BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Senator Carol Liu, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular
Bill No: SB 532
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|Author: |Leyva |
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|Version: |April 6, 2015 Hearing |
| |Date: April 15, 2015 |
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|Urgency: |No |Fiscal: |Yes |
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|Consultant:|Kathleen Chavira |
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Subject: Governing boards of school districts: nonvoting and
preferential voting pupil ????..Members
SUMMARY
This bill requires that a school district governing board act on
a request for pupil representation on the board within 60 days
of receipt of the request, and requires a unanimous vote of all
voting members of the board in order to eliminate a student
representative from the board, subject to such action being
noticed as a public item on the board's agenda.
BACKGROUND
Existing law authorizes the submission of a pupil petition to a
school district governing board requesting the appointment of
one or more nonvoting pupil members to the board or requesting
the board to allow preferential voting for the pupil member(s)
of the board. The petition is required to contain signature of
either 500 or more pupils who are regularly enrolled in high
schools of the district, or (b) not less than 10 percent of the
number of pupils regularly enrolled in high schools of the
district, whichever is less.
Existing law requires the governing board to annually order the
inclusion of the non-voting pupil member(s), and preferential
voting for the pupil member(s) upon receipt of a petition for
pupil representation.
Existing law requires that students selected for this purpose be
SB 532 (Leyva) Page 2
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enrolled in a high school of the district, authorizes that they
can be less than 18 years of age, and requires they be chosen by
the pupils enrolled in the high school (s) of the district in
accordance with procedures prescribed by the governing board,
and serve a one year term beginning July 1 of each year.
(Education Code § 35012)
ANALYSIS
This bill:
1. Requires that each fiscal year, and within 60 days of a
receipt of a petition for pupil representation, or at the
next regularly scheduled board meeting, that the governing
board order the inclusion of at least one non-voting pupil
member.
2. Requires a unanimous vote of all voting board members in
order to eliminate a non-voting or preferential voting
pupil member position from the school district governing
board.
3. Requires that a decision to eliminate a non-voting or
preferential voting pupil member position, and the reasons
for this action, be listed as a public agenda item for a
meeting of the governing board.
STAFF COMMENTS
1. Need for the bill. According to the author, in the fall of
2013 the student board member position was eliminated from
the Beverly Hills Unified School District board of
education without any public record or official vote. As a
result the student board member position was nonexistent
for one semester. Through the efforts of one student, the
board members eventually reinstated the position, but the
elimination of the position still remains a threat. In
addition, students from the Los Angeles Unified School
district petitioned their school board with the necessary
500 signatures to create a student board member position in
the spring of 2014. According to the author, a year later
the board has yet to respond. According to the author,
this bill would protect the voice of students by ensuring a
formal and transparent process for both the establishment
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and removal of a student school board member position.
2. Related Informational Hearing. On February 25, 2015 this
Committee held an informational hearing on the California
Association of Student Councils (CASC). CASC presented a
number of legislative proposals for the committee's
consideration. Among their 6 proposals was one that
recommended the amending of existing law to require a
formal elimination process for the student board member
position and a 60 day response limit to a petition to add a
student board member. This bill proposes legislation to
implement that proposal.
3. Prior legislation. AB 1007 (Carter, 2009) required
appointment of one or more non-voting pupils to the board
upon receipt of a pupil petition requesting this, within 30
days of receipt of that petition or at its next regularly
scheduled meeting if no meeting was held within those 30
days. AB 1007 was ultimately vetoed by the Governor, whose
message read, in pertinent part:
I am unaware of any school board intentionally
withholding action on a student representation
petition. Therefore, I believe this bill is
unnecessary.
SUPPORT
California Association of Student Councils
OPPOSITION
None received.
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