BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 685
Author: Davis (D)
Amended: 7/23/09 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 6-2, 7/15/09
AYES: Romero, Alquist, Hancock, Liu, Padilla, Simitian
NOES: Huff, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Maldonado
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 8-5, 8/27/09
AYES: Kehoe, Corbett, Hancock, Leno, Oropeza, Price, Wolk,
Yee
NOES: Cox, Denham, Runner, Walters, Wyland
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 48-28, 5/18/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : School facilities: athletics: compliance with
Title IX
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the California Department of
Education (CDE) to determine whether athletics-related
facilities proposed as part of new school construction
projects provide for gender-equitable access and provide
equity in the size and quality of areas to be used
exclusively by either boys or girls. The bill allows the
CDE to convene a working group to develop guidelines and
procedures for implementing the review and funding would
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come from existing resources. Defines "athletics-related
facilities" include, but are not necessarily limited to,
gymnasia, playing fields, and hardcourts proposed to be
used for interscholastic sports sanctioned by the
California Interscholastic Federation or for other
extracurricular athletic events.
ANALYSIS : Existing law requires CDE to establish
standards for use by school districts to ensure that the
design and construction of school facilities are
educationally appropriate and promote school safety.
Current law requires the CDE to review and approve new
construction plans for school facility projects funded by
the State Allocation Board. The plan review is conducted
by the School Facilities Planning Division (SFPD) of the
CDE. The SFPD review verifies project consistency with the
design standards of California Code of Regulations, Title
5.
Existing federal law (Title IX of the Education Amendments
of 1972 to the 1964 Civil Rights Act) provides that, in
part, "no person in the United States shall, on the basis
of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the
benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
educational program or activity receiving Federal financial
assistance." In order to be in compliance with Federal
Title IX, a school must show compliance with one of these
three parts. The federal tests are:
1.Athletic participation of women and girls is
proportionate to enrollment.
2.The school has a history and continuing practice of
program expansion for women or girls.
3.The school is fully meeting female athletes' interests
and abilities in its present athletic program.
Current state law AB 833 (Steinberg), Chapter 660, Statutes
of 2003 establishes standards virtually identical to those
of Federal Title IX, with one modification: in Test 2,
"history" is defined to mean the past two years.
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Title IX applies to all aspects of educational
opportunities, not just athletics.
This bill, with respect to athletics-related facilities
only, as defined, requires CDE to include, as part of its
review of an application for new construction plan
approval, a determination of whether the proposed project
provides the opportunity for gender equitable access to
athletic facilities or provide equity in the size and
quality of areas to be used exclusively by either boys or
girls. The bill requires CDE to convene a working group to
develop guidelines and procedures for the implementation of
the bill. The bill requires the CDE to submit a report
including the guidelines and procedures developed for
implementing the bill, and including any additional
pertinent recommendations, to the chairpersons of the
Assembly and Senate committees on education no later than
December 31, 2010.
If the CDE convenes a working group, the Superintendent
shall elect the members, and shall include among those
members:
1.The School Facilities Planning Division of the State
Department of Education.
2.The Office of Equal Opportunity of the State Department
of Education.
3.The California Interscholastic Federation.
4.The Civil Rights Enforcement Section of the State
Department of Justice.
5.A large urban school district.
6.A rural school district.
7.A suburban school district.
If CDE convenes a working group:
The activities of the working group shall be funded from
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existing CDE resources.
Comments
Source of the bill . In 2008, the Assembly Committee on
Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism & Internet Media held
an informational hearing entitled: State Oversight of the
California Interscholastic Federation . According to
testimony and a 2004 study by the RMC Research Corporation,
the committee learned that only 26 percent of California
high schools complied with Title IX's proportionality
standard. According to the author's office, the California
Department of Education (CDE) expressly retains
responsibility for enforcement of Title IX. This bill
attempts to provide a mechanism for enforcing existing law
through the facilities planning process with regard to
gender equity in schools.
CDE Handbook . The Facilities Planning Division of the
California Department of Education prepares, and makes
available to schools, a Guide to School Site Analysis and
Development. To ensure compliance with gender equity laws
(Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX), the California
Department of Education conducted a study of the adequacy
of playfield areas that were planned and constructed under
the CDE's guidelines. The study involved a sample of high
schools throughout the state stratified by size; geographic
location; and urban, suburban, and rural areas. About
two-thirds of the school districts surveyed reported that
their field areas were inadequate to accommodate women's
team sports. Smaller schools were usually able to offer
equal access by scheduling and overlapping the use of
playfields, but larger schools that scheduled two or three
levels of softball (freshmen, junior varsity, and varsity)
needed additional playfield space. As a result of that
study, the current edition of the Guide incorporates an
additional field area for grades nine through twelve which
adds 1.4 to 3.4 acres to playfield areas, depending on the
enrollment and the particular grade levels involved.
Title IX study . A March 2004 report prepared by the
California Postsecondary Education Commission and the CDE,
Title IX Athletics Compliance at California's Public High
Schools, Community Colleges, and Universities found that,
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for the most part, high schools rated the quality and
availability of their locker rooms, practice facilities and
competition facilities as adequate or very good. Analyses
revealed two statistically significant differences:
respondents rated the quality of locker rooms and practice
facilities to be poorer on average for boys than girls.
When football was excluded, there was no significant
difference between boys' and girls' teams. The majority
(65 percent) of respondents indicated that their school had
comparable boys' and girls' team rooms, 17 percent
indicated there were no team rooms for either gender, 15
percent reported that they were not comparable, and four
percent were unsure.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Fiscal Impact (in thousands)
Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11
2011-12 Fund
Workgroup/reporting approximately
$150 for developing General
guidelines and reporting
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/2/09)
Consumer Attorneys of California
California Association for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation and
Dance
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Association for
Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (CAHPERD)
states in support, "CAHPERD believes in providing females
of all ages, races, creeds, ethnic origins, economic
levels, physical and mental abilities, and interests, with
opportunities to fully participate in quality sport and
physical activity programs. This bill provides a mechanism
for enforcing existing law with regard to gender equity in
schools. Requiring the School Facilities Planning Division
of the State Department of Education to include, as part of
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its existing review process of applications for new
construction plan approval, whether the proposed project
would comply with Title IX is a positive step toward full
State-wide Title IX compliance. We look forward to future
collaboration on these issues."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Ammiano, Arambula, Beall, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter,
Chesbro, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, Evans, Feuer,
Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Hall, Hayashi,
Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jones, Krekorian, Lieu,
Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A.
Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas,
Skinner, Solorio, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico,
Yamada, Bass
NOES: Adams, Anderson, Bill Berryhill, Tom Berryhill,
Conway, Cook, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Fletcher, Fuller,
Gaines, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey, Jeffries,
Knight, Logue, Miller, Nestande, Niello, Nielsen, Silva,
Smyth, Audra Strickland, Tran, Villines
NO VOTE RECORDED: Blakeslee, Eng, Price, Saldana
DLW:nl 9/2/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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