BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 143|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 143
Author: Fuentes (D)
Amended: 6/27/11 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/22/11
AYES: Lowenthal, Alquist, Blakeslee, Hancock, Huff, Liu,
Price, Simitian, Vargas
NO VOTE RECORDED: Runner, Vacancy
SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE : 5-0, 7/5/11
AYES: Evans, Harman, Blakeslee, Corbett, Leno
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 68-0, 4/25/11 (Consent) - See last page
for vote
SUBJECT : Pupil records: privacy rights
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill adds to the list of people who may
obtain a pupils school records, for specified purposes, a
minors counsel of record and requires those in receipt of
such records to certify that the information shall not be
disclosed to another person.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law :
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1. Prohibits a school district from permitting access to
pupil records to a person without parental consent or
under judicial order except to certain people for
specified purposes, including to a probation officer or
district attorney for the purposes of conducting a
criminal investigation, or an investigation in regards
to declaring a person a ward of the court or involving a
violation of a condition of probation.
2. Authorizes a school district to permit access to pupil
records to a person who has obtained from the pupil's
parent a written consent specifying the records to be
released and identifying the party or class to whom the
records may be released. The recipient of the records
is to be notified that transmission of the information
to others without the written consent of the parent is
prohibited.
3. Prohibits, pursuant to the federal Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), federal funds from being
made available to any educational agency or institution
which has a policy or practice of permitting the release
of a pupil's educational records to any individual,
agency, or organization without the written consent of
the student's parents. FERPA exempts from the general
parental consent requirement certain kinds of
disclosures, including disclosures to state and local
authorities or officials for the purposes of conducting
a criminal investigation or an investigation in regards
to declaring a person a ward of the court or involving a
violation of a condition of probation.
FERPA requires that the officials and authorities to
whom the records are released certify in writing that
the information is not disclosed to any other party
without the prior written consent of the parent.
4. Requires school districts to adopt a policy identifying
those categories of directory information that may be
released. The district is to determine which
individuals, officials, or organizations may receive
directory information. "Directory information" is
defined as one or more of the following items:
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A. Pupil's name.
B. Pupil's address.
C. Pupil's telephone number.
D. Date and place of pupil's birth.
E. Pupil's major field of study.
F. Participation by the pupil in officially
recognized activities and sports.
G. Weight and height of members of athletic teams,
H. Pupil's dates of attendance.
I. Degrees and awards received by the pupil.
J. Most recent previous public or private school
attended by the pupil.
5. Provides, under FERPA, that an educational agency or
institution, or a party that has received a student's
records or information from a student's records may
release the records or information without the consent
of the parent after removing all personally identifiable
information.
This bill adds a minor's counsel of record to the list of
people who may obtain a pupil's school records, and
requires those in receipt of such records to certify that
the information shall not be disclosed to another person.
Specifically, this bill:
1. Requires a school district to permit access to pupil
records without parental consent or judicial order to a
counsel of record for a minor for the purposes of
conducting a criminal investigation or an investigation
in regards to declaring the minor a ward of the court or
involving a violation of a condition of probation.
2. Deems a probation officer, district attorney and counsel
of record for a minor to be "local officials" for
purposes of FERPA.
3. Requires the officials and authorities to whom pupil
records are disclosed pursuant to this bill, and law
enforcement authorities, to certify in writing to the
school district that the information shall not be
disclosed to another party without the prior written
consent of the parent or education rights holder, except
as provided pursuant to FERPA.
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4. Requires pupil records obtained by a probation officer,
district attorney or counsel of record for a minor to be
subject to specified evidentiary rules.
5. Redefines directory information to no longer include a
pupil's place of birth and to also include a pupil's
email address.
6. Conforms state law to the federal requirement that a
student's records may be released without written
parental consent to other parties so long as the
student's personally identifying information is
redacted.
Comments
FERPA and local officials or authorities . FERPA provides
limited access to educational records in juvenile justice
matters to state and local "officials or authorities" where
the disclosure serves a legitimate educational purpose and
concerns the juvenile justice system's ability to
effectively serve the pupil. In such cases, FERPA requires
that the officials and authorities to whom the records are
released certify in writing that the information is not
disclosed to any other party without the prior written
consent of the parent. However, federal regulations do not
define "official" or "authority" and do not establish
exactly what matters concerning juvenile justice would
qualify as legitimate purposes. This bill deems a minor's
counsel of record, as an officer of the court, a local
official in the same manner that existing state law deems
the district attorney and probation officer a local
official.
Previous/Related Legislation
AB 733 (Ma), 2011-12 Session, makes several changes to
conform to FERPA. Passed the Senate with a votes of 33-0
on July 1,2 011. (Held at Senate Desk)
AB 261 (Salas), 2009-10 Session, would have made several
changes to conform to FERPA. Passed the Senate with a vote
of 36-0 on July 16, 2009. The bill was subsequently vetoed
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by Governor Schwarzenegger. His veto message read, in
pertinent part:
"While the stated intent of this bill is purported to
conform state special education law to changes to the
federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act,
its provisions appear to expand beyond federal
requirements, and therefore could expose the State to
significant reimbursable state mandate costs."
AB 2630 (Salas), 2007-08 Session, was substantially similar
to AB 261 from 2009. AB 2630 passed the Senate with a vote
of 37-1 on August 2, 2008. The bill was subsequently
vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger with the same veto
message as was provided for AB 261 in 2009.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 7/7/11)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California Federation of Teachers
California Public Defenders Association
California School Boards Association
Kern County Superintendent of Schools
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office,
the exception that allows access to pupil records without
parental consent or judicial order to certain court
officers for specified purposes "limits access to education
records without parent consent to only two of the three
necessary juvenile court officers in juvenile proceedings.
Minor's counsel is not provided equal access to these,
often critical, records. Minor's counsel often must
petition the court for access to these records, wasting
valuable court time. Arguably, minor's counsel should have
the easiest and most comprehensive access to these records,
since they are the one player in the juvenile justice
system whose sole charge is representing the best interest
of the minor. This bill will simply put minor's counsel on
equal footing with the other players in the juvenile
justice system and will reduce the need for costly,
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unnecessary court hearings."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Atkins, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Davis, Dickinson,
Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto,
Gordon, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger
Hern�ndez, Hill, Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight,
Lara, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Miller,
Mitchell, Nestande, Nielsen, Norby, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel
P�rez, Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio,
Swanson, Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Ammiano, Donnelly, Fletcher, Furutani,
Gorell, Halderman, Jeffries, Mansoor, Monning, Morrell,
Olsen, Vacancy
CPM:do 7/7/11 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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