To: Superintendents, Member School Districts (K-12)
From: Nancy L. Klein, Assistant General Counsel
Lawrence M. Schoenke, Assistant General Counsel
Subject: Annual Notice of Rights to Parent or Guardian-2001-02
Memo No. 13-2001
Each school district is required to notify parents of certain legal rights as reflected in state and federal law. [Education Code Section 48980 and other specific statutes.] Attached is the most recent version of the Parental Annual Notice 2001-02 in English. A Spanish version is also available.
New for 2001-02 is the inclusion of Notification of the Pesticide Application on School Facilities under Education Code section 17612. This section requires that the annual notice include the name and active ingredient of any pesticide expected to be applied at any school facility in the coming year. This will NOT be part of the form notice since each district may be using different pesticides. This is a separate sheet that each District must author and include in their mailing as an attachment to the form notice. The Sonoma County Office of Education Graphics Department will print the form with the information as a separate request. Also, this separate notice may be eligible for reimbursement of as a state-mandated claim.
Also new is the notification that local law enforcement agencies have the CD-ROM of registered sex offenders under California’s version of Megan’s Law. This is part of the form notice.
As was required in 2000-01, school districts must include the specific name of the compliance coordinator(s) for complaints concerning discrimination. As a result of a compliance investigation, we have developed a separate sheet containing information on Uniform Complaint Procedures on which the names of district compliance officers may be inserted. Each district should complete the title, address, and telephone number of its compliance officer(s) and attach it to the Parent Annual Notice.
School districts are required to include a copy of the school district's policy for the prevention of sexual discrimination, including student-to-student harassment. Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a comprehensive anti-discrimination policy enforced by a public agency might be a valid defense to a discrimination claim. It is a good practice to include all anti-discrimination policies in force in the district, particularly the policy concerning Section 504 and the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. The complaint process should likewise be publicized and utilized in the proper fashion in order to defend against discrimination claims.
Education Code Section 48980, subsection (j) requires districts to notify parents of additional matters, some of which will be unique to each district. The required notifications are as follows:
1. A description of all current statutory and local attendance options. (The amendments require that the State Department of Education produce the notification of the statutory portion. This is included in the standard notice written by this office. Be aware that the "school district of choice" interdistrict attendance legislation under section 48209, et seq., is optional with each school district, but must be described if adopted.)
2. The options for meeting residency requirements for school attendance. (This is met by including the language of section 48204 in the notice since there are many ways by which residency could be established.)
3. All programmatic options offered within each local attendance area. (This would require each district to list these options and enclose the list with the notice.)
4. Any special programmatic options available on an intradistrict or interdistrict basis. (This would require a description of the alternatives available on a district-wide basis and would also be made available for non-residents of the school district upon request.)
5. A description of the procedure for application for alternative attendance areas or programs in the district. (This could be included on the lists noted above.)
6. An application form from the district requesting a change of attendance. (Once again, this is a new trend by which the school district is required to send out the document described, rather than simply notify parents of its existence. To simplify the processing of change of attendance requests (interdistrict and intradistrict) and meeting annual notification requirements, school districts may wish to consider developing a single form for all such requests. The State has provided a sample form, but we recommend that the District develop its own to conform to district policies and procedures.
7. A description of the appeal process, if any, available for a parent or guardian who was denied a change of attendance.
It is not possible to prepare a general notice that will cover all of the attendance information particular to each school district. The Sonoma County Office of Education Graphics Department will continue to print a notice that includes the vast majority of the required notifications. The Graphics Department also will print the compliance officer, student records protocol, and pesticide notification forms for districts requesting these separate forms and supplying the information.
The annual notice should be sent at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school terms. It may be sent by regular mail or any other method normally used to communicate with parents. A parent or guardian's signature is required as confirmation that the parent or guardian has been informed of his or her rights.
Finally, if more than fifteen percent (15%) of the population of a public school speak a primary language other than English, as reported on the R-30LC, required notices must be given in that language.
If you have any questions, please contact any attorney in our office.
Generously provided by: Nancy L. Klein and Lawrence M. Schoenke, assistant general counsels, School and College Legal Services.
