California Assembly Bill AB143 Introduced / Bill

 BILL NUMBER: AB 143INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Fuentes JANUARY 13, 2011 An act to amend Sections 49075 and 49076 of the Education Code, relating to pupil records. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 143, as introduced, Fuentes. 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, including to a probation officer or district attorney 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. This bill would additionally allow school districts to permit a minor's counsel to access pupil records for the same purposes stated above. Existing law authorizes a school district to permit access to pupil records to a person for whom a parent of the pupil has executed written consent specifying the records to be released and identifying the party or class to whom the records may be released and requires the recipient to be notified of the prohibition against transmitting the information to others without the written consent of the parent. This bill would require officials and authorities receiving pupil records pursuant to specified law to certify in writing to the school district that the information shall not be disclosed to another party, except as provided under 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. The bill would also make various technical, nonsubstantive changes to these provisions. 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 49075 of the Education Code is amended to read: 49075. (a) A school district may permit access to pupil records to  any   a  person for whom a parent of the pupil has executed written consent specifying the records to be released and identifying the party or class of parties to whom the records may be released. The recipient  must   shall  be notified that the transmission of the information to others without the written consent of the parent is prohibited. The consent notice shall be permanently kept with the record file.  (b) The officials and authorities to whom pupil records are disclosed pursuant to subdivision (f) of Section 48902 and paragraph (9) of subdivision (a) of Section 49076 shall certify in writing to the disclosing school district that the information shall not be disclosed to another party, except as provided under 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.   (b)   (c)  Notwithstanding subdivision (a), school lunch applications and information shared pursuant to Section 49557.2 shall be retained by any school district in the manner most useful to the administration of the school lunch program. SEC. 2. Section 49076 of the Education Code is amended to read: 49076. A school district is not authorized to permit access to pupil records to  any   a  person without written parental consent or under judicial order except that: (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 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. (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 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,  any  data collected by those officials shall be protected in a manner  which   that  will not permit the personal identification of pupils or their parents by other than those officials, and  any  personally identifiable data shall be destroyed when no longer needed for the audit, evaluation, and enforcement of federal legal requirements. (4) 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. (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 1954   Title 26 of the United States Code . (6) A pupil 16 years of age or older or having completed the 10th grade who requests access. (7)  Any   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. (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) of Part 27) or with Compulsory Continuation Education (Chapter 3 (commencing with Section 48400) of Part 27). (9)  Any   A  probation officer  or   ,  district attorney  , or minor's counsel  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. (10)  Any   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 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)  Any   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 which will be imposed regarding the financial aid, or to enforce the terms or conditions of the financial aid. (3) 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  , however,  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) 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.  A   (c)     A  person, persons, agency, or organization permitted access to pupil records pursuant to this section  may   shall  not permit access to any information obtained from those records by  any other   another  person, persons, agency, or organization, except for allowable exceptions contained within the 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.  However, this paragraph   This subdivision  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.  (c)   (d)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law,  any   a  school district, including  any   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  which   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: (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  may   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.