December 31, 1999
No. 99 - 37

[Stat. 1999, Chapter 276
(AB116, Mazzoni)]

Amends Education Code Sections 60045 and 60200 and adds Education Code Sections 60048 and 60200.2

Basic instructional materials, and other instructional material that provide any exposure to a commercial brand name, product, or corporate or company logo in a manner that is inconsistent with State Board of Education regulations may not be adopted by a school board.

A board may not adopt the name or logo unless the board makes specific findings "that the use of the commercial brand name, product, or corporate or company logo in the instructional materials is appropriate." More specifically, the board must make one of the following specific findings:

"(A) If text, the use of the commercial brand name, product, or corporate or company logo in the instructional materials is necessary for an educational purpose," as defined by the State Board.

"(B) If an illustration, the appearance of a commercial brand name, product, or corporate or company logo in an illustration in instructional materials is incidental to the general nature of the illustration."

December 31, 1999
No. 99 - 37

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 1013
(SB 570, Alarcon)]

Amends Education Code Sections 48110 and 48111

Under existing law, any minor over age 16 or other person entering school grounds and interfering with school activities, commits a misdemeanor. This offense is punishable by a fine of not less than $100, or more than $1,000, or imprisonment in a county jail not to exceed six months, or by both the fine and imprisonment. Also, if a person disrupts classwork or extracurricular activities in a place where a school employee is required to be in the course of his or her duties, that individual commits a misdemeanor and is subject to the same penalties.

The new law increases the minimum fine to $500 and the maximum fine to $1,000.

December 31, 1999
No. 99 - 37

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 996
(SB 334, Alpert)]

Amends numerous Education Code Sections

The new law eliminates the sunset date on the requirement that schools develop school safety plans. The statute requires that the safety plans be reviewed and updated annually. The statute also requires that, commencing July 1, 2000, each school report on the status of its school safety plan in its annual school accountability report card.

The new law also establishes the School Safety and Violence Prevention Strategy Program to award grants on a competitive basis to schools demonstrating a collaborative and coordinated approach for implementing a comprehensive school safety and violence prevention strategy

Governor Davis signed this bill but vetoed the $5 Million appropriation to the Superintendent of Public Instruction to carry out the program. He explained the line-item veto: "I approved a $100 million augmentation in the 1999 Budget Act for school safety to fund school district safety initiatives such as school counselors, school psychologist, fencing, and video cameras"; therefore, he reasoned, the additional expenditure was not necessary.

December 31, 1999
No. 99 - 36

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 858
(AB 695, Mazzoni)]

Amends Education Code Sections 15340, 17009.5, 17070.15, 17070.75,17071.10, 17071.25, 17071.75, 17072.10, 17072.20, 17074.10, 17076.10, and 100420 , Government Code Sections 65995.5 and 65995.6, and Election Code Section 1003; adds Education Code Section 17072.17 and repeals Education Code Section 15341.

Existing law-relating to the formation of school facilities improvement districts-authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for and call a special bond election. Existing Law prohibits elections from being held within 45 days before or after a statewide election, unless conducted at the statewide election. The new law generally allows such an election to be held on any date. The Leroy F. Greene School Facilities Act of 1998 establishes a program in which the State Allocation Board provides state per-pupil funding for new school facilities construction and school facilities modernization to applicant school districts. The Green Act also requires applicant districts to provide local matching funds.

The new law authorizes the State Allocation Board to adopt or amend regulations to adjust the assumed capacity for each teaching station used for special day class purposes. The State Allocation Board may adopt, after January 1, 2001, regulations establishing assumed capacity standards for teaching stations at continuation high school, community day school, county community school, and county community day school.

Existing law requires the calculation of existing pupil capacity to be made on a one-time basis as a baseline for eligibility determinations. Current law also requires each participating school district to submit to the board a one-time report of existing school building capacity. The new law creates an exception to the one-time calculation. The new law requires a school district newly formed, reorganized, or affected by reorganization after November 4, 1998, to calculate its existing school building capacity under regulations adopted by the State Allocation Board.

[Stats 1999, Chapter 667
(SB118, Alarcon)]

Amends Education Code Sections 5322, 5324, 5325, 5361, 5362, 15100, 15140, and 15146, and Government Code Sections 53508.7; adds Education Code Sections 15150 and 15205.

Under existing law whenever an election is called, the election must be made not less than 123 days prior to the date set for the election.

This new law reduces this period to "at least 88 days prior to the date of the election in the case of an election on a measure, including a bond measure." The new law also permits certain school and college districts to sell their own bonds and permits a public or private sale.

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 374
(AB 117, Mazzoni)]

Adds Education Code Section 35182.5

This legislation prohibits a governing board from entering into a contract that grants exclusive advertising rights, or grants the right to the exclusive sale of carbonated beverages, throughout the district to a person, business, or corporation unless the governing board has adopted a policy after a public hearing.

The policy must ensure that the district has internal controls in place to protect the integrity of public funds and to ensure that funds raised benefit public education. The contract must be awarded after competitive bidding or issuance of a Request for Proposal.

This legislation also prohibits a school district-subject to various exceptions-from entering into a contract for "electronic products or services" if that contract "requires the dissemination of advertising to pupils." An example of such an arrangement is the Channel One service. Existing contracts remain in effect but cannot be renewed without compliance with new requirements.

The district may enter into the contract if the governing board does all of the following:

• Enters into the contract at a noticed public hearing
• Finds that the electronic products or service in question would be an integral component of the education of pupils
• Finds that the school district cannot afford to provide the electronic product or services unless it contracts to permit dissemination of advertising to pupils
• Provides written notice to the parents or guardians of pupil that the advertising will be used in the classroom or other learning centers
   
• Offers the parents the opportunity to request in writing that the pupil not be exposed to the program that contains the advertising. Any request must be honored for the school year in which it is submitted, or longer if specified, but may be withdrawn by the parents or guardian at any time

In addition, this law prohibits a board form entering a contract with a private enterprise "that prohibits a school district employee from disparaging the goods or services of the party contracting with the board." It does, however, provide that a board "may sell advertising, products, or services on a nonexculsive basis." Finally, "a board may post public signs indicating the district's appreciation for the support by a person or business for the district's education program."

Generously provided by: Ralph D. Stern, General Counsel, Schools Legal Counsel

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ELECTRONIC BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 428
(SB 820, Sher and Bowen, with co-authors Assembly Members Alquist and Wayne)]

Adds Title 2.5 (commencing with Section 1633.1) to Part 2 of Division 3 of Civil Code and amends Section 18608 of Financial Code

Millions of commercial transactions now take place over the Internet, but there remains uncertainty regarding the legal validity of electronically created contracts and the acceptability of electronic records and documents as evidence of a transaction. This legislation enacts the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act to facilitate electronic transactions where the parties agree in advance to conduct a transaction electronically. The fundamental policy running through the Act is the establishment of the legal equivalence of electronic records and signatures with paper writings and manually signed signatures. The Act does not require any record or signature to be processed electronically, and does not apply to wills and trusts and certain other transactions.

In order to be valid, an agreement to conduct a transaction electronically must itself be contained in an electronic record, or if part of a standard agreement on paper, the clause authorizing the electronic transaction must be separate and optional. In other words, it cannot be hidden away in boilerplate which the party is required to sign. An agreement cannot be conditioned upon consent to transact electronically.

The Act provides that if a law requires a record to be in writing, an electronic record will satisfy the law. Similarly, if a law requires a signature, an electronic signature satisfies the law. An electronic signature is defined as an "electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or logically associated with an electronic record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the electronic record." The Act also contains provisions for electronic notarization of electronic signatures, electronic signatures under penalty of perjury, and retention of records (including checks) in electronic format. The Act contains rules that apply if a change or error in an electronic record occurs in the transmission.

Generously provided by: Ralph D. Stern, General Counsel, Schools Legal Counsel

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DEFERRED MAINTENANCE

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 390
(AB 939, Brewer)]

Amends Education Code Section 39619 and adds Education Code Section 17584.1

Existing law requires the State Allocation Board to apportion, from the State School Deferred Maintenance Fund, a specified amount of funds to school districts on a 50 percent matching basis, to the extent funds are available.

The new law requires a governing board to discuss proposals for expenditures on deferred maintenance of school district facilities at a regularly scheduled public hearing. The new law also requires a school board to report to the Legislature by March 1 in any year that the school district does not set aside prescribed funds for facility maintenance.

The March 1 report must include the following:

• A schedule of the complete school facilities deferred maintenance needs of the school district for the current year, including a schedule of costs per school site and total costs
• A detailed description of the school district's spending priorities for the current year, and an explanation of why those priorities, or any other considerations, have prevented the school district from setting aside sufficient local funds so as to permit it to fully fund its deferred maintenance program
• An explanation of how the governing board of a school district plans to meet its current-year facilities deferred maintenance needs without setting aside the required funds

[Stats. 1999, Chap. 300
(AB 847, Campbell)]

Amends Education Code Section 17620

Existing law generally authorizes the governing board of a school district to levy developers' fees.

The new law establishes an exemption from developers' fees for new construction that qualifies for a specified exclusion from property tax reappraisal for construction, or modification, that makes a dwelling more accessible to a severely and permanently disabled person.

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 304
(SB 142, Baca)]

Adds Education Code Section 17284.5

The Field Act requires approval of plans relating to the structural safety of school buildings. The Field Act also applies to "relocatable buildings" used for school purposes.

This new law extends until January 1, 2001, any waiver granted by the State Allocation Board to a school district "for use of a nonconforming existing private building acquired for conversion for use as a school building," if the waiver does not expire before January 1, 2000.

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 178
(AB 562, Cardenas)]

Amends Section 17072.25 of the Education Code

The new law specifies the conditions under which the State Allocation Board must use a priority ranking mechanism to fund new school construction projects. The Board will no longer use a "first come, first serve" process. Priority rankings must be established if at least one of the following conditions is met: (1) total funds available for allocation are insufficient to fund all approved projects, or (2) after July 1, 2000, $300 million in bond funds for new construction remain unallocated.

[Stats. 1999, Chap. 972
(AB 574, Hertzberg)]

Amends Public Contracts Code Section 4107; adds Section 1103 and 20101 to the Public Contracts Code

Among other things this bill would define the term "responsible bidder" to mean a bidder who has demonstrated the attribute of trustworthiness, as well as quality, fitness, capacity, and experience to satisfactorily perform a public works contract. The bill also states this definition is declaratory of existing law. Under existing law, a prime contractor whose bid is accepted may not substitute a person as subcontractor in place of the subcontractor listed in the original bid, except that the awarding authority may, except as otherwise provided, consent to the substitution of another person as a subcontractor in specified situations. This bill would also provide for the consent to the substitution in the situation when the awarding authority determines that a listed subcontractor is not a responsible contractor.

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 648
(AB 15, Gallegos)]

Amends Education Code Section 38048, adds Education Code 38047.5, and amends Vehicle Code Section 27316

New law requires that school buses manufactured on or after January 1, 2002 and purchased or leased for use in California have a "passenger restraint system" at all designated seating positions, unless specifically prohibited by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

The new law also provides: "The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations to require a passenger in a schoolbus equipped with passenger restraint systems . . . to use a passenger restraint system so that the passenger is properly restrained by that system."

[Stats. 1999, Chapter 647
(AB 1573, Strom-Martin)]

Amends Vehicle Code Section 22112

State law requires a school bus to display a flashing, red, signal-light when stopped to load and unload students. But the current law also exempts a school bus driver from the requirements at locations identified by a school district.

This legislation specifies the locations where the drivers are exempt from the requirements.

The new law also permits the California Highway Patrol to impose signal requirements at any location where the CHP determines that the activation is necessary for the safety of school pupils loading or unloading from school buses.

More specifically, Section 22112 of the Vehicle Code is amended to eliminate the requirement of flashing, red lights on school buses when stopped to load or unload students at any of the following locations:

• School bus loading zones on or adjacent to school grounds or during an activity trip, if the school bus is lawfully parked
• Where the school bus is disabled due to mechanical breakdown
• Where pupils require assistance to board or leave the school bus
• Where the roadway surface on which the bus is stopped is partially or completely covered by snow or ice and requiring traffic to stop would pose a safety hazard
• On a state highway with a posted speed limit of 55 miles per hour or higher where the school bus is completely off the main traveled portion of the highway
• Any location determined by a school district, with the approval of the Department of the California Highway Patrol, to present a traffic or safety hazard

The other major change to Vehicle Code Section 22112 relates to the locations where traffic is controlled by an official traffic control signal. "Where pupils, for the purpose of loading or unloading, will be crossing the highway or private road on which the school bus is stopped, the flashing red, signal-light system shall be activated for only the loading and unloading process. Students loading or unloading the school bus shall use the official traffic control signal to cross the street."

Generously provided by: Ralph D. Stern, General Counsel, Schools Legal Counsel

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