BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 143
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 143 (Fuentes)
As Amended June 27, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |68-0 |(April 25, |SENATE: |38-0 |(August 15, |
| | |2011) | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: ED.
SUMMARY : Amends California Education Code with respect to legal
counsel's access to pupil records by requiring those with access
to pupil records to certify in writing to the holder of those
records, that the pupil information will not be disclosed to
another party, except as allowed, and by adding "counsel of
record for a minor" to those individuals who may access pupil
records in specified situations; also, amends current law with
respect to requirements relating to the confidentiality and the
release, or re-disclosure, of pupil records.
The Senate amendments :
1)Add a pupil's e-mail address to the list of data elements
included in a pupil's "directory information."
2)Authorize any party who is not permitted access to pupil
records to request access, and any local educational agency or
party who has received those records to provide access,
without parental consent, if the records are not personally
identifiable.
EXISTING LAW protects, under the federal Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 United States Code Section
1232g; 34 Code of Federal Regulation Part 99) and state law, the
privacy of pupil records by requiring written permission from
the parent or eligible student, with specified exceptions, in
order for a school district to release any information from a
student's education record.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill was substantially similar
to the version passed by the Senate.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill is keyed non-fiscal by the Legislative
AB 143
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Counsel.
COMMENTS : FERPA protects the privacy of student education
records, and applies to all schools that receive funds under
programs administered by the United States Department of
Education. Generally, schools must have written permission from
the parent or eligible student in order to release any
information from a pupil's record; however, FERPA provides
limited exceptions to this requirement (and thus allows schools
to disclose records without consent) for specific requesters
with legitimate educational interests, including school
officials, other schools to which a student is transferring,
specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes,
appropriate parties in connection with the pupil's financial
aid, entities conducting certain studies for or on behalf of the
school, accrediting organizations, requesters in compliance with
a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena, appropriate
officials in cases of health and safety emergencies, and state
and local authorities within the juvenile justice system and
pursuant to specific state law.
State law further clarifies these exceptions, and includes a
provision that allows any probation officer or district attorney
access, without written consent from the parent or eligible
student, to pupil records relevant to the requester's legitimate
educational interest, 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.
Under this exception, the counsel of record for a minor is not
provided equal access to education records, and thus must rely
on one of three other methods to gain access to the pupil
records of his or her client; these other methods are more
limiting than the direct access created by the exception
provided for a district attorney and probation officer, and
create a non-level playing field that may work against the
interests of the minor. This bill provides that direct access
to the counsel of record for a minor, and thus levels the
playing field relative to a district attorney and probations
officer.
This bill also reinforces existing restrictions in state statute
on secondary disclosures, or re-disclosure, of confidential
information in pupil records by requiring officials and
AB 143
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authorities, who access pupil records under the exceptions noted
above, to provide written certification to the school district
holding the records that the information accessed will not be
re-disclosed to another party, except as provided under state
law or without written parental consent. This proposal clearly
conforms to the requirements of FERPA and is also consistent
with the intent of state law concerning the confidentiality of
pupil record information.
The bill also applies evidentiary rules in current law to pupil
records obtained under the provisions of the bill, and
authorizes the release or re-disclosure of non-identifiable
pupil record information, without parental consent, by agencies
or individuals who are provided access to those pupil records.
This bill was double referred and heard in both the Education
Committee and the Judiciary Committee in each house of the
Legislature, as the bill relates to the issues under those
committees' respective jurisdictions.
Related and previous legislation: AB 733 (Ma), pending in the
Senate, amends the California Education Code to conform with the
FERPA requirements relating to the confidentiality of pupil
records. AB 261 (Salas), vetoed in 2009, and AB 2630 (Salas),
vetoed in 2008, were substantially similar to AB 733.
Analysis Prepared by : Gerald Shelton / ED. / (916) 319-2087
FN: 0001580