EdLawConnect Blog

Pursuant to the recent passage of Assembly Bill 86 (“AB 86”), as of July 1, 2013, Education Code section 17463.7 has been extended and will remain in effect until January 1, 2016.  Education Code section 17463.7 was added in 2009 and provides school districts with some additional flexibility regarding the use of funds derived from the sale of surplus real property.  AB 86’s passage merely extends the ...

On August 12, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1266 into law. AB 1266 provides transgender students have a legal right to access sex-segregated facilities and activities consistent with their gender identity. The bill amends California Education Code section 221.5 to include, at subdivision (f):

A pupil shall be permitted to participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities ...

Recently the Third District Court of Appeal decided Crews v. Willows Unified School District, concerning a newspaperman’s appeal from an award of sanctions against him in the form of the school district’s attorneys’ fees for his filing a frivolous California Public Records Act lawsuit against the District.  Although the decision of the Court of Appeal reversed an award of sanctions against the ...

The California Department of Education and the California Energy Commission today issued a press release informing all Local Educational Agencies (“LEAs”) with Average Daily Attendance (“ADA”) of less than 1,000 that they have until August 1, 2013 to apply for Proposition 39 funding comprising a combined funding allocation for the current and following year to be received in a lump sum allocation in the current year.  This notice comes ahead of completion of the regulatory drafting, public input and adoption process required under the California Administrative Procedures Act.  Nonetheless, small LEAs should go through the online application process and then start planning to use those funds, while anticipating what the rules are going to look like.

Concerned about an instructor’s behavior and teaching methodologies, a student complains through email to a college.  Is the instructor entitled to a copy of the student’s email in its entirety?  A county office of education deletes emails during the course of routine network maintenance.  Is a parent entitled to electronic copies of emails regarding a student?  These are just two of many scenarios that ...

On July 2, 2013, the United States Treasury Department announced that implementation and enforcement of employer mandates under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Act”) will be delayed by one year.  Until today, school district employers were preparing to be in compliance with the Act starting on January 1, 2014.  As a result of today’s announcement, the new deadline for compliance is ...

It is widely accepted that the time and cost to terminate a permanent certificated employee in California is excessive and presents an undue burden on public school employers.  Accordingly, the Legislature is presently considering changes to the teacher termination process.  While it is premature to speculate whether the changes under consideration will improve or further complicate the process, here is a brief overview of the existing process.

On May 31, 2013, the California Court of Appeal reversed the conviction of Karen Christiansen for violation of Government Code section 1090, which generally prohibits public officials from being financially interested in contracts they make in their official capacity. (People v. Christiansen, see decision here.) Because the Court concluded that Christiansen was an independent contractor, not an ...

The Division of the State Architect has recently implemented a new procedure for Field Act and access compliance certification of K-14 projects, beginning June 1, 2013. There is really only one change in the law — a bar to potentially conflicting interests in contracting for inspection services — which will be the focus of this post. A future post will provide details about the new DSA job card process.

The ...

The California Public Records Act (CPRA) provides for the disclosure of public records kept by the state, local agencies, school districts and community college districts, and county offices of education. On April 19, 2013, the Commission on State Mandates (Commission) adopted a statement of decision and parameters and guidelines regarding state-mandated reimbursement for certain costs local ...