Bill Text: CA AB261 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Enrolled
Bill Title: Pupil records: privacy rights.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Vetoed) 2010-01-14 - Consideration of Governor's veto stricken from file. [AB261 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB261-Enrolled.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 261 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 16, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 22, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Salas
FEBRUARY 11, 2009
An act to amend Sections 49076 and 49076.5 of the Education Code,
relating to pupil records.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 261, Salas. Pupil records: privacy rights.
Existing law prohibits a school district from permitting access to
pupil records to any person without written parental consent or
judicial order, except as provided.
This bill would make various changes to these pupil record
provisions to conform them to federal law.
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 school district is not authorized to permit access to
pupil records to a person without written parental consent or under
judicial order except as set forth in this section and as permitted
by Part 99 (commencing with Section 99.1) of Title 34 of the Code of
Federal Regulations:
(a) Access to those particular records relevant to the legitimate
educational interests of the requester shall be permitted to the
following:
(1) School officials and employees of the district, members of a
school attendance review board established pursuant to Section 48321,
and a 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.
(2) 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.
(3) Authorized representatives of the Comptroller General of the
United States, the Secretary of Education, and 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.
(4) In accordance with Section 99.31 of Title 34 of the Code of
Federal Regulations, state and local officials or authorities to whom
the information specifically is allowed to be reported or disclosed
pursuant to state law adopted prior to November 19, 1974, and state
and local officials or authorities to whom the information is
specifically allowed to be reported or disclosed pursuant to state
law adopted after November 19, 1974.
(5) Parents of a pupil 18 years of age or older who is a dependent
as defined in Section 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(6) A pupil 16 years of age or older, or who has completed grade
10, and who requests access.
(7) A district attorney's office that 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. For
purposes of this paragraph, a truancy mediation program under Section
48263.5 concerns the juvenile justice system and the system's
ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the pupil whose
records are released, and the disclosure of those records is
permitted pursuant to, and consistent with, Section 99.38 of Title 34
of the Code of Federal Regulations as that section exists on January
1, 2009.
(8) 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)).
(9) A probation officer or district attorney's office for the
purposes of conducting an investigation for juvenile adjudication,
declaring a person a ward of the court or involving a violation of a
condition of probation, where the records are relevant to the
legitimate educational interests of the pupil, as these
investigations concern the juvenile justice system and the system's
ability to effectively serve, prior to adjudication, the pupil whose
records are released, and disclosure of those records is permitted
pursuant to, and consistent with, Section 99.38 of Title 34 of the
Code of Federal Regulations as that section exists on January 1,
2009. Law enforcement records may be released without consent, a
subpoena, or a court order.
(10) 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. For purposes of this paragraph, a truancy
mediation program under Section 48263.5 concerns the juvenile justice
system and the system's ability to effectively serve, prior to
adjudication, the pupil whose records are released, and the
disclosure of those records is permitted pursuant to, and consistent
with, Section 99.38 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations as
that section exists on January 1, 2009. 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 paragraph shall inform, or provide written notification to,
the parent or guardian of the pupil within 24 hours of the release of
the information.
(11) 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.
(b) School districts may release information from pupil records to
the following:
(1) 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.
(2) 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 that will be imposed regarding the financial aid, or to
enforce the terms or conditions of the financial aid.
(3) The county elections official may obtain directory information
as defined in Section 99.3 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal
Regulations for the purpose of identifying pupils eligible to
register to vote, and for conducting programs to offer pupils an
opportunity to register to vote if the pupil's parents, or in the
case of pupils 18 years of age or older, have not opted out of
participation in this voter registration activity. The directory
information that may be disclosed pursuant to this subparagraph shall
be limited to a pupil's name, address, phone number, email address,
and date of birth, and shall not be used for any other purpose or
given or transferred to any other person or agency.
(4) Accrediting associations in order to carry out their
accrediting functions.
(5) 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.
(6) (A) (i) 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.
(ii) 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 any other person,
persons, agency, or organization without the written consent of the
pupil's parent.
(B) However, 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 educational interest in the information pursuant to
Section 99.31 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(c) Notwithstanding any other 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 by authorized school officials to a computerized database
maintained by a noneducational governmental agency 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 is met:
(1) Each agency and school district shall develop security
procedures or devices by which unauthorized personnel cannot access
data contained in the system.
(2) Each agency and school district shall develop procedures or
devices to secure privileged or confidential data from unauthorized
disclosure.
(3) Each school district shall comply with the access log
requirements of Section 49064.
(4) 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.
(5) 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.
(6) A school district, including a county office of education or
superintendent of schools, shall not disclose personally identifiable
pupil information from educational records into this interagency
data information system unless permitted by Part 99 (commencing with
Section 99.1) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
SEC. 2. Section 49076.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:
49076.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 49076, each school district
shall release the information it has specific to a particular pupil's
identity and location that relates to the transfer of that pupil's
records to another school district within this state or any other
state or to a private school in this state to a designated peace
officer, upon his or her request, when a proper police purpose exists
for the use of that information. As permitted by Part 99 (commencing
with Section 99.1) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
the designated peace officer, or law enforcement agency, shall show
the school district that the peace officer or law enforcement agency
has obtained prior written consent from one parent, or provide
information indicating that there is an emergency in which the
information is necessary to protect the health or safety of the
pupil, or that the peace officer or law enforcement agency has
obtained a lawfully issued subpoena or a court order.
(b) In order to protect the privacy interests of the pupil, a
request to a school district for pupil record information pursuant to
this section shall meet the following requirements:
(1) For purposes of this section, "proper police purpose" means
that probable cause exists that the pupil has been kidnapped and that
his or her abductor may have enrolled the pupil in a school and that
the agency has begun an active investigation.
(2) Only designated peace officers and federal criminal
investigators and federal law enforcement officers, as defined in
Section 830.1 of the Penal Code, whose names have been submitted to
the school district in writing by a law enforcement agency, may
request and receive the information specified in subdivision (a).
Each law enforcement agency shall ensure that each school district
has at all times a current list of the names of designated peace
officers authorized to request pupil record information.
(3) This section does not authorize designated peace officers to
obtain any pupil record information other than that authorized by
this section.
(4) The law enforcement agency requesting the information shall
ensure that at no time shall information obtained pursuant to this
section be disclosed or used for a purpose other than to assist in
the investigation of suspected criminal conduct or kidnapping. A
violation of this paragraph shall be punishable as a misdemeanor.
(5) The designated peace officer requesting information authorized
for release by this section shall make a record on a form created
and maintained by the law enforcement agency that shall include the
name of the pupil about whom the inquiry was made, the consent of a
parent having legal custody of the pupil or a legal guardian, the
name of the officer making the inquiry, the date of the inquiry, the
name of the school district, the school district employee to whom the
request was made, and the information that was requested.
(6) Whenever the designated peace officer requesting information
authorized for release by this section does so in person, by
telephone, or by some means other than in writing, the officer shall
provide the school district with a letter confirming the request for
pupil record information prior to any release of information.
(7) No school district, or officer or employee of the school
district, shall be subject to criminal or civil liability for the
release of pupil record information in good faith as authorized by
this section.
