BILL ANALYSIS Ó SB 532 Page 1 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. SB 532 Page 2 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 SB 532 Page 3 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 Page 4 Analysis Prepared by:Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087