BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 532
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Patrick O'Donnell, Chair
SB
532 (Leyva) - As Amended July 7, 2015
SENATE VOTE: 38-0
SUBJECT: Governing boards of school districts: nonvoting and
preferential voting pupil members.
SUMMARY: Requires a school district governing board to 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. Specifically,
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, the governing board order
the inclusion of at least one non-voting pupil member.
2)Requires a majority 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.
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3)Requires that a motion to eliminate a non-voting or
preferential voting pupil member position, and the reasons for
the motion, be listed as a public agenda item for a meeting of
the governing board.
EXISTING LAW:
1)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.
2)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.
3)Requires that students selected for this purpose be 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.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Senate Appropriations
Committee, pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8, negligible state costs.
COMMENTS:
Need for this bill. According to the author, in the fall of
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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. The author argues
that this bill would protect the voice of students by ensuring a
formal and transparent process for both the establishment and
removal of a student school board member position.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Association of Student Councils
California School Boards Association
Opposition
None received
SB 532
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Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916)
319-2087