SB 1317

Bill Subjects

Abstract

(1) The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill, with respect to the operation of the charter school only, would clarify that the governing body of a charter school is subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless it is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill, with respect to the operation of the charter school only, would clarify that the governing body of a charter school is subject to the California Public Records Act. (3) Existing law prohibits certain public officials, including, but not limited to, members of governing boards of school districts and citizens' oversight committees, from engaging in specified activities that are inconsistent or incompatible with, or inimical to, their duties as public officials, including, but not limited to, entering into a contract in which the official or the official's family member has a financial interest, as specified. This bill, with respect to the operation of the charter school only, would clarify that the governing body of a charter school is subject to these provisions unless the charter school is operated as, or operated by, a nonprofit public benefit corporation. (4) Existing law also prohibits certain self-dealing transactions, as defined, in which a nonprofit public benefit corporation is a party and in which one or more of its directors has a material financial interest, as specified. This bill would, notwithstanding the self-dealing provision described above for nonprofit public benefit corporations, impose certain requirements on the governing body of a charter school and a member of the governing body of a charter school if the charter school and the member enter into a loan agreement, real property lease agreement, or a guarantor agreement for a line of credit or real property lease, as specified. (5) The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires every state agency and local governmental agency to adopt a conflict-of-interest code, formulated at the most decentralized level possible, that requires designated employees of the agency to file statements of economic interest disclosing any investments, business positions, interests in real property, or sources of income that may foreseeably be affected materially by any governmental decision made or participated in by the designated employee by virtue of his or her position. This bill, with respect to the operation of the charter school only, would clarify that the governing body of a charter school is subject to the Political Reform Act of 1974. (6) This bill would state various exceptions and clarifications regarding the applicability of the acts described above in paragraphs (1) to (3) , inclusive, and (5) . (7) Existing law requires a member of the governing board of a school district to abstain from voting on personnel matters that uniquely affect a relative of the member. This bill would require a member of the governing body of a charter school to abstain from voting on, or influencing or attempting to influence another member of the governing body of the charter school regarding, personnel matters that uniquely affect a relative, as defined, of the member but would authorize the member to vote on collective bargaining agreements and personnel matters that affect a class of employees to which the relative belongs. The bill would prohibit a person who is disqualified from holding a civil office from serving on the governing body of a charter school. (8) This bill would make the above provisions operative on July 1, 2015.