BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
Carol Liu, Chair
2013-2014 Regular Session
BILL NO: SB 326
AUTHOR: Beall
AMENDED: April 1, 2013
FISCAL COMM: Yes HEARING DATE: April 17, 2013
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Lynn Lorber
NOTE : This bill has been referred to the Committees on
Education and Public
Safety. A "do pass" motion should include referral to the
Committee on Public
Safety.
SUBJECT : Sex offenders.
SUMMARY
This bill requires schools, before considering whether to
grant permission to a sex offender to be on a school
campus, to contact the registering authority and requires
the registering authority to provide to the school specific
information.
BACKGROUND
Current law:
1) Requires any person who has been convicted of
specified sexual offenses to register as a sex
offender for the rest of his or her life while
residing in California. The person must register with
the chief of police of the city in which he or she is
residing, or the sheriff of the county if he or she is
residing in an unincorporated area or city that has no
police department. (Penal Code � 290)
2) Prohibits a registered sex offender from being in any
school building or upon any school grounds without
lawful business thereon and without written permission
from the chief administrative official of that school.
A person violating this prohibition is guilty of a
misdemeanor.
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(Penal Code � 626.81)
3) Prohibits a registered sex offender from residing
within 2,000 feet of any public or private school, or
park where children regularly gather.
(Penal Code � 3003.5)
4) Prohibits sex offender registrants, whose sex crime
was against a victim under age 16, from working as an
employee or volunteer with minors if the registrants
would be working with minors directly and in an
unaccompanied setting on more than an incidental or
occasional basis or would have supervisory or
disciplinary power over the child. If a registrant's
crime was not against a victim under age 16, the
registrant must notify the employer or volunteer
organization of his status as a registrant. Failure
to comply with this law is a misdemeanor offense.
(Penal Code � 290.95)
5) Specifies when a school district or county office of
education requests from the Department of Justice
(DOJ), records involving criminal offenses committed
by a prospective volunteer, the school district or
county office of education may request that the DOJ
provide subsequent arrest notification service and
specifies that the DOJ shall comply with that request.
(Education Code � 35021.2)
6) Provides parents and guardians with certain rights,
including the right to volunteer their time and
resources for the improvement of school facilities and
programs under the direct supervision of district
employees, including but not limited to providing
assistance in the classroom with the approval of and
under the direct supervision of the teacher. In
adopting policies that outline the manner in which
parents or guardians, school staff, and pupils may
share responsibility for the intellectual, physical,
emotional, and social development and well-being of
pupils, school district governing boards must specify
the manner in which the parents and guardians of
pupils may support the learning environment, including
volunteering in their children's classrooms or for
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other activities at the school. School districts are
not authorized to permit participation by a parent or
guardian if it conflicts with a valid restraining
order, protective order, or order for custody or
visitation issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
(EC � 51101)
ANALYSIS
This bill requires schools, before considering whether to
grant permission to a sex offender to be on a school
campus, to contact the registering authority and requires
the registering authority to provide to the school specific
information. Specifically, this bill:
1) Requires a chief administrative official of a school
(principal), if considering whether to grant
permission to a registered sex offender to be on
campus, to first consult with the registering
authority of the registered sex offender prior to
granting permission for that person to come into a
school building or upon school grounds.
2) Requires the registering authority to disclose to the
school principal the following information:
a) The person's most recent static State
Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders
(SARATSO) assessment score and most
b) recent SARATSO dynamic tool and SARATSO
future violence tool assessment scores if those
scores are available from the California Sex and
Arson Registry.
c) A brief description of the facts underlying
the offense(s) for which the person is required
to register, if that information is available
from the California Sex and Arson Registry,
police reports, or pre-sentencing reports.
d) Any facts known to the registering authority
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that indicate the person poses a current risk to
children, including the presence of risk factors
associated with committing sexual or violent
offenses.
3) Requires the school principal to again consult the
registering authority if the principal decides to
grant permission to the registered sex offender (prior
to actually granting permission), and to advise the
registering authority that permission will be granted.
4) Authorizes the school principal to grant permission to
the person who is a registered sex offender if the
registering authority has concluded that the person
poses a low risk of reoffending, or the registering
authority is undecided as the person's risk of
reoffending.
5) Conditions the principal's authority to grant
permission if the registering authority has concluded
that the person poses a moderate to high risk of
reoffending, by requiring the school to notify the
parents of each child attending the school that a
person who is required to register as a sex offender
has been granted permission, the date(s) and times for
which permission has been granted, and their right to
obtain information regarding the person from a
designated law enforcement entity.
6) Deems immune from civil liability any school principal
or school employee who in good faith disseminates the
notification and information about right to obtain
information on registered sex offenders.
7) Adds the requirement that written permission indicate
the date or dates and times for which permission has
been granted.
STAFF COMMENTS
1) Need for the bill . According to the author, "A recent
incident at a school in Senate District 15 has shed
light on some problems with the California Penal Code
when dealing with registered sex offenders on school
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grounds. The Penal Code allows a registered sex
offender to enter any school building or grounds with
the written permission from the chief administrative
official of said school. While this permission is
necessary in some cases, measures must be taken to
ensure correct decisions are being made when the
permission is granted."
2) Effect on parents. Current law prohibits registered
sex offenders from being on a school campus without
lawful business and written permission of the school
principal, including parents. Current law provides
parents with certain rights, including the right to
volunteer at their child's school. School districts
are not authorized to permit participation by a parent
or guardian if it conflicts with a valid restraining
order, protective order, or order for custody or
visitation issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction.
The term "lawful business" is defined as "a reason for
being present upon school property which is not
otherwise prohibited by statute, by ordinance, or by
any regulation adopted pursuant to statute or
ordinance." This does not clearly indicate that
parents who are registered sex offenders have lawful
business at their child's school, assuming the
person's parental rights have not been limited or
terminated. If a parent who is a registered sex
offender and is prohibited from contact with his or
her own child, written permission from a school
principal would likely violate court orders regarding
contact with children. How do we balance the rights
of individuals as parents while protecting the safety
of children while at school?
Questions that may be better suited for the discussion of
this bill in the Senate Public Safety Committee
include: What limitations are there on parents who
are registered sex offenders from being on campus?
Are there situations where a high risk sex offender
would have custody of his or her own child or be
allowed to have unsupervised contact with his or her
child?
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3) Notification of parents . This bill requires schools
to notify the parents of each student attending the
school at which permission has been granted for a
registered sex offender to be on campus, and requires
the notice to include specific information including
their right to obtain information regarding the person
from a designated law enforcement entity. This
implies that the school will provide to the parents
the name of the registered sex offender who has been
granted permission to be on campus. It is unclear to
staff whether a school principal has authority to
release the name of a registered sex offender in this
scenario, or if the parents would contact law
enforcement with general information and get more
specific information from the registering authority.
Further, should the notice to parents be limited to
the dates and times the person will be on campus, or
could a school principal include additional
information such as the offenses for which the person
must register, what that person's connection is to the
school, or why the principal decided to grant
permission for a registered sex offender to be on
campus?
4) Contacting the registering authority . The registering
authority is the chief of police of the city in which
the registered sex offender lives, or the county
sheriff if the person lives in an unincorporated area
or a city without a police department. This bill
requires a school principal to contact the registering
authority if considering granting permission to a
registered sex offender to be on school campus. This
bill requires a school principal to "again contact"
the registering authority after receiving certain
information from the registering authority if the
principal is still considering granting permission to
the registered sex offender to be on campus. The
author's intent is to require the principal to contact
the registering authority only once. Therefore, staff
recommends an amendment to strike reference to the
multiple points of contact.
5) Technical amendments . Staff recommends an amendment
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to authorize the notification methods to be by regular
mail, in electronic format upon the request of a
parent, or by other methods normally used to
communicate with parents in writing (identical to
Education Code � 48981).
Further staff recommends an amendment to require the school
to parents at least 14 school days prior to the
registered sex offender being on campus.
This bill authorizes the school principal to grant
permission to the person who is a registered sex
offender if the registering authority has concluded
that the person poses a low risk of reoffending, or
the registering authority is undecided as the person's
risk of reoffending. It is unclear why this provision
is necessary or how the result differs from current
law. Staff recommends an amendment to strike this
language.
6) Fiscal impact . Schools are likely to incur costs for
the notification requirements of this bill, in
addition to costs for the time school principals spend
contacting law enforcement. Could this have the
effect of being so burdensome on schools that
permission will never be granted for a registered sex
offender to be on campus?
7) Governor's Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) . As
part of the
2013- 14 Governor's Budget, the administration
proposes to restructure the existing K-12 finance
system and eliminate over 40 existing programs while
also repealing, what the administration determines are
countless "discretionary" provisions of statute, while
implementing a new formula known as the Local Control
Funding Formula (LCFF). The LCFF would consolidate the
vast majority of state categorical programs and
revenue limit apportionments into a single source of
funding (12 categorical programs, including Special
Education, Child Nutrition, Preschool, and After
School programs, would be excluded). The LCFF
proposal would also eliminate the statutory and
programmatic requirements for almost all existing
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categorical programs - the programs would be deemed
"discretionary" and programs in any of these areas
would be dependent on local district discretion. To
the extent that the LCFF or a modified version of it
is adopted as part of the budget, the majority of
currently required categorical activities would be
left to local districts' discretion.
Therefore, the changes proposed by this bill regarding
notification requirements could be diluted,
eliminated, rendered obsolete or discretionary at the
local level.
8) Related legislation . SB 565 (Knight) narrows the list
of persons eligible to serve as nonteaching volunteer
aides in schools by prohibiting individuals who have
been convicted of certain violent or serious felonies
or that are on post release community supervision or
parole. This bill also authorizes a school district
or county office of education to request a local law
enforcement agency to conduct an automated criminal
records check of a prospective nonteaching volunteer
to determine whether he or she has been convicted of
certain violent or serious felonies or on post release
community supervision or parole. SB 565 was heard by
this Committee on April 3, 2013 but no vote was taken.
SUPPORT
California Protective Parents Association
County of Santa Clara Supervisor, District Three
Saint Frances Cabrini School, Ladies League and
Communications Committee
The Children's Psychological Health Center
Numerous individuals
OPPOSITION
None on file.