Requests for the Public to Place Items on Board Agenda (K-12)

Recently a number of school districts have contacted our office regarding a mass request by an organization seeking to agendize a proposed resolution “Urging the Legislature to Extend the Personal Beliefs Exemption Deadline and Implementation of [Senate Bill] 277 to July 1, 2018.” In this memo, we advise that the most conservative approach is to place this item on your agenda if you receive such a request, because it is “a matter directly related to school district business.” Cal. Educ. Code § 35145.5. However, there is no requirement to take action on the item. We also note that districts may exercise discretion not to agendize the matter, but that this is a riskier approach.

LEGAL UPDATE

February 3, 2016

To:  Superintendents, Member School Districts (K-12)

From: Damara L. Moore, Senior Associate General Counsel

Subject:  Requests for the Public to Place Items on Board Agenda       

Memo No. 04-2016

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Recently a number of school districts have contacted our office regarding a mass request by an organization seeking to agendize a proposed resolution “Urging the Legislature to Extend the Personal Beliefs Exemption Deadline and Implementation of [Senate Bill] 277 to July 1, 2018.”  In this memo, we advise that the most conservative approach is to place this item on your agenda if you receive such a request, because it is “a matter directly related to school district business.”  Cal. Educ. Code § 35145.5.  However, there is no requirement to take action on the item.  We also note that districts may exercise discretion not to agendize the matter, but that this is a riskier approach.

Senate Bill (“SB”) 277 was approved by the Governor on June 30, 2015 and limits the exceptions that permit a parent to enroll a student in school who has not been vaccinated, effective July 1, 2016.  SB 277 eliminated the former right of parents to file a “personal belief exemption,” which had allowed districts to enroll students in school without otherwise-required vaccinations, upon receipt of the written exemption from a parent.  Now, SB 277 requires school districts to exclude children from school who have not been vaccinated as required by law, with some specific exceptions that no longer include the personal belief exemption.  See Cal. Health & Safety Code § 120335.  Further information regarding SB 277 is available upon request.

The Education Code provides that, “It is the intent of the Legislature that members of the public be able to place matters directly related to school district business on the agenda of school district governing board meetings.”  Cal. Educ. Code § 35145.5.  In addition, “Every agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the governing board on any item of interest to the public, before or during the governing board’s consideration of the item, that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the governing board. Governing boards shall adopt reasonable regulations to insure that this intent is carried out. The regulations may specify reasonable procedures to insure the proper functioning of governing board meetings.”  Id.

It is within the role of the board president, working with the superintendent, to develop the board agenda.  A school district may exercise discretion not to place an item on the agenda if the district determines that the matter is not “directly related to school business.”  Mooney v. Garcia (2012) Cal. App.4th 229, 231.  Whether soliciting the Legislature to take action on SB 277 is a matter “directly related to school business” is debatable, but there is an argument to be made that soliciting the Legislature on this subject does relate to school business, particularly if your board regularly entertains similar items.  If a school district decides that this matter does not relate directly to school business, it is susceptible to a lawsuit and would have to prove it did not directly relate to school business.  A more conservative approach is to place the item on the agenda.[1]

Even if a district places the matter on the agenda, however, no action is legally required and the item need only be considered.  The law does not require the item be placed on the agenda immediately, but it is advisable to place the item on the agenda within a reasonable time frame, such as within 30 days.  Interested members of the public may comment on the item, subject to the Board’s policies regarding public comment generally.

The parties requesting this item be placed on the agenda assert that school districts will be subject to litigation for excluding students if they implement SB 277.  While anyone may initiate a legal action, the merits of this threatened action against districts are weak. There have always existed provisions of the law that permit exclusion of students from school under some circumstances.  The threat that complying with the legal mandates of SB 277 will lead to litigation is not well-founded.  Disregarding the legal mandates of SB 277 is far riskier.

Please contact our office with questions regarding this Legal Update, SB 277, or any other legal matter.

 

The information in this Legal Update is provided as a summary of law and is not intended as legal advice.  Application of the law may vary depending on the particular facts and circumstances at issue.  We, therefore, recommend that you consult legal counsel to advise you on how the law applies to your specific situation.

 

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