BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1068
Author: Bloom (D)
Amended: 9/4/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/26/13
AYES: Liu, Wyland, Block, Correa, Hancock, Hueso, Huff,
Monning, Torres
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 7-0, 8/30/13
AYES: De Le�n, Walters, Gaines, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Pupil records
SOURCE : National Association for the Education of Homeless
Youth and
Children
DIGEST : This bill prohibits the release of directory
information for homeless pupils, and requires schools to permit
access to pupil records to a pupil who is at least 14 years old,
homeless and unaccompanied.
Assembly Amendments add double-jointing language to avoid
chaptering out provisions of AB 643 (Stone, Chapter 80, Statutes
of 2013).
ANALYSIS : The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy
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Act (FERPA) prohibits federal funds from being provided 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 pupil's parents. FERPA exempts from the general
parental consent requirement certain kinds of disclosures,
including disclosures to state and local officials for the
purposes of conducting truancy proceedings, a criminal
investigation, auditing or evaluating an educational program, or
in relation to the application for financial aid.
Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access
to pupil records to a person without parental consent or under
judicial order, with some exceptions:
1. School districts are required to permit access to records
relevant to the legitimate educational interests of specified
requesters, including:
A. School officials and employees of the districts,
members of a school attendance review board and any
volunteer aide, as specified, provided that the person
has a legitimate educational interest to inspect a
record.
B. Officials and employees of other public schools or
school systems where the pupil intends to or is directed
to enroll.
C. Other federal, state and local officials, as
specified.
D. Parents of a pupil 18 years of age or older who is a
dependent.
E. A pupil 16 years of age or older or having completed
the 10th grade who requests access.
F. A district attorney, judge or probation officer, in
relation to truancy proceedings.
G. A district attorney's office for consideration
against a parent for failure to comply with compulsory
education laws.
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H. A probation officer, district attorney, or counsel of
record for a minor, in relation to a criminal
investigation or in regard to declaring a person a ward
of the court or involving a violation of a condition of
probation.
I. A county placing agency when acting as an authorized
representative of a state or local educational agency.
2. School districts are authorized to release information from
pupil records to the following:
A. Appropriate persons in connection with an emergency if
the information is necessary to protect the health or
safety of a pupil or other person.
B. Agencies or organizations in connection with the
application of a pupil for, or receipt of, financial aid.
C. The county elections official for the identification of
pupils who are eligible to register to vote.
D. Accrediting associations in order to carry out
accrediting functions.
E. Organizations conducting studies on behalf of
educational agencies or institutions for the purpose of
developing, validating or administering predictive tests,
administering student aid programs, and improving
instruction.
F. Officials and employees of private schools or school
systems where the pupil is enrolled or intends to enroll.
G. A contractor or consultant with a legitimate
educational interest who has a formal written agreement or
contract with the school district regarding the provision
of outsourced institutional services or functions by the
contractor or consultant.
Existing law:
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1. Requires school districts to adopt a policy identifying
categories of directory information that may be released, and
authorizes directory information to be released according to
the local policy. School districts are required to provide
notice at least annually of the categories of information
that the school plans to release and of the recipients. The
release of directory information is prohibited if the parent
has notified the school district that the information is not
to be released.
2. Defines "directory information" as one or more of the
following: pupil's name, address, telephone number, date of
birth, email address, major field of study, participation in
officially recognized activities and sports, weight and
height of members of athletics teams, dates of attendance,
degrees and awards received, and the most recent previous
public or private school attended by the pupil.
3. Requires school districts to notify parents in writing of
their rights, including the types of pupil records kept by
the district, the position of the official responsible for
the records, the policies for reviewing and expunging
records, and the criteria used by the district to define
"school officials and employees" and to determine "legitimate
educational interest."
4. Establishes the Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit for the
purpose of authorizing enrollment of a minor in school and to
authorize school-related medical care. This affidavit
requests the name of the minor, the minor's birthdate, the
adult's name, and the adult's home address at which he/she
and the minor are living. This affidavit must also be signed
by the adult attesting that he/she is 18 years of age or
older and that the named minor lives in the adult's home.
The affidavit states that the declaration does not affect the
rights of the minor's parents or legal guardian regarding the
care, custody, and control of the minor, and does not mean
that the caregiver has legal custody of the minor.
The federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act defines
"homeless children and youths" as children and youths who lack a
fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, and includes
children and youths who, among other situations, are sharing the
housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic
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hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels,
trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative
adequate accommodations. Unaccompanied youth are considered
homeless pursuant to McKinney-Vento and who is not in the
physical custody of his/her parent or legal guardian.
This bill prohibits the release of directory information for
homeless pupils, and requires schools to permit access to pupil
records to a pupil who is at least 14 years old, homeless and
unaccompanied. Specifically, this bill:
1. Prohibits the release of directory information regarding a
pupil identified as being homeless unless a parent, or pupil
with parental rights, has provided written consent for such
release.
2. Expands the existing requirement that school districts permit
access to pupil records relevant to the legitimate
educational interests of the requester, to permit access to
the following individuals:
A. A pupil who is 14 years of age or older and is both a
homeless child or youth and an unaccompanied youth as
defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.
B. An individual who completes the Caregiver's
Authorization Affidavit and signs the affidavit for the
purpose of enrolling a minor in school.
3. Adds double-jointing language to avoid chapter out provisions
of AB 643 (Stone).
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Mandate : This bill imposes a new mandate on local education
agencies (LEAs) which is likely to be deemed reimbursable, by
the Commission on State Mandates. While the workload increase
for any one LEA is likely to be minor, reimbursable costs
could exceed $500,000 (General Fund) statewide.
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/5/13)
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National Association for the Education of Homeless Youth and
Children (source)
California Coalition for Youth
California Federation of Teachers
California Partnership to End Domestic Violence
Children Now
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, "Unaccompanied
homeless youth are youth experiencing homelessness who are not
in the physical custody of a parent or guardian. Most of these
students have left home due to severe family dysfunction,
including abuse and neglect. Unaccompanied youth who have not
yet turned 18 are not considered 'eligible students' and
therefore cannot access their own educational records and cannot
give consent for the school to disclose their records to
advocates, community agencies, health care providers, tutoring
programs, or other agencies or individuals that do not fall
within one of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
exceptions."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 78-0, 5/29/13
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Bigelow, Bloom,
Blumenfield, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown,
Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway,
Cooley, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mitchell, Morrell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Patterson,
Perea, V. Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, John A. P�rez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy
PQ:d 9/5/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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