BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 
          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                       AB 2097|
          |Office of Senate Floor Analyses   |                              |
          |(916) 651-1520    Fax: (916)      |                              |
          |327-4478                          |                              |
           ----------------------------------------------------------------- 


                                       CONSENT


          Bill No:  AB 2097
          Author:   Melendez (R), Gatto (D), and Gonzalez (D), et al.
          Amended:  4/25/16 in Assembly
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  9-0, 6/15/16
           AYES:  Liu, Block, Hancock, Huff, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan,  
            Vidak

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  Senate Rule 28.8

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/19/16 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote

           SUBJECT:   Pupil records:  social security numbers


          SOURCE:    Author


          DIGEST:  This bill prohibits a local educational agency from  
          collecting or soliciting social security numbers or the last  
          four digits of social security numbers from students or their  
          parents.
          
          ANALYSIS:   Existing federal law, the Family Educational Rights  
          and Privacy Act (FERPA):

       1)Requires, generally, schools to have written permission from the  
            parent or eligible student in order to release any information  
            from a student's education record.  However, FERPA allows  
            schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the  
            following parties or under the following conditions:

          a)   School officials with legitimate educational interest.








                                                                    AB 2097  
                                                                    Page  2




          b)   Other schools to which a student is transferring.

          c)   Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes.

          d)   Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a  
               student.

          e)   Organizations conducting certain studies for or on behalf  
               of the school.

          f)   Accrediting organizations.

          g)   To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued  
               subpoena.

          h)   Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety  
               emergencies.

          i)   State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice  
               system, pursuant to specific State law.

       2)Authorizes schools to disclose, without consent, "directory"  
            information such as a student's name, address, telephone  
            number, and date and place of birth.  Existing law requires  
            schools to notify parents and eligible students about  
            directory information and allow them a reasonable amount of  
            time to request that the school not disclose such information.  
             Existing law requires schools to also notify parents and  
            eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA.   
            (United States Code, Title 20, § 1232(g), and Code of Federal  
            Regulations, Title 34, Part 99)

          Existing state law:

       1)Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI), in  
            order to assist the State in evaluating the effectiveness of  
            special education programs, to collect and use social security  
            numbers of individuals with exceptional needs as student  
            identification numbers.  

       2)Prohibits the SPI from disclosing personally identifiable,  








                                                                    AB 2097  
                                                                    Page  3



            individual student records to any person, institution, agency,  
            or organization except as authorized by federal law.   
            (Education Code § 56601)

       3)Prohibits a school district from permitting access to student  
            records to any person without written parental consent or  
            pursuant to a judicial order except as set forth in federal  
            law.  Existing law requires access to those particular records  
            relevant to the legitimate educational interests of the  
            requester to be permitted to specified requesters of that  
            information.  (EC § 49076)

       4)Requires local educational agencies to retain individual student  
            records, including a unique student identification number.   
            (EC § 60900)

          This bill:

       1)Prohibits a school district, county office of education, or  
            charter school from collecting or soliciting social security  
            numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers  
            from students or their parents, unless otherwise required to  
            do so by state or federal law.  

       2)Authorizes the California Department of Education (CDE) to  
            additionally prohibit the collection and solicitation of other  
            personally identifiable information, as recommended by the SPI  
            and approved by the State Board of Education.

       3)Eliminates the authority for the SPI to collect and use social  
            security numbers, associated with students receiving special  
            education or related services.

       4)States legislative findings and declarations regarding  
            prioritizing student data privacy, and that social security  
            numbers are the single most misused piece of information  
            associated with identity theft.

          Comments
          
          Morgan Hill case.  This bill is in response to issues related to  
          Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and Concerned Parents  








                                                                    AB 2097  
                                                                    Page  4



          Association vs. California Department of Education, in which the  
          plaintiffs allege the CDE is failing to ensure that special  
          education students are receiving the services to which they are  
          entitled.  As part of the discovery process, the plaintiffs have  
          sought access to the records of approximately 10 million special  
          education students.  The records are contained in the California  
          Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS).

          On May 5, 2014, the court approved a "discovery protective  
          order" and subsequently approved an "E-discovery Protocol,"  
          which identifies and describes the CDE databases that may  
          contain discoverable material and discusses methods by which  
          discovery can proceed while protecting personal identifying  
          information.  The E-discovery Protocol identified two options  
          for discovery of data.  Option 1 was the transfer of data in  
          CALPADS if and when the plaintiffs establish a secure  
          environment approved by a Special Master.  In Option 2, CDE  
          would retain the data but would facilitate the running of  
          searches to meet the plaintiffs' discovery needs.

          The ensuing media coverage reported that the court ordered the  
          release of data, resulting in a huge outcry among parents who  
          were concerned about the security of their children's  
          information and the possibility of identity theft.  In the midst  
          of this, the CDE posted a FERPA notice on its Web site that  
          included an "Objection to Disclosure of Student Information and  
          Records" form for parents to fill out and send to the court.   
          After being inundated with the forms, the court held a special  
          status on February 29, 2016, to discuss the public posting of  
          the FERPA notice, the public's response, and the implications  
          for discovery.

          On March 1, 2016, the court eliminated Option 1 and directed the  
          Special Master to proceed with Option 2 and to meet and confer  
          with the parties to recommend further modifications to the  
          E-discovery Protocol.  This means that the CDE maintains custody  
          of CALPADS data, while running searches for information  
          requested by the plaintiffs.  The court also reiterated that no  
          student personally identifiable information may be released to  
          the plaintiffs unless and until they demonstrate to the  
          satisfaction of the court that the method to be used to store  
          the sensitive student data is secure.  The parties continue to  








                                                                    AB 2097  
                                                                    Page  5



          litigate the extent of the disclosure of student data.

          Only special education.  The CDE used social security numbers as  
          identifiers only for students receiving special education as a  
          means to comply with federal requirements to track the  
          postsecondary activities of students (neither postsecondary  
          education nor the workplace uses the unique student  
          identifiers).  The CDE indicates, they are currently working to  
          remove social security numbers from the California Special  
          Education Management Information System, and are in the process  
          of incorporating the data for all students into CALPADS.  The  
          CDE further notes they have already assigned unique student  
          identifiers to all students, including those receiving special  
          education.  While the CDE is already complying with the  
          provisions of this bill, the bill also prohibits schools from  
          collecting or soliciting social security numbers or the last  
          four digits of social security numbers.


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/1/16)


          California State PTA
          California Teachers Association
          The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/1/16)


          None received




           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  76-0, 5/19/16
           AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Arambula, Atkins, Baker,  
            Bigelow, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke,  








                                                                    AB 2097  
                                                                    Page  6



            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines,  
            Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger  
            Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey,  
            Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, Medina,  
            Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen,  
            Patterson, Quirk, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Wood, Rendon
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Chang, Mathis, McCarty, Williams



          Prepared by:  Lynn Lorber / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          8/3/16 18:56:56


                                   ****  END  ****