BILL NUMBER: AB 1937 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 30, 2012
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 10, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Silva
FEBRUARY 22, 2012
An act to amend Section 49076 of the Education Code, relating to
pupil records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1937, as amended, Silva. Pupil records: privacy rights.
Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to
pupil records to a person without written parental consent or under
judicial order, except to specified persons under certain
circumstances.
Existing law authorizes school districts to release information
from pupil records to specified persons, including appropriate
persons in connection with an emergency if the knowledge of the
information is necessary to protect the health or safety of a pupil
or other persons; agencies or organizations in connection with the
application of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid; county
elections officials, for the purpose of identifying pupils eligible
to register to vote; accrediting associations in order to carry out
their accrediting functions; organizations conducting studies for, or
on behalf of, educational agencies or institutions for the purpose
of developing, validating, or administering predictive tests,
administering student aid programs, or improving instruction; and
officials and employees of private schools or school systems where
the pupil is enrolled or intends to enroll, subject to specified
rights of parents.
This bill would additionally allow a school district to release
information from pupil records to a contractor, consultant, or other
party to whom a local educational agency or institution has
outsourced institutional services or functions to be
considered a school official for purposes of this provision
if he or she performs an institutional service or function for which
the local educational agency or institution would
otherwise use employees, he or she is under the direct control of the
local educational agency or institution with respect to
the use and maintenance of educational records, and he or she may use
the information only for purposes for which the disclosure was made,
and is prohibited from disclosing the information to any other party
without the prior written consent of the parent or eligible pupil.
The bill would require a local educational agency or institution
to use reasonable methods to ensure that the contractors,
consultants, or other parties to whom information from pupil records
is released under this bill obtain access only to those educational
records in which they have a legitimate educational interest, as
prescribed.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 49076 of the Education Code is amended to read:
49076. (a) A school district is not authorized to permit access
to pupil records to a person without written parental consent or
under judicial order except that:
(1) Access to those particular records relevant to the legitimate
educational interests of the requester shall be permitted to the
following:
(A) School officials and employees of the district, members of a
school attendance review board appointed pursuant to Section 48321,
and any volunteer aide, 18 years of age or older, who has been
investigated, selected, and trained by a school attendance review
board for the purpose of providing followup services to pupils
referred to the school attendance review board, provided that the
person has a legitimate educational interest to inspect a record.
(B) Officials and employees of other public schools or school
systems, including local, county, or state correctional facilities
where educational programs leading to high school graduation are
provided or where the pupil intends to or is directed to enroll,
subject to the rights of parents as provided in Section 49068.
(C) Authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of the
United States, the Secretary of Education, and administrative head of
an education agency, state education officials, or their respective
designees, or the United States Office of Civil Rights, where the
information is necessary to audit or evaluate a state or federally
supported education program or pursuant to a federal or state law,
provided that except when collection of personally identifiable
information is specifically authorized by federal law, data collected
by those officials shall be protected in a manner that will not
permit the personal identification of pupils or their parents by
other than those officials, and personally identifiable data shall be
destroyed when no longer needed for the audit, evaluation, and
enforcement of federal legal requirements.
(D) Other state and local officials to the extent that information
is specifically required to be reported pursuant to state law
adopted prior to November 19, 1974.
(E) Parents of a pupil 18 years of age or older who is a dependent
as defined in Section 152 of Title 26 of the United States Code.
(F) A pupil 16 years of age or older or having completed grade 10
who requests access.
(G) A district attorney who is participating in or conducting a
truancy mediation program pursuant to Section 48263.5, or Section
601.3 of the Welfare and Institutions Code, or participating in the
presentation of evidence in a truancy petition pursuant to Section
681 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
(H) A prosecuting agency for consideration against a parent or
guardian for failure to comply with the Compulsory Education Law
(Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 48200)) or with Compulsory
Continuation Education (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 48400)).
(I) (i) A probation officer, district attorney, or counsel of
record for a minor 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.
(ii) For purposes of this subparagraph, a probation officer,
district attorney, and counsel of record for a minor shall be deemed
to be local officials for purposes of Section 99.31(a)(5)(i) of Title
34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(iii) Pupil records obtained pursuant to this subparagraph shall
be subject to the evidentiary rules described in Section 701 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.
(J) A judge or probation officer for the purpose of conducting a
truancy mediation program for a pupil, or for purposes of presenting
evidence in a truancy petition pursuant to Section 681 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code. The judge or probation officer shall certify
in writing to the school district that the information will be used
only for truancy purposes. A school district releasing pupil
information to a judge or probation officer pursuant to this
subparagraph shall inform, or provide written notification to, the
parent or guardian of the pupil within 24 hours of the release of the
information.
(K) A county placing agency for the purpose of fulfilling the
requirements of the health and education summary required pursuant to
Section 16010 of the Welfare and Institutions Code or for the
purpose of fulfilling educational case management responsibilities
required by the juvenile court or by law and to assist with the
school transfer or enrollment of a pupil. School districts, county
offices of education, and county placing agencies may develop
cooperative agreements to facilitate confidential access to and
exchange of the pupil information by electronic mail, facsimile,
electronic format, or other secure means.
(2) School districts may release information from pupil records to
the following:
(A) Appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if the
knowledge of the information is necessary to protect the health or
safety of a pupil or other persons.
(B) Agencies or organizations in connection with the application
of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid. However, information
permitting the personal identification of a pupil or his or her
parents may be disclosed only as may be necessary for purposes as to
determine the eligibility of the pupil for financial aid, to
determine the amount of the financial aid, to determine the
conditions which will be imposed regarding the financial aid, or to
enforce the terms or conditions of the financial aid.
(C) The county elections official, for the purpose of identifying
pupils eligible to register to vote, and for conducting programs to
offer pupils an opportunity to register to vote. The information
shall not be used for any other purpose or given or transferred to
any other person or agency.
(D) Accrediting associations in order to carry out their
accrediting functions.
(E) Organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf of,
educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of developing,
validating, or administering predictive tests, administering student
aid programs, and improving instruction, if the studies are conducted
in a manner that will not permit the personal identification of
pupils or their parents by persons other than representatives of the
organizations and the information will be destroyed when no longer
needed for the purpose for which it is obtained.
(F) Officials and employees of private schools or school systems
where the pupil is enrolled or intends to enroll, subject to the
rights of parents as provided in Section 49068. This information
shall be in addition to the pupil's permanent record transferred
pursuant to Section 49068.
(G) (i) A contractor, consultant, or other
party to whom a local educational agency or institution has
outsourced institutional services or functions, provided that this
party complies with all of the following:
(i)
(I) Performs an institutional service or function for
which the local educational agency or institution would
otherwise use employees.
(ii)
(II) Is under the direct control of the local
educational agency or institution with respect to the use and
maintenance of educational records.
(iii)
(III) Uses the information only for purposes for which
the disclosure was made, and does not disclose the information to any
other party without the prior written consent of the parent or
eligible pupil.
(H)
(ii) A local educational agency or institution shall
use reasonable methods to ensure that a contractor, consultant, or
other party to whom it has outsourced institutional services or
functions pursuant to subparagraph (G) clause
(i) obtains access only to those educational records in which
that party has a legitimate educational interest as set forth in
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (1). A local educational agency or
institution that does not use physical or technological access
controls shall ensure that its administrative policy for controlling
access to information from the educational records is
effective and that it remains in compliance with the legitimate
educational interest requirement as set forth in subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (1).
(I)
(iii) For an entity referenced in subparagraph
(G) clause (i) , access to any record of a
pupil with exceptional needs, as defined in Section 56026, shall be
subject to Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 56500) of Part 30.
(3) A person, persons, agency, or organization permitted access to
pupil records pursuant to this section shall not permit access to
any information obtained from those records by another person,
persons, agency, or organization, except for allowable exceptions
contained within the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g) and state law, without the written
consent of the pupil's parent. This paragraph does not require prior
parental consent when information obtained pursuant to this section
is shared with other persons within the educational institution,
agency, or organization obtaining access, so long as those persons
have a legitimate interest in the information.
(4) Notwithstanding any other provision of law,
a school district, including a county office of education or
superintendent of schools, may participate in an interagency data
information system that permits access to a computerized database
system within and between governmental agencies or districts as to
information or records that are nonprivileged, and where release is
authorized as to the requesting agency under state or federal law or
regulation, if each of the following requirements are met:
(A) Each agency and school district shall develop security
procedures or devices by which unauthorized personnel cannot access
data contained in the system.
(B) Each agency and school district shall develop procedures or
devices to secure privileged or confidential data from unauthorized
disclosure.
(C) Each school district shall comply with the access log
requirements of Section 49064.
(D) The right of access granted shall not include the right to
add, delete, or alter data without the written permission of the
agency holding the data.
(E) An agency or school district shall not make public or
otherwise release information on an individual contained in the
database where the information is protected from disclosure or
release as to the requesting agency by state or federal law or
regulation.
(b) The officials and authorities to whom pupil records are
disclosed pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 48902 and
subparagraph (I) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) shall certify in
writing to the disclosing school district that the information shall
not be disclosed to another party, except as provided under the
federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C.
Sec. 1232g) and state law, without the prior written consent of the
parent of the pupil or the person identified as the holder of the
pupil's educational rights.
(c) (1) Any person or party who is not permitted access to pupil
records pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) may request access to
pupil records as provided for in paragraph (2).
(2) A local educational agency or other person or party who has
received pupil records, or information from pupil records, may
release the records or information to a person or party identified in
paragraph (1) without the consent of the pupil's parent or guardian
pursuant to Section 99.31(b) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
Regulations, if the records or information are deidentified, which
requires the removal of all personally identifiable information,
provided that the disclosing local educational agency or other person
or party has made a reasonable determination that a pupil's identity
is not personally identifiable, whether through single or multiple
releases, and has taken into account other pertinent reasonably
available information.