
students.
2)Requires the policy to do all of the following:
a) Identify the circumstances upon which the school
district may initiate an investigation, which must, 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 has provided false or
unreliable evidence of residency.
b) Describe the investigatory methods that may be
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used by the school district in the conduct of the
investigation, including whether the school district will
be employing the services of a private investigator.
c) Require the school district to make reasonable
efforts to determine whether the student resides in the
school district before hiring a private investigator.
d) Prohibit the surreptitious photographing of
students who are being investigated.
e) Require that employees and contractors of the
school district engaged in the investigation identify
themselves truthfully as such to individuals contacted or
interviewed during the course of the investigation.
f) Provide a process whereby the determination of a
school district as to whether a student meets residency
requirements may be appealed, and specify the basis for
that determination. Provides that the burden is on the
appealing party to show why the decision of the school
district should be overruled.
3)Requires the policy to be adopted at a public meeting of the
school district governing board.
STAFF COMMENTS
1)Need for the bill. According to the author, "In November 2014,
the Orinda Union School District hired a private investigator
to determine whether or not seven year old Vivian met the
residency requirements to attend second grade in the school
district. The investigator visited Vivian's old neighborhood
where he lied to neighbors and Vivian's mother, Maria. He
claimed he was a car insurance reviewer looking into an auto
accident involving Maria's car. The investigator was unaware
that Maria filed a domestic violence restraining order against
her ex-husband. Maria took these actions to keep her and her
daughter's real residence hidden. Through these duplicitous
investigatory techniques, the investigator incorrectly
determined that Vivian lived outside of the school district.
The family received a letter from the school district
explaining that Vivian was dismissed from attending school in
the district. The Orinda Union School District did not
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provide the family with any evidence or reasons as to why they
initiated the investigation."
2)Investigative tools. Existing law authorizes school districts to
make reasonable efforts to determine that the student actually
meets the residency requirements if an employee of the
district reasonably believes that the parent or legal guardian
has provided false or unreliable evidence of residency.
Statutes do not define "reasonable efforts" nor provide
examples of what constitutes reasonable efforts. This bill
requires school districts' policies to require schools to make
reasonable efforts to determine whether a student resides in
the district before hiring a private investigator. It appears
that reasonable efforts may range from a discussion with
parents about the belief that false or unreliable evidence of
residency was provided, to hiring a private investigator.
This bill requires school districts' policies to prohibit the
surreptitious photographing of students. It is not clear that
this bill prohibits all photographing of students. Does it
depend on whether a student has a reasonable expectation of
privacy? May an investigator take photos of a student in a
public setting? Is photographing students a necessary
investigative tool? The author may wish to include a
definition of "surreptitious" for the purposes of this bill.
3)Fiscal impact. This bill is flagged as being non-fiscal.
4)Related and prior legislation.
RELATED LEGISLATION
SB 200 (Lara, 2015) provides that a student meets residency
requirements for school attendance if the student's parent or
legal guardian is employed and lives at the place of
employment within the boundaries of the school district for at
least three days during the school week. SB 200 is pending in
the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
PRIOR LEGISLATION
AB 207 (Ammiano, Ch. 435, 2011) required school districts to accept
reasonable evidence that the student meets residency
requirements, and requires reasonable evidence to be
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established by documentation showing the name and address of
the parent within the school district. AB 207 further
specified that such documentation includes, but is not limited
to, 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; and, declaration of
residency executed by the parent or legal guardian.
SUPPORT
California Federation of Teachers
California State PTA
Public Advocates
OPPOSITION
California School Boards Association
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