BILL ANALYSIS
AB 352
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Date of Hearing: April 15, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 352 (Audra Strickland) - As Introduced: February 19, 2009
[This bill has been double referred to the Assembly Committee on
Governmental Organization and will be heard as it relates to the
issues under its jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Public Records: California Interscholastic
Federation.
SUMMARY : Declares the intent of the Legislature that the
California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) in consultation with
the California Department of Education (CDE), comply with the
California Public Records Act.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Declares the California Interscholastic Federation as a
voluntary organization that consists of school and
school-related personnel with responsibility for administering
interscholastic athletic activities in secondary schools; and,
sunsets this declaration on January 1, 2012.
2)Declares the intent of the Legislature that the California
Interscholastic Federation, in consultation with the
department, implement the following policies:
a) Give the governing boards of school districts specific
authority to select their athletic league representatives.
b) Require that all league, section, and state meetings
affiliated with the California Interscholastic Federation
be subject to the notice and hearing requirements of the
Ralph M. Brown Act.
c) Establish a neutral final appeals body to hear
complaints related to interscholastic athletic policies.
d) Provide information to parents and pupils regarding the
state and federal complaint procedures for discrimination
complaints arising out of interscholastic athletic
activities.
3)Requires the California Interscholastic Federation to report
to the Legislature and the Governor on its evaluation and
accountability activities undertaken on or before January 1,
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2010; and, requires the report to include:
a) The governing structure of the California
Interscholastic Federation, and the effectiveness of that
governance structure in providing leadership for
interscholastic athletics in secondary schools.
b) Methods to facilitate communication with agencies,
organizations, and public entities whose functions and
interests interface with the California Interscholastic
Federation.
c) The quality of coaching and officiating, including, but
not limited to, professional development for coaches and
athletic administrators, and parent education programs.
d) Gender equity in interscholastic athletics, including,
but not limited to, the number of male and female pupils
participating in interscholastic athletics in secondary
schools, and action taken by the California Interscholastic
Federation in order to ensure compliance with Title IX of
the Education Amendments of 1972.
e) Health and safety of pupils, coaches, officials, and
spectators.
f) The economic viability of interscholastic athletics in
secondary schools, including, but not limited to, the
promotion and marketing of interscholastic athletics.
g) New and continuing programs available to pupil-athletes.
h) Awareness and understanding of emerging issues related
to interscholastic athletics in secondary schools.
4)Declares the intent of the Legislature that the California
Interscholastic Federation accomplish all of the following:
a) During years in which the California Interscholastic
Federation is not required to report to the Legislature and
the Governor, it shall hold a public comment period
relating to the report at three regularly scheduled
federation council meetings per year.
b) Annually allow public comment on the policies and
practices of the California Interscholastic Federation at a
regularly scheduled federation council meeting.
c) Require sections of the California Interscholastic
Federation to allow public comment on the policies and
practices of the California Interscholastic Federation and
its sections, and the report required, at each regularly
scheduled section meeting.
d) Engage in a comprehensive outreach effort to promote the
public hearings.
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FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal.
COMMENTS : This bill declares Legislative intent for CIF to
comply with the California Public Records Act. Currently, CIF
complies with the Brown Act which requires all meetings to be
publicly noticed and open to the public.
Background on CIF . Since 1914, the California Department of
Education (CDE) has allowed the California Interscholastic
Federation, a voluntary association of schools, to regulate
interscholastic athletics statewide. The Federation consists of
ten regional sections, each of which is divided into several
"leagues," for purposes of scheduling athletic contests,
assigning referees, etc. Similar organizations exist in other
states. Almost all public, private and parochial schools are
CIF members.
The California Interscholastic Federation was organized at a
high school athletic convention held at the Y.M.C.A. Field
House, Los Angeles, on March 28, 1914. The primary
responsibilities of CIF are to administer high school athletic
programs and to promulgate and enforce rules relating to a
student's involvement in athletics - age, semesters in school,
scholarship, residence, transfer status, and amateur standing.
Such regulations, which are generated by the 1,400 member base
of secondary schools, prevent undesirable exploitation of high
school students, provide for the welfare of participants, and
ensure that interscholastic athletics offer major benefits to
students in a safe, rewarding environment. For purposes of
administration, California is divided into the following 10
sections: Southern Section, Central Section, Los Angeles City
Section, North Coast Section, Sac-Joaquin Section, Northern
Section, Oakland City Section, San Francisco Section, San Diego
Section and Central Coast Section. The State Federated Council
has complete control of all State championships in high school
athletics and may specify all details as to methods and places
for conducting the contests. The CIF is one of the 50 state
associations that belong to the National Federation of State
High School Associations and actively participates in the
national organization. Generally, rules recommended by the
national body are adopted by CIF.
According to the author, because the California Interscholastic
Federation (CIF) is a public entity whose authority to govern
interscholastic sports in California was delegated by the
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Legislature, it is important their records be subject to the
Public Records Act. The Public Records Act is designed to give
the public access to information in possession of public
agencies for the purposes of transparency and accountability to
the public. AB 352 will declare the intent of the Legislature
for the CIF to comply with the Act to promote transparency and
accountability. There is a need for the CIF to comply with the
Act so that the public has access to records or precedence often
dealing with the eligibility of student athletes to participate
in sports and CIF sanctions on students, teams, or schools that
violate CIF policies.
The California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD) supports the bill and argues that
passage of this bill would implement many of the recommendations
presented by CAHPERD last year in a hearing before the Assembly
Committee on Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet
Media. The expected result of implementing this legislation
would be improved transparency and accountability of CIF to the
public it serves. They also propose an amendment to specify
that CIF shall annually "actively solicit" public comment on
their policies and practices.
According to CIF, the proposed amendments by CAHPERD are not
necessary. CIF complies with the Brown Act and solicits public
comment at every section and state meeting. They also solicit
input on their website.
According to CIF, AB 352 is overbroad in that it does not
provide exemptions for records held by CIF which may be
privileged and protected from disclosure by the Family Education
Privacy Rights Act (FERPA), the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), the California Education Code, and
other privacy statutes. Information submitted to the CIF as
part of the student eligibility appeal process or personnel
matters often includes confidential information that should not
be subject to public disclosure pursuant to the Public Records
Act.
Committee Amendments : If the committee chooses to pass this
measure, staff recommends the bill be amended to specify that
when CIF complies with Public Record Act requests, CIF should
protect the privacy rights of student athletes and school
district personnel.
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Related legislation . AB 1154 (Strickland) from 2009 requires
the California Interscholastic Federation, if it imposes a
sanction on an interscholastic team of a member school, to post
online the name of the school, the team that has been penalized,
the violation that has occasioned the sanction, and a
description of the sanction. This bill is set to be heard by
the Assembly Education Committee on April 15, 2009.
AB 1039 (Strickland) from 2009 authorizes a pupil to appeal a
final decision made by the California Interscholastic Federation
to suspend or terminate a pupil from participation in a sport
for a violation of its codes and regulations; and, requires the
county board of education to be the final arbiter in the matter.
At the request of the author, the bill is being held in the
Assembly Education Committee as a two year bill.
Previous legislation . AB 2312 (Strickland) from 2006 would have
prohibited school districts, associations or consortia of school
districts, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF),
voluntary associations, or any other entity that governs
interscholastic athletics or activities from prohibiting a pupil
who transfers to a school from participating in interscholastic
athletics or activities at that school, as specified. The bill
failed passage in the Assembly Education Committee.
SB 1411 (Ortiz) from 2006 would have allowed students to
transfer between high schools and retain varsity athletic
eligibility in sports in which the student competed during the
previous year. The bill failed passage in the Senate Education
Committee.
SB 562 (Torlakson), Chapter 301, Statutes of 2005, extended the
sunset provisions relating to the California Interscholastic
Federation from January 1, 2007 to January 1, 2012. Specified
certain reporting requirements and extended, indefinitely,
provisions granting authority to the California Department of
Education (CDE) to supervise physical education courses.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD)
AB 352
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Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Chelsea Kelley / ED. / (916) 319-2087