BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Gloria Romero, Chair
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 1116
AUTHOR: Huff and Yee
INTRODUCED: February 17, 2010
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: March 24, 2010
URGENCY: Yes CONSULTANT:Lynn Lorber
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Public Safety. A "do pass" motion should
include referral to the Committee on Public Safety.
SUBJECT : Heritage Schools
KEY POLICY ISSUES
Should heritage schools effectively be exempt from child care
licensure requirements?
Does the filing of an affidavit with the Superintendent of
Public Instruction provide an adequate level of consumer
protection?
SUMMARY
This bill, an urgency measure, establishes in statute
"heritage schools" as a category of schools that are not
full-time day schools that offer education in a foreign
language or on the culture and traditions of a country other
than the United States. This bill requires heritage schools
to file an affidavit with the Superintendent of Public
Instruction detailing specific information relative to
personnel and the course of study, and requires employees of
a heritage school to be fingerprinted.
BACKGROUND
The term heritage school generally refers to a program of
instruction, outside of the regular school day, about the
culture, traditions and history of a country other than the
United States. Some heritage schools operate like a child
care center and are required to be licensed through the
Department of Social Services (see Comment #2).
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Current law requires private schools to file an affidavit
with the Superintendent of Public Instruction detailing
specific information relative to school personnel and the
courses of study, and requires employees to be fingerprinted.
(Education Code
33190)
ANALYSIS
This bill , an urgency measure, requires heritage schools, as
defined, to file an affidavit with the Superintendent of
Public Instruction detailing specific information relative to
personnel and the course of study, and requires employees of
a heritage school to be fingerprinted. Specifically, this
bill:
1) Defines a heritage school as a school that serves
children who are between the ages of four years and nine
months and 18 years, who attend a public or private
full-time day school, that does all of the following:
a) Specifies regular hours of operation.
b) Offers education or academic tutoring, or
both, in a foreign language.
c) Offers education on the culture, traditions,
or history of a country other than the United
States.
d) Offers culturally enriching activities,
including but not limited to, art, dancing, games
or singing, based on the culture or customs of a
country other than the United States.
e) Maintains membership in a state or national
cultural or language association.
f) Complies with relevant local government
regulations.
g) Does not operate out of a residential home.
2) Requires every person, firm, association, partnership or
corporation offering or conducting heritage school
instruction to file, between the first and 15th day of
October of each year (beginning October 1, 2010) with
the Superintendent of Public Instruction an affidavit or
statement, under penalty of perjury, by the owner or
other head setting forth the following information for
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the current year:
a) All names of the person, firm, association,
partnership, or corporation under which it has done
and is doing business.
b) The address of every place of doing business
of the person, firm, association, partnership, or
corporation within the State of California.
c) The address of the location of the records of
the person, firm, association, partnership or
corporation, and the name and address of the
custodian of the records.
d) The names and addresses of the directors and
principal officers of the person, firm,
association, partnership, or corporation.
e) The school enrollment, by grades, number of
teachers, co-educational or enrollment limited to
boys or girls, and boarding facilities.
f) That specified records are kept at the address
stated, and are true and accurate.
g) Criminal records summary information has been
obtained pursuant to current law affecting private
school employees.
3) Beginning October 1, 2010, requires the affidavit or
statement to include, under penalty of perjury, a
statement that the heritage school is in compliance with
requirements for fingerprinting and a criminal record
summary as set forth in this bill.
Contracting for specific services
1) Requires employees of any entity contracting with a
heritage school providing any of the following services,
and who may have any contact with pupils, to submit
their fingerprints in a manner authorized by the
Department of Justice (DOJ), with any fee charged by
DOJ:
a) School and classroom janitorial.
b) School site administrative.
c) School site grounds and landscape maintenance.
d) Pupil transportation.
e) School site food-related services.
2) Exempts an entity providing any of the services listed
above in an emergency or exceptional situation from the
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fingerprinting and criminal records summary
requirements.
3) Exempts an entity providing any of the services listed
above from fingerprinting and criminal record summary
requirements if the heritage school determines that the
employees of the entity will have limited contact with
pupils.
4) Authorizes a heritage school to determine, on a
case-by-case basis, to require an entity providing
school site services other than those listed above to
comply with fingerprinting and criminal records summary
requirements.
5) Requires the heritage school contractor to submit to the
Department of Justice (DOJ) fingerprint images and
related information required by the DOJ of all employees
of the entities that contract with a heritage school.
This bill also requires the DOJ to forward requests for
federal summary criminal history information to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), review
information returned by the FBI, compile a fitness
determination and send it to the heritage school. This
bill requires the heritage school to request from
the DOJ subsequent arrest notification service, and
requires the DOJ to charge a fee sufficient to cover the
cost of processing the request for information.
6) Prohibits an entity from permitting an employee to come
in contact with pupils until the DOJ has ascertained
that the employee has not been convicted of a felony.
7) Requires an entity having a contract with a heritage
school to certify in writing that neither the employer
nor any of its employees who are required to submit
fingerprints have been convicted of a felony.
8) Requires an entity currently under contract with a
heritage school to complete the fingerprinting
requirements within 90 days of the effective date of
this bill.
Contracting for construction or repair of facilities
1) Requires a heritage school contracting with an entity
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for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, or
repair of a school facility where the employees of the
entity will have contact, other than limited contact,
with pupils to ensure the safety of the pupils by one or
more of the following methods:
a) The installation of a physical barrier at the
worksite to limit contact with pupils.
b) Continual supervision and monitoring of all
employees of the entity by an employee of the
entity whom the DOJ has ascertained has not been
convicted of a violent or serious felony.
c) Surveillance of employees of the entity by
school personnel.
2) Provides that an entity that contracts with a heritage
school for construction or repair of a school facility
is not required to comply with fingerprinting and
criminal record summary requirements if one or more of
the methods described above is used. This bill also
exempts an entity providing construction,
reconstruction, rehabilitation, or repair services in an
emergency or exceptional situation from the requirement
to keep those employees separated from pupils, or that
they be monitored.
3) Prohibits the filing of an affidavit pursuant to this
bill from being interpreted to mean that the State of
California, the Superintendent of Public Instruction,
the State Board of Education, the California Department
of Education (CDE), or any division or bureau of the
CDE, or any accrediting agency has made any evaluation,
recognition, approval or endorsement of the school or
course, unless this is an actual fact. This bill
provides that it is unlawful for any school to expressly
or impliedly represent the filing of an affidavit as an
evaluation, recognition, approval or endorsement.
Heritage Enrichment Resource Fund
1) Establishes the Heritage Enrichment Resource Fund in the
State Treasury, and authorizes moneys deposited in the
fund to be used by the Superintendent of Public
Instruction upon appropriation by statute, for the
purposes of this bill.
2) Requires a $55 fee to accompany the filing of the
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affidavit or statement, to be deposited in the Heritage
Enrichment Resource Fund.
Urgency
Includes an urgency clause.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill : According to the author, "heritage
schools play an integral role in our communities, as
they are a major source of language and heritage
instruction at the K-12 level. ? These schools vary in
size and location and rely heavily on parent volunteers.
The teachers and administrators often come from their
native country and are well skilled and educated.
Absent legislation, several of these schools will close
down. ? Since heritage schools are not defined in
state code as educational entities, DSS (the Department
of Social Services) views them as childcare centers.
Without proper child care licensing requirements, DSS
creatively interprets existing law, or forces these
schools to shut down, denying future generations of
students the rich cultural opportunity these schools
provide."
2) What are heritage schools ? According to the Senate
Human Services Committee analysis of prior legislation,
heritage schools come in many sizes, settings, and
organizational structures with one thing in common:
they exist to educate children to speak languages other
than English and to learn about a foreign culture and
customs. Some heritage schools are only open after
school during the school year; others are also open all
day on school holidays and during vacations. Some
heritage schools rent facilities from school districts;
others operate in store fronts and strip malls. Some
are; in essence, drop in programs requiring no sign-in
or sign-out of children. Others, particularly when
operating all day during school vacations, provide care
and supervision. In other words, some heritage schools
do not operate as child care centers while others do.
Heritage schools operating as a child care center are
required to hold a child care license.
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3) Will some heritage schools still be required to have a
child care license ? While this bill is silent with
regard to child care licensing requirements, the likely
effect is that the Department of Social Services, which
is responsible for the licensing of child care
providers, would view the filing of an affidavit with
the Department of Education as a reasonable form of
consumer protection, and would therefore not require
heritage schools to hold a child care license. However,
the author may wish to consider amending the Health and
Safety Code to be clear that heritage schools that file
the affidavit are exempt from child care licensure
requirements.
4) Suggested amendments . Assuming that the filing of an
affidavit would exempt heritage schools from child care
licensure requirements, staff recommends amendments to
add some of the health and safety components required of
licensed child care providers, as follows:
a) Require 15 hours of health and safety training for the
director of the heritage school.
b) Require a health report for all
staff (including a TB test).
c) Ensure that children have access to working sinks,
toilets and drinking water.
d) Ensure no child has access to
medication or cleaning supplies.
e) Ensure no staff appears on the Child Abuse Registry or
in the county abuse and neglect complaint records.
f) Require a notice be provided to parents explaining the
heritage school
does not hold a child care license.
5) Prior and related legislation:
SB 129 (Huff, 2009) was nearly identical to
this bill. SB 129 passed
this Committee on an 8-0 vote on July 15, 2009, but
was held on the Senate Appropriations Committee's
suspense file.
SB 379 (Huff, 2009) would have exempted
heritage schools from child
day care licensure. SB 379 was passed by the
Senate Human Services Committee but was held on the
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Senate Appropriations Committee's suspense file.
AB 344 (Huff, 2007) would have exempted
heritage schools from child
care licensure requirements. AB 344 was never
heard.
AB 1888 (Huff, 2008) would have exempted
heritage schools from
child care licensure requirements. AB 1888 was
held on the Assembly Appropriations Committee's
suspense file.
SUPPORT
Chinese Confucius Temple of Los Angeles
Confucius Chinese Language School
Oak League Education Institute
Palos Verdes Chinese School
Superior Education, Myo Ho Chinese School
Temple Education Center Corp.
Individuals
OPPOSITION
None received.