BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 532
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Date of Hearing: August 19, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 532
(Leyva) - As Amended July 7, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable:
Yes
SUMMARY:
This bill requires the governing board of a school district 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
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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.
FISCAL EFFECT:
Minor absorbable Proposition 98/GF reimbursable state mandated
costs to comply with the requirements of this measure.
COMMENTS:
1)Background. Existing law authorizes pupils to submit a
petition of at least 500 signatures from pupils enrolled in a
high school requesting that the district governing board
appoint one or more nonvoting pupil members to the governing
board; and/or allow preferential voting for the pupil member
or members of the board. Preferential voting is defined as a
"formal expression of opinion that is recorded in the minutes
and cast prior to the official vote of the governing board."
2)Purpose. According to the author, in April 2014, students in
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) submitted the
necessary petition with at least 500 signatures to establish a
student board member position. The school board decided that
the Superintendent would make recommendations regarding the
petition within 120 days. However, after more than a year,
LAUSD has not added a student board member position.
According to LAUSD, the board plans to take action on this
issue in November.
The author has introduced this bill to create a formal process
for both the installation and the removal of the student
school board member position. According to the author, this
bill ensures that California law protects the opinions and
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perspectives of our students and their ability to take part in
decisions made about their education.
3)Prior legislation. AB 1007 (Carter) of 2009, a substantially
similar bill, was vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
According to the veto message, the Administration was unaware
of any school board intentionally withholding action on a
student representation petition and deemed the bill
unnecessary.
Analysis Prepared by:Misty Feusahrens / APPR. / (916) 319-2081