BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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          |SENATE RULES COMMITTEE            |                        SB 532|
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                                UNFINISHED BUSINESS 


          Bill No:  SB 532
          Author:   Leyva (D)
          Amended:  7/7/15  
          Vote:     21  

           SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE:  8-0, 4/15/15
           AYES:  Liu, Huff, Block, Hancock, Leyva, Mendoza, Pan, Vidak

          SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

           SENATE FLOOR:  38-0, 5/22/15
           AYES:  Allen, Anderson, Bates, Beall, Berryhill, Block,  
            Cannella, De León, Fuller, Gaines, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock,  
            Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Huff, Jackson, Lara, Leno,  
            Leyva, Liu, McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Moorlach,  
            Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Pan, Pavley, Roth, Runner, Stone,  
            Vidak, Wolk
           NO VOTE RECORDED:  Wieckowski

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 8/27/15 (Consent) - See last page for  
            vote
           
           SUBJECT:   Governing boards of school districts:  nonvoting and  
                     preferential voting pupil members


          SOURCE:    Author
          
          DIGEST:   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  
          majority vote of all voting members of the board in order to  
          eliminate a student representative from the board, subject to  
          the motion to do so being noticed as a public item on the  
          board's agenda prior to the vote.








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          Assembly Amendments change the requirement for removing a  
          student representative from a school board to a majority vote of  
          the board, rather than a unanimous vote. 
          ANALYSIS: 
          
          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.   
            (Education Code § 35012)

          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 majority vote of all voting board members in order  
            to approve a motion 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 be listed as a  
            public agenda item for a meeting of the governing board prior  
            to a vote on the motion.

          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 and removal of  
            a student school board member position.  

          2)Related Informational Hearing.  On February 25, 2015 the  
            Senate Education 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.
          
          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   Yes


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/27/15)









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          California Association of Student Councils
          California School Boards Association


          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/27/15)


          None received

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  78-0, 8/27/15
           AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,  
            Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,  
            Daly, Dodd, Eggman, 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, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin,  
            Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,  
            Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,  
            Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,  
            Wilk, Wood, Atkins
           NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Williams

          Prepared by:Kathleen Chavira / ED. / (916) 651-4105
          8/28/15 8:38:47


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