BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1937
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Date of Hearing: March 28, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Julia Brownley, Chair
AB 1937 (Silva) - As Introduced: February 22, 2012
�Note: This bill is double referred to the Assembly Judiciary
Committee and will be heard as it relates to issues under its
jurisdiction.]
SUBJECT : Pupil records: privacy rights
SUMMARY : Requires school districts to provide access to pupil
records to outside parties to whom the district has outsourced
institutional services or functions. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that a contractor, consultant, volunteer or other
party to whom the district has outsourced institutional
services or functions may be considered a school official for
purposes of access to pupil records without written parental
consent or judicial order.
2)Requires that, in order to have such access, the party:
a) Performs an institutional service or function for which
the agency or institution would otherwise use employees,
b) Is under the direct control of the LEA with respect to
the use and maintenance of institutional records,
c) Uses the information only for purposes for which the
disclosure was made, and
d) Shall not disclose the information to any other party
without the prior written consent of the parent or eligible
pupil.
3)Requires districts to use reasonable methods to ensure that
school officials and employees obtain access only to those
educational records in which they have a legitimate
educational interest.
EXISTING LAW Requires access to pupil records without parental
consent or under judicial order in some cases and authorizes it
in other cases. Access is required, for specified purposes, to:
1)School officials and employees of the district
2)Officials and employees of other public schools or school
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systems
3)Specified federal officials
4)Other state and local officials to the extent required by
state law
5)Parents of a dependent pupil 18 years of age or older
6)Specified attorneys and law enforcement officials
Access is permitted, for specified purposes, to:
1)Appropriate persons in connection with an emergency
2)Financial aid agencies or organizations
3)County election officials
4)Accrediting associations
5)Organizations conducting studies for, or on behalf or,
educational agencies or institutions
6)Officials and employees of private schools or school systems
Existing law prohibits outside parties from providing access to
any other outside party without prior parental consent. This
prohibition does not apply to access that is shared with other
persons within the educational institution, agency, or
organization, so long as those persons have a legitimate
interest in the information.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : This bill requires school districts to provide
access to pupil records to outside parties to whom the district
has outsourced institutional services or functions, subject to
specified conditions and restrictions. According to the
author's office, an example of an outside person who would be
given access to pupil records under this bill is a School
Resource Officer (SRO). SROs work with students and staff to
maintain a safe and secure school environment. Some SROs are
employees of the school district, and as employees have access
to pupil records as needed. Other SROs are employees of law
enforcement agencies, and do not have such access.
Federal regulations. The intent of this bill is to conform
California law to federal regulations. However, federal
regulations differ in two ways from this bill. First, federal
regulations permit, but do not require, school districts to
provide access to pupil records to the specified outside
parties. Staff recommends that, in order to conform to federal
regulations as well as to provide local discretion in
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determining whom to provide access, the bill be amended to make
its provisions permissive instead of mandatory.
Second, federal regulations prohibit the disclosure of
personally identifiable information on special education
students to outside parties. Staff recommends that, to be
consistent with and avoid violating federal regulations, the
bill be amended to exclude special education students from its
provisions.
New mandate. According to the Legislative Counsel's digest, the
bill imposes a new mandate by requiring school districts to use
reasonable methods to ensure that school officials and employees
obtain access only to those educational records in which they
have a legitimate educational interest. This provision
parallels existing federal regulations; however, the cost of
federal regulations is not reimbursable. Staff recommends that
this provision be amended to apply to outside parties instead of
to school officials and employees. This serves two purposes.
First, it ensures that the same standard of care would apply to
access by outside parties as by school officials. Second, it
would remove the mandate, because the requirement would take
effect only if a district first chooses to provide access to
pupil records to outside parties.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Orange County Department of Education (Sponsor)
California School Boards Association
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Rick Pratt / ED. / (916) 319-2087