CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 711

Author:(Chiu)

As Amended Ver:June 26, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires a local educational agency (LEA), including a school district, charter school or county office of education, to update and reissue a former pupil's records if it receives government-issued documentation that a former pupil's legal name and/or gender has been changed.

The Senate Amendments:

1. Provides that the process to request a change to pupil records described in existing law is separate from the process described in this bill. Specifies that former pupils who are unable to provide appropriate government-issued documentation may request a name and/or gender change to the former pupil's record through the process described in existing law.
2. Requires the superintendent or governing board of the school district to, if they sustain a parent or guardian's request to change the name, gender or both of a pupil or former pupil pursuant to Section 49070, add a new document to the pupil or former pupil's record that includes all of the following information:
   1. The date of the request.
   2. The date the requested records were corrected.
   3. A list of the records that the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil to be corrected.
   4. The type of documentation, if any, provided by the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil to demonstrate a legal change to the pupil's or former pupil's name, gender, or both. This bill specifies that the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil is not required to provide documentation of a legal change to the pupil or former pupil's name, gender, or both.
   5. The name of the employee that completed the request.
   6. The corrected and former names, genders or both, of the pupil or former pupil.
3. Requires that the document generated be indefinitely maintained in a confidential manner.

COMMENTS:

California and the Legislature have established policies to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and institutions of higher education, and who identify as transgender, are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. Federal law requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records. However, the majority of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are largely silent related to the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education. As a result, according to the sponsors of the bill, the Transgender Law Center and Equality California, "Some schools have been reluctant to amend educational records for former students to reflect their correct name and gender. This can effectively 'out' the person to anyone who sees the old record or diploma – potentially putting them at risk of discrimination or harm, or causing potential employers or other parties to call the person by the wrong name ('deadnaming')."

Transgender-identifying former students may wish to update their diploma, transcript, and other school-related documents to reflect their current and preferred name and gender, as opposed to the name and gender they were affiliated with while enrolled in school. School records listing the transgender-identifying former pupil's gender as assigned at birth and "deadname" (i.e., the birth-name or pre-gender transition name), could "out" the former pupil's transgender identity when those school records are accessed in the course of seeking employment, applying to college, accessing housing, securing loans, and the like. Being outed by student records puts transgender-identifying former pupils at risk of bullying, discrimination, violence, and loss of employment opportunities, according to the National Center for Transgender Equity and the Transgender Law Center, Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Equality California.

Studies show that transgender people disproportionately face discrimination, harassment, and violence in areas of life including housing, education, employment, health care, and law enforcement. For example, a 2018 study by the Human Rights Campaign and the University of Connecticut reports that transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are about twice as likely to be sexually assaulted or raped compared to their cis-gender peers in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) community. According to the National Center for Transgender Equity, more than one in four transgender people have lost a job to trans-bias. Transgender individuals are also subject to refusal to hire, privacy violations and violence on the job at significantly higher rates relative to their cisgender peers.

According to the Author:

This bill is a common-sense fix to ensure that former students who are transgender and who need to update their diploma or transcript have the same right to do so as current transgender students in our schools. Making sure school records reflect a person's actual name and gender is a no-brainer. If a record has a person's incorrect name or 'deadname' on it, the document can out the person to anyone who sees it, putting the person at risk of discrimination or harm. This bill will give greater protections to transgender Californians and remove barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.

Arguments in Support:

Several supporters stated, "Transgender and nonbinary students face many barriers at school, one of which is obtaining educational documents and official school records with their gender identity and name accurately reflected. If a person's transcript or diploma has the wrong name, the document can effectively "out" the person to anyone who sees it—putting them at risk of discrimination or harm. Under current law, California schools must recognize a student's name or gender change court order and update their records accordingly. The law requires school employees to use a student's correct name and pronouns, even in the absence of a court order. However, the law is mostly silent on the rights of former students, who may have transitioned or come out after leaving school. As a result, some school districts have been reluctant to amend the records of those former students. AB 711 would close this gap in the law and ensure that all people who have attended California schools – especially transgender and nonbinary people – have the same rights and protections."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, "Minor Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressures to schools. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill's requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to schools or provide funding through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant."

VOTES:

ASM EDUCATION: 5-0-2

YES: O'Donnell, Kalra, McCarty, Smith, Weber

ABS, ABST OR NV: Kiley, Voepel

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-2-2

YES: Gonzalez, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Eggman, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

NO: Bigelow, Brough

ABS, ABST OR NV: Diep, Fong

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 61-0-19

YES: Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Eggman, Frazier, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

ABS, ABST OR NV: Arambula, Bigelow, Brough, Burke, Choi, Dahle, Diep, Flora, Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Kiley, Mathis, Melendez, Patterson, Ting, Voepel, Waldron

SENATE FLOOR: 30-0-10

YES: Allen, Archuleta, Atkins, Beall, Bradford, Caballero, Dodd, Durazo, Galgiani, Glazer, Lena Gonzalez, Hertzberg, Hill, Hueso, Hurtado, Jackson, Leyva, McGuire, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Portantino, Roth, Rubio, Skinner, Stern, Umberg, Wieckowski, Wiener, Wilk

ABS, ABST OR NV: Bates, Borgeas, Chang, Dahle, Grove, Jones, Moorlach, Morrell, Nielsen, Stone

UPDATED:

VERSION: June 26, 2019

CONSULTANT: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0001309

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 711

Author: Chiu (D), et al.

Amended: 6/26/19 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 6-0, 6/19/19

AYES: Leyva, Wilk, Chang, Glazer, McGuire, Pan

NO VOTE RECORDED: Durazo

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 61-0, 5/16/19 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Pupil records: name and gender changes

SOURCE: Equality California

Transgender Law Center

DIGEST:

This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to update and reissue the school records of a former pupil in order to reflect the former pupil’s updated and correct legal name and/or gender if the LEA receives government-issued documentation that the former pupil’s legal name and/or gender has been changed.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. (Education Code § 49061 - 49062)
2. Provides that if a pupil or former pupil is 18 years old, or is attending an institution of postsecondary education, the rights and permissions afforded to the parents and guardians of the pupil shall be afforded to the pupil or former pupil themselves. (EC § 49061)
3. Provides that the parent or guardian of a pupil, the parent or guardian of a former pupil, or a pupil who meets the criteria specified by 2) above, may challenge the content of the pupil’s or former pupil’s school record. Existing law provides that the petitioner may file a written request to allege that the records are any of the following:
   1. Inaccurate;
   2. An unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference;
   3. A conclusion or inference outside of the observer’s area of competence;
   4. Not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted;
   5. Misleading; or
   6. In violation of the privacy or other rights of the pupil.

Existing law provides that the superintendent or their designee has the authority to sustain or deny the allegation and order a correction. If the superintendent denies the allegation, the petitioner may appeal the decision to the LEA’s governing board. If the governing board also denies the allegation, the petitioner may submit a written statement objecting to the contested information to be included in their academic record. (EC § 49070)

1. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and gender expression, among others perceived traits, in any aspect of the operation of alternative schools or charter schools. (EC § 235).
2. Establishes the Gender Recognition Act of 2017, which, among other things:
   1. Makes findings and declarations that every person deserves full legal and equal treatment under the law and that intersex, transgender, and non-binary people have state-issued identification documents that provide full legal recognition of their accurate gender identity.
   2. Authorizes the change of gender on a birth certificate, driver’s license, or state-issued identification card to be female, male, or non-binary.
   3. Provides for processes allowing individuals, through processes officiated by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Registrar, and the county courts, as applicable, to petition to:
      1. Change the original gender identification listed on a birth certificate and state-issued ID to female, male, or non-binary.
      2. Change the name listed on a birth certificate and state-issued identification documents. (Code of Civil Procedure § 1277-1278; Health and Safety Code § 103425-103426, 103430, and 103440; Vehicle Code § 12800 and 13005)

This bill:

1. Requires LEAs, defined as school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education, upon receipt of government issued-identification demonstrating that a former pupil's legal name, gender, or both has been changed, to change the former pupil’s records to reflect the updated legal name and gender.
2. Requires LEAs to reissue any school documents conferred on the former pupil with the former pupil’s correct name and gender upon request of the former pupil. These reissued documents may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Transcripts;
   2. High school diplomas;
   3. High school equivalency certificates; and
   4. Other similar documents that were conferred to the former pupil.
3. Provides that LEAs are not required to modify former pupils’ records to reflect the former pupils’ updated name or gender for records that the former pupils have not specifically requested to be modified or reissued.
4. Provides that former pupils may provide the following documentation to demonstrate a change in legal name or gender identity, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
   1. A state-issued driver’s license.
   2. A birth certificate.
   3. A passport.
   4. A social security card.
   5. A court order indicating a name or gender change, or both.
5. Requires LEAs, upon reissuing a former pupil’s record due to a name and/or gender change request, to add a new document to the former pupil’s file which includes all of the following:
   1. The date of the request.
   2. The date the requested records were reissued to the former pupil.
   3. A list of the records that were requested by, and reissued to, the former pupil.
   4. The type of documentation provided by the former pupil in order to demonstrate the legal name or gender change.
   5. The name of the local educational agency staff person that completed the request.
   6. The current and former name or gender of the former pupil.
6. Provides that the process to request a change to pupil records described in Section 49070 (Item 3 of Existing Law) is separate from the process described in this bill. This bill specifies that former pupils who are unable to provide appropriate government-issued documentation may request a name and/or gender change to the former pupil’s record through the process described in Section 49070.
7. Requires the superintendent or governing board of the school district to, if they sustain a parent or guardian’s request to change the name, gender or both of a former pupil pursuant to Section 49070, add a new document to the pupil or former pupil’s record that includes all of the following information:
   1. The date of the request.
   2. The date the requested records were corrected.
   3. A list of the records that the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil to be corrected.
   4. The type of documentation, if any, provided by the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil to demonstrate a legal change to the pupil’s or former pupil’s name, gender, or both. This bill specifies that the parent or guardian of the pupil or former pupil is not required to provide documentation of a legal change to the pupil or former pupil’s name, gender, or both.
   5. The name of the employee that completed the request.
   6. The corrected and former names, genders or both, of the pupil or former pupil.
8. Requires that the document generated pursuant to 7) above, shall be indefinitely maintained in a confidential manner.

Comments

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “Transgender students face many barriers at school. California has taken steps to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and higher education institutions and who identify as transgender are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. California also requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records.

“However, the bulk of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are mostly silent on the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education. As a result, according to the Transgender Law Center and Equality California, some schools have been reluctant to amend educational records for former students to reflect their correct name and gender. This can effectively ‘out’ the person to anyone who sees the old record or diploma -- putting them at risk of discrimination or harm, or causing potential employers or other parties to call the person by the wrong name (‘deadnaming’).

“Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students -- current or former -- have a right to seek to amend their school records if those records are ‘inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy.’ In addition, Education Code Section 49070 allows parents/guardians and adult students to challenge the content of any student record, if the record is alleged to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student.

“Transgender former students who seek to change their name and gender marker on their educational records should be able to use this process, but ambiguity in the law, a burdensome hearing and appeal process, and resistance from some school districts have made it more difficult for some former students to update their records.

Under current law, California educational institutions must recognize a (current) transgender student’s name or gender change court order and must update their permanent student record accordingly, though some recognize a Department of Motor Vehicles identification issued with a new name or gender. In addition, the law requires school districts to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns consistent with their gender identity, at the written request of a student (or a parent/guardian if appropriate), even in the absence of a court order. A school employee’s intentional and persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity is considered discriminatory under California law…”

1. The implications of being “outed” or “deadnamed.” Transgender-identifying former students may wish to update their diploma, transcript, and other school-related documents to reflect their current and preferred name and gender, as opposed to the name and gender they were affiliated with while enrolled in school. School records listing the transgender-identifying former pupil’s gender as assigned at birth and “deadname” (i.e., the birth-name or pre-gender transition name), could “out” the former pupil’s transgender identity when those school records are accessed in the course of seeking employment, applying to college, accessing housing, securing loans, and the like. Being outed by student records puts transgender-identifying former pupils at risk of bullying, discrimination, violence, and loss of employment opportunities, according to the National Center for Transgender Equity and the Transgender Law Center, Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Equality California.

Studies show that transgender people disproportionately face discrimination, harassment, and violence in areas of life including housing, education, employment, health care, and law enforcement. For example, a 2018 study by the Human Rights Campaign and the University of Connecticut reports that transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are about twice as likely to be sexually assaulted or raped compared to their cis-gender peers in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) community. According to the National Center for Transgender Equity, more than one in four transgender people have lost a job to trans-bias. Transgender individuals are also subject to refusal to hire, privacy violations and violence on the job at significantly higher rates relative to their cis-gender peers.

Related/Prior Legislation

AB 493 (Gloria, 2019) requires schools to provide online training at least once every two years to teachers of students in grades 7-12 on the topic of school-site and community resources for the support of LGBTQ students. The bill is pending in the Senate Education Committee.

AB 2153 (Thurmond, 2017) would have required each school operated by a school district or county office of education and each charter school to annually provide in-service training to teachers of pupils in grades 7 to 12, and to all other certificated employees at that school, on schoolsite and community resources for the support of LGBTQ pupils as well as strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils and thereby improve overall school climate. The bill was vetoed by Governor Brown.

AB 1318 (Chiu, 2017) would have required a local educational agency to provide staff members with information about local resources available to support pupils subject to bias and discrimination; would have required professional development trainings of certificated staff to address intergroup conflict; and would have required the California Department of Education to provide specific information on its Web site related to bias and discrimination and intergroup conflict. The bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: Yes

SUPPORT: (Verified 7/8/19)

Equality California (co-source)

Transgender Law Center (co-source)

American Civil Liberties Union of California
API Equality Northern California

Cabrillo College

California Association of Student Councils

California School Boards Association

California School Nurses Association

El/La Para Translatinas

Gay Asian Pacific Alliance

GLSEN Los Angeles

National Center for Lesbian Rights

San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center
San Francisco Unified School District

Stonewall Democratic Club

One individual

OPPOSITION: (Verified 7/8/19)

None received

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 61-0, 5/16/19

AYES: Aguiar-Curry, Bauer-Kahan, Berman, Bloom, Boerner Horvath, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Cervantes, Chau, Chen, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Cunningham, Daly, Eggman, Frazier, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Gipson, Gloria, Gonzalez, Gray, Grayson, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Kalra, Kamlager-Dove, Lackey, Levine, Limón, Low, Maienschein, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Reyes, Luz Rivas, Robert Rivas, Rodriguez, Blanca Rubio, Salas, Santiago, Smith, Mark Stone, Weber, Wicks, Wood, Rendon

NO VOTE RECORDED: Arambula, Bigelow, Brough, Burke, Choi, Dahle, Diep, Flora, Fong, Friedman, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Kiley, Mathis, Melendez, Patterson, Ting, Voepel, Waldron

Prepared by: Chanel Matney / ED. /

7/10/19 14:31:19

**** END ****

SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Senator Connie Leyva, Chair

2019 - 2020 Regular

Bill No: AB 711 Hearing Date: June 19, 2019

Subject: Pupil records: name and gender changes.

SUMMARY

This bill requires local educational agencies (LEAs) to update and reissue the school records of a former pupil in order to reflect the former pupil’s updated and correct legal name and/or gender if the LEA receives government-issued documentation that the former pupil’s legal name and/or gender has been changed.

BACKGROUND

Existing law:

1. Requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. (Education Code § 49061 - 49062)
2. Provides that if a pupil or former pupil is 18 years old, or is attending an institution of postsecondary education, the rights and permissions afforded to the parents and guardians of the pupil shall be afforded to the pupil or former pupil themselves. (EC § 49061)
3. Provides that the parent or guardian of a pupil, the parent or guardian of a former pupil, or a pupil who meets the criteria specified by item (2), may challenge the content of the pupil’s or former pupil’s school record. Existing law provides that the petitioner may file a written request to allege that the records are any of the following:
   1. Inaccurate.
   2. An unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference.
   3. A conclusion or inference outside of the observer’s area of competence.
   4. Not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted.
   5. Misleading.
   6. Or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the pupil.

Existing law provides that the superintendent or their designee has the authority to sustain or deny the allegation and order a correction. If the superintendent denies the allegation, the petitioner may appeal the decision to the local educational agency’s (LEA’s) governing board. If the governing board also denies the allegation, the petitioner may submit a written statement objecting to the contested information to be included in their academic record. (EC § 49070)

1. Protects the privacy of student education records in federal law in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The law applies to all schools receiving federal funding under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their child’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when the student reaches the age of 18, or attends postsecondary education. (20 United States Code § 1232g; 34 Code of Federal Regulations Part 99)
2. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender, gender identity, and gender expression, among other perceived traits, in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. Existing law provides that this statute shall not apply to educational institutions controlled by religious organizations if the application would be inconsistent with the religious tenants of that organization. (EC § 220-221)
3. Prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and gender expression, among others perceived traits, in any aspect of the operation of alternative schools or charter schools. (EC § 235).
4. Establishes the Gender Recognition Act of 2017 which, among other things:
   1. Makes findings and declarations that every person deserves full legal and equal treatment under the law and that intersex, transgender, and non-binary people have state-issued identification documents that provide full legal recognition of their accurate gender identity.
   2. Authorizes the change of gender on a birth certificate, driver’s license, or state-issued identification card to be female, male, or non-binary.
   3. Provides for processes allowing individuals, through processes officiated by the Department of Motor Vehicles, the State Registrar, and the county courts, as applicable, to petition to
      1. Change the original gender identification listed on a birth certificate and state-issued ID to female, male, or non-binary.
      2. Change the name listed on a birth certificate and state-issued identification documents. (Civil Procedure Code § 1277-1278; Health and Safety Code § 103425-103426, 103430, and 103440; Vehicle Code § 12800 and 13005)

ANALYSIS

This bill requires LEAs to update and reissue the school records of a former pupil in order to reflect the former pupil’s updated and correct legal name and/or gender if the local educational agency (LEA) receives government-issued documentation that the former pupil’s legal name and/or gender has been changed. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires LEAs, defined as school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education, upon receipt of government issued-identification demonstrating that a former pupil's legal name, gender, or both has been changed, to change the former pupil’s records to reflect the updated legal name and gender.
2. Requires LEAs to reissue any school documents conferred on the former pupil with the former pupil’s correct name and gender upon request of the former pupil. These reissued documents may include, but are not limited to:
   1. Transcripts.
   2. High school diplomas.
   3. High school equivalency certificates.
   4. And other similar documents that were conferred to the former pupil.
3. Provides that LEAs are not required to modify former pupils’ records to reflect the former pupils’ updated name or gender for records that the former pupils have not specifically requested to be modified or reissued.
4. Provides that former pupils may provide the following documentation to demonstrate a change in legal name or gender identity, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
   1. A state-issued driver’s license.
   2. A birth certificate.
   3. A passport.
   4. A social security card.
   5. A court order indicating a name or gender change, or both.
5. Requires LEAs, upon reissuing a former pupil’s record due to a name and/or gender change request, to add a new document to the former pupil’s file which includes all of the following:
   1. The date of the request.
   2. The date the requested records were reissued to the former pupil.
   3. A list of the records that were requested by, and reissued to, the former pupil.
   4. The type of documentation provided by the former pupil in order to demonstrate the legal name or gender change.
   5. The name of the local educational agency staff person that completed the request.
   6. The current and former name or gender of the former pupil.

STAFF COMMENTS

1. Need for the bill. According to the author, “Transgender students face many barriers at school. California has taken steps to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and higher education institutions and who identify as transgender are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. California also requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records.”

“However, the bulk of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are mostly silent on the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education. As a result, according to the Transgender Law Center and Equality California, some schools have been reluctant to amend educational records for former students to reflect their correct name and gender. This can effectively ‘out’ the person to anyone who sees the old record or diploma -- putting them at risk of discrimination or harm, or causing potential employers or other parties to call the person by the wrong name (‘deadnaming’).”

“Under the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), students -- current or former -- have a right to seek to amend their school records if those records are “inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s rights of privacy.” In addition, Education Code Section 49070 allows parents/guardians and adult students to challenge the content of any student record, if the record is alleged to be inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the privacy or other rights of the student.”

“Transgender former students who seek to change their name and gender marker on their educational records should be able to use this process, but ambiguity in the law, a burdensome hearing and appeal process, and resistance from some school districts have made it more difficult for some former students to update their records.”

“Under current law, California educational institutions must recognize a (current) transgender student’s name or gender change court order and must update their permanent student record accordingly, though some recognize a Department of Motor Vehicles identification issued with a new name or gender. In addition, the law requires school districts to use a student’s preferred name and pronouns consistent with their gender identity, at the written request of a student (or a parent/guardian if appropriate), even in the absence of a court order. A school employee’s intentional and persistent refusal to respect a student’s gender identity is considered discriminatory under California law…”

1. What does it mean to identify as a transgender person? According to GLAAD (formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), “Transgender (adj.) is an umbrella term for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from what is typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.”
2. The implications of being “outed” or “deadnamed.” Transgender-identifying former students may wish to update their diploma, transcript, and other school-related documents to reflect their current and preferred name and gender, as opposed to the name and gender they were affiliated with while enrolled in school. School records listing the transgender-identifying former pupil’s gender as assigned at birth and “deadname” (i.e., the birth-name or pre-gender transition name), could “out” the former pupil’s transgender identity when those school records are accessed in the course of seeking employment, applying to college, accessing housing, securing loans, and the like. Being outed by student records puts transgender-identifying former pupils at risk of bullying, discrimination, violence, and loss of employment opportunities, according to the National Center for Transgender Equity and the Transgender Law Center, Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), and Equality California.

Studies show that transgender people disproportionately face discrimination, harassment, and violence in areas of life including housing, education, employment, health care, and law enforcement. For example, a 2018 study by the Human Rights Campaign and the University of Connecticut reports that transgender and gender non-conforming individuals are about twice as likely to be sexually assaulted or raped compared to their cis-gender peers in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) community. According to the National Center for Transgender Equity, more than one in four transgender people have lost a job to trans-bias. Transgender individuals are also subject to refusal to hire, privacy violations and violence on the job at significantly higher rates relative to their cis-gender peers.

1. The responsibility of schools for currently enrolled transgender students. What is the responsibility of schools to acknowledge the stated gender identity and gender-conforming name of currently enrolled transgender students? According to the Department of Education (CDE) FAQ website for the Success and Opportunity Act of 2013:

A school district is required to maintain a mandatory permanent student record which includes the legal name of the student and the student’s gender. If and when a school district receives documentation that such legal name or gender has been changed, the district must update the student’s official record accordingly.

If the school district has not received documentation supporting a legal name or gender change, the school should nonetheless update all unofficial school records (e.g. attendance sheets, school IDs, report cards) to reflect the student’s name and gender marker that is consistent with the student’s gender identity. This is critical in order to avoid unintentionally revealing the student’s transgender status to others in violation of the student’s privacy rights, as discussed above in section 6.

If a student so chooses, district personnel shall be required to address the student by a name and the pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity, without the necessity of legal documentation or a change to the student’s official district record. The student’s age is not a factor. For example, children as early as age two are expressing a different gender identity. It is strongly suggested that teachers privately ask transgender or gender nonconforming students at the beginning of the school year how they want to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the student’s parents.

In addition to preserving a transgender student’s privacy, referring to a transgender student by the student’s chosen name and pronouns fosters a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. To ensure that transgender students have equal access to the programs and activities provided by the school, all members of the school community must use a transgender student’s chosen name and pronouns. Schools should also implement safeguards to reduce the possibility of inadvertent slips or mistakes, particularly among temporary personnel such as substitute teachers.

If a member of the school community intentionally uses a student’s incorrect name and pronoun, or persistently refuses to respect a student’s chosen name and pronouns, that conduct should be treated as harassment. That type of harassment can create a hostile learning environment, violate the transgender student’s privacy rights, and increase that student’s risk for harassment by other members of the school community. Examples of this type of harassment include a teacher consistently using the student’s incorrect name when displaying the student’s work in the classroom, or a transgender student’s peers referring to the student by the student’s birth name during class, but would not include unintentional or sporadic occurrences. Depending on the circumstances, the school’s failure to address known incidents of that type of harassment may violate California’s anti-discrimination laws.

1. Committee amendments. Existing law (Education Code § 49070) provides for a process where the parents or guardians of pupils, and the parents and guardians of former pupils, may petition the superintendent of the district to correct information that the petitioner alleges to be inaccurate, unsubstantiated, misleading, or in violation of the pupil’s privacy rights. Existing law also provides that when a pupil or former pupil reaches 18 years or age, or is attending an institution of higher education, that the rights and permissions afforded to the parents or guardians of the pupil or former pupil shall be afforded to the pupil or former pupil themselves. (EC § 49061)
   1. Staff recommends an amendment to clarify that this existing process for challenging pupil records (EC § 49070) remains distinct and separate from the process to change records pursuant to name and/or gender as established by this bill. The amendment will also note that former pupils who lack the proper government-issued identification necessary to use the process described in this bill may still access the process described in Section 49070 to challenge the content of their student records.

The process described in Section 49070 requires the records of these proceedings to be destroyed within one year of the decision of the superintendent or the governing board.

• 1. Staff recommends an amendment that, relative to using the process pursuant to Section 49070 to request a name and/or gender change, the superintendent or school district governing board shall add a new document to the former pupil’s file, to be retained indefinitely, that includes all of the following information:
  2. The date of the request.
  3. The date the requested records were corrected.
  4. A list of the records that were requested by the pupil to be corrected.
  5. The type of documentation, if any, provided by the former pupil to demonstrate the legal name or gender change. However, such documentation is not required.
  6. The name of the staff person that completed the request.
  7. The current and former name or gender of the former pupil.

1. Fiscal impact. According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, “Minor Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressures to schools. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill's requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to schools or provide funding through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant."
2. Prior and related legislation. AB 493 (Gloria, 2019) requires schools to provide online training at least once every two years to teachers of students in grades 7-12 on the topic of school-site and community resources for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and questioning (LGTBQ) students. This bill is pending before this committee.

AB 2153 (Thurmond, 2017) would have required each school operated by a school district or county office of education and each charter school to annually provide in-service training to teachers of pupils in grades 7 to 12, and to all other certificated employees at that school, on schoolsite and community resources for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) pupils as well as strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils and thereby improve overall school climate. This bill was vetoed by the Governor with the following message:

This bill requires local schools to provide annual in-service training on available community and school site resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) students to teachers and supporting staff of grades 7-12 students.

I signed AB 827 (O'Donnell) in 2015, which required the Department of Education, as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess whether local schools have provided information to certificated staff serving of grades 7-12 on school site and community resources for LGBTQ students. Current law also requires the Department to monitor local schools to ensure the adoptions of policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression.

If local schools find that more training or resources on this topic is needed, they have the flexibility to use their resources as they see best.

AB 1318 (Chiu, 2017) would have required a local educational agency to provide staff members with information about local resources available to support pupils subject to bias and discrimination; would have required professional development trainings of certificated staff to address intergroup conflict; and would have required the California Department of Education to provide specific information on its website related to bias and discrimination and intergroup conflict. This bill was held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

SUPPORT

Equality California (co-sponsor)

Transgender Law Center (co-sponsor)

ACLU California

API Equality Northern California

California Association of Student Councils

California School Boards Association

California School Nurses Association

El/La Para Translatinas

Gay Asian Pacific Alliance

GLSEN Los Angeles

National Center for Lesbian Rights

San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center

San Francisco United School District

Stonewall Democratic Club

OPPOSITION

None on file.

-- END --

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 711

Author:(Chiu)

As Amended Ver:April 30, 2019

Majority vote

SUMMARY:

Requires a local educational agency (LEA), including a school district, charter school or county office of education, to update and reissue a former pupil's records if it receives documentation that a former pupil's legal name or gender has been changed.

Major Provisions

1. Requires an LEA, if it receives government-issued documentation demonstrating that a former pupil's legal name or gender has been changed, to update the former pupil's records to include the updated legal name or gender.
2. Requires the school district to reissue any documents conferred upon the former pupil with the former pupil's updated legal name or gender, if requested by the former pupil. Documents that may be reissued by the school district include, but are not limited to, a transcript, a high school diploma, or a high school equivalency certificate. The LEA is not required to modify records that the former pupil has not requested for modification or reissuance.
3. Provides the types of documentation that may be provided by a former pupil demonstrating legal name or gender change.
4. Requires the LEA to add a new document to the former pupil's file that includes information about the request and types of documents reissued.

COMMENTS:

California and the Legislature have established policies to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and institutions of higher education, and who identify as transgender, are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. Federal law requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records. However, the majority of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are largely silent related to the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education.

According to the Author:

This bill is a common-sense fix to ensure that former students who are transgender and who need to update their diploma or transcript have the same right to do so as current transgender students in our schools. Making sure school records reflect a person's actual name and gender is a no-brainer. If a record has a person's incorrect name or 'deadname' on it, the document can out the person to anyone who sees it, putting the person at risk of discrimination or harm. This bill will give greater protections to transgender Californians and remove barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.

Arguments in Support:

Several supporters stated, "Transgender and nonbinary students face many barriers at school, one of which is obtaining educational documents and official school records with their gender identity and name accurately reflected. If a person's transcript or diploma has the wrong name, the document can effectively 'out' the person to anyone who sees it—putting them at risk of discrimination or harm. Under current law, California schools must recognize a student's name or gender change court order and update their records accordingly. The law requires school employees to use a student's correct name and pronouns, even in the absence of a court order. However, the law is mostly silent on the rights of former students, who may have transitioned or come out after leaving school. As a result, some school districts have been reluctant to amend the records of those former students. AB 711 would close this gap in the law and ensure that all people who have attended California schools – especially transgender and nonbinary people – have the same rights and protections."

Arguments in Opposition:

None on file

FISCAL COMMENTS:

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, "Minor Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressures to schools. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill's requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to schools or provide funding through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant."

VOTES:

ASM EDUCATION: 5-0-2

YES: O'Donnell, Kalra, McCarty, Smith, Weber

ABS, ABST OR NV: Kiley, Voepel

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-2-2

YES: Gonzalez, Bloom, Bonta, Calderon, Carrillo, Chau, Eggman, Gabriel, Eduardo Garcia, Maienschein, Obernolte, Petrie-Norris, Quirk, Robert Rivas

NO: Bigelow, Brough

ABS, ABST OR NV: Diep, Fong

UPDATED:

VERSION: April 30, 2019

CONSULTANT: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087 FN: 0000413

Date of Hearing: May 8, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Lorena Gonzalez, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 711

Author:(Chiu) – As Amended Ver:April 30, 2019

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: Yes Reimbursable: Yes

SUMMARY:

This bill requires schools to update a former student’s record to include the student’s legal name or gender if the school receives a government-issued document demonstrating the student’s legal name or gender has changed. The bill also requires the school to reissue documents issued to former students with the update, if requested by the student. In addition, the bill requires schools to add a new document to the students’ file documenting any request or reissuance.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Minor Proposition 98 General Fund cost pressures to schools. If the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill’s requirements to be a reimbursable state mandate, the state would need to reimburse these costs to schools or provide funding through the K-12 Mandate Block Grant.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

AB 711 is a common-sense fix to ensure that former students who are transgender and who need to update their diploma or transcript have the same right to do so as current transgender students in our schools. Making sure school records reflect a person’s actual name and gender is a no-brainer. If a record has a person’s incorrect name or ‘deadname’ on it, the document can out the person to anyone who sees it, putting the person at risk of discrimination or harm. This bill will give greater protections to transgender Californians and remove barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.

1. Prior Legislation. SB 179 (Atkins), Chapter 853, Statutes of 2017, authorizes, beginning September 1, 2018, persons to change their gender on birth certificates to be female, male or nonbinary. Beginning January 2, 2019, the bill requires an application for an original or a renewal of a driver’s license to provide applicants the opportunity to choose a gender of female, male or nonbinary.

Analysis Prepared by: Natasha Collins / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 24, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 711 (

Author:Chiu) – As Amended Ver:April 11, 2019

SUBJECT: Pupil records: name and gender changes

SUMMARY: Requires a school district to update and reissue a former pupil’s records if it receives documentation that a former pupil’s legal name or gender has been changed. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires a school district, if it receives government-issued documentation demonstrating that a former pupil’s legal name or gender has been changed, to update the former pupil’s records accordingly.
2. Requires that the type of documentation provided by a former pupil demonstrating legal name or gender change may include:
   1. State-issued driver’s license
   2. Birth certificate
   3. Passport
   4. Social security card
   5. Court order indicating a name change or a gender change, or both
3. Requires the school district to reissue any documents conferred upon the former pupil with the former pupil’s updated legal name or gender, if requested by the former pupil. Documents that may be reissued by the school district include, but are not limited to, a transcript, a high school diploma, or a high school equivalency certificate.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes that no person will be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate, including immigration status, in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. (Education Code Section 220)
2. Requires school districts to adopt a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on the actual or perceived characteristics, including immigration status, and disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Requires the policy to include a statement that the policy applies to all acts related to school activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district. (Education Code Section 234.1 (a))
3. Requires school districts to adopt a process for receiving and investigating complaints of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on any of the actual or perceived characteristics, including immigration status, and disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. (Education Code Section 234.1 (b))
4. Defines “Parent” to mean a natural parent, an adopted parent, or legal guardian, as it relates to pupil records. If the parents are divorced or legally separated, only a parent having legal custody of the pupil may challenge the content of a record, offer a written response to a record, or consent to release records to others. Either parent may grant consent if both parents have notified, in writing, the school or school district that an agreement has been made. If a pupil has attained the age of 18 years or is attending an institution of postsecondary education, the permission or consent required of, and the rights accorded to, the parents or guardian of the pupil shall thereafter only be required of, and accorded to, the pupil. (Education Code Section 49061)
5. Requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. (Education Code Section 49062)
6. Requires school districts to notify parents of the procedures for challenging the content of pupil records. (Education Code Section 49063 (g))
7. Allows school districts to make a reasonable charge in an amount not to exceed the actual cost of furnishing copies of any pupil record; however, prohibits charges for furnishing (1) up to two transcripts of former pupils’ records or (2) up to two verifications of various records of former pupils. No charge may be made to search for or to retrieve any pupil record. (Education Code Section 49065)
8. Grants parents of currently enrolled or former pupils the absolute right to access to any and all pupil records related to their children that are maintained by school districts or private schools. The editing or withholding of any of those records, except as specified, is prohibited. (Education Code Section 49069)
9. Requires each school district to adopt procedures for the granting of requests by parents for copies of all pupil records, or to inspect and review records during regular school hours, provided that the requested access shall be granted no later than five business days following the date of the request. Procedures must include the notification to the parent of the location of all official pupil records if not centrally located and the availability of qualified certificated personnel to interpret records if requested. (Education Code Section 49069)
10. Permits the parent or guardian of a pupil or former pupil of a school district to challenge the content of any pupil record if the parent or guardian alleges that the information in the written records concerning their child is:
    1. Inaccurate
    2. An unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference
    3. A conclusion or inference outside of the observer’s area of competence
    4. Not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted
    5. Misleading
    6. In violation of the privacy or other rights of the pupil

The superintendent may sustain or deny the allegation and order a correction. If the superintendent denies the allegation, the parent or guardian may appeal the decision to the governing board of the school district. If the governing board also denies the allegation, the parent or guardian may submit a written statement to the student’s record. (Education Code Section 49070)

1. Protects the privacy of student education records in federal law with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)
2. Permits students, current or former, to seek to amend their school records if the records are inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s right to privacy. (34 C.F.R. § 99.7(a)(2)(ii))

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS: Need for the bill. According to the author, “AB 711 is a common-sense fix to ensure that former students who are transgender and who need to update their diploma or transcript have the same right to do so as current transgender students in our schools. Making sure school records reflect a person’s actual name and gender is a no-brainer. If a record has a person’s incorrect name or ‘deadname’ on it, the document can out the person to anyone who sees it, putting the person at risk of discrimination or harm. This bill will give greater protections to transgender Californians and remove barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.”

What is a school or school district’s obligation when a student’s stated gender identity is different than the student’s gender marker in the school’s or district’s official records? The following information was provided by the CDE to school districts, county offices of education and charter schools as guidance related to this topic.

“A school district is required to maintain a permanent student record which includes the legal name of the student and the student’s gender. If and when a school district receives documentation that such legal name or gender has been changed, the district must update the student’s official record accordingly.

If the school district has not received documentation supporting a legal name or gender change, the school should nonetheless update all unofficial school records (e.g. attendance sheets, school IDs, report cards) to reflect the student’s name and gender marker that is consistent with the student’s gender identity. This is critical in order to avoid unintentionally revealing the student’s transgender status to others in violation of the student’s privacy rights.

If a student so chooses, district personnel shall be required to address the student by a name and the pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity, without the necessity of legal documentation or a change to the student’s official district record. The student’s age is not a factor. For example, children as early as age two are expressing a different gender identity. It is strongly suggested that teachers privately ask transgender or gender nonconforming students at the beginning of the school year how they want to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the student’s parents.

In addition to preserving a transgender student’s privacy, referring to a transgender student by the student’s chosen name and pronouns fosters a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. To ensure that transgender students have equal access to the programs and activities provided by the school, all members of the school community must use a transgender student’s chosen name and pronouns. Schools should also implement safeguards to reduce the possibility of inadvertent slips or mistakes, particularly among temporary personnel such as substitute teachers.

If a member of the school community intentionally uses a student’s incorrect name and pronoun, or persistently refuses to respect a student’s chosen name and pronouns, that conduct should be treated as harassment. That type of harassment can create a hostile learning environment, violate the transgender student’s privacy rights, and increase that student’s risk for harassment by other members of the school community. Examples of this type of harassment include a teacher consistently using the student’s incorrect name when displaying the student’s work in the classroom, or a transgender student’s peers referring to the student by the student’s birth name during class, but would not include unintentional or sporadic occurrences. Depending on the circumstances, the school’s failure to address known incidents of that type of harassment may violate California’s antidiscrimination laws.”

The Committee may wish to consider that California and the Legislature have established policies to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and institutions of higher education, and who identify as transgender, are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. Federal law requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records. However, the majority of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are largely silent related to the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education. As a result, according to one of the sponsors of the bill, the Transgender Law Center and Equity California, “Some schools have been reluctant to amend educational records for former students to reflect their correct name and gender. This can effectively “out” the person to anyone who sees the old record or diploma – potentially putting them at risk of discrimination or harm, or causing potential employers or other parties to call the person by the wrong name (‘deadnaming’).”

Nonbinary gender. Some individuals neither identify with male nor female genders, and may consider themselves “nonbinary.” This bill as written is inclusive of individuals who identify as nonbinary.

The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) is currently being updated to include a nonbinary gender code by the 2019-20 academic year, and the CDE has notified LEAs to ensure that there is local agreement on which gender to report for a student who has elected to identify themselves with the “nonbinary” gender during the 2018-19 academic year.

Committee Amendment: Staff recommends the bill be amended to:

1. Apply to local educational agencies (LEAs), including: school districts, charter schools and county offices of education.
2. Clarify that the LEA is only required to update the documents requested by the former pupil.
3. Requires the LEA to add a new document to the former pupil’s file that includes information such as the date of the request, and a list of the records that were reissued to the former pupil.

Prior legislation. SB 179 (Atkins), Chapter 853, Statutes of 2017, authorizes, beginning September 1, 2018, persons to change their gender on birth certificates to be female, male, or nonbinary. Beginning January 2, 2019, the bill requires an application for an original or a renewal of a driver’s license to provide applicants the opportunity to choose a gender of female, male, or nonbinary.

AB 2153 (Thurmond) of the 2017-18 Session, would have required each school operated by a school district or county office of education and each charter school to annually provide in-service training to teachers of pupils in grades 7 to 12, and to all other certificated employees at that school, on schoolsite and community resources for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) pupils as well as strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils and thereby improve overall school climate. This bill was vetoed by the Governor with the following message:

This bill requires local schools to provide annual in-service training on available community and school site resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) students to teachers and supporting staff of grades 7-12 students.

I signed AB 827 (O'Donnell) in 2015, which required the Department of Education, as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess whether local schools have provided information to certificated staff serving of grades 7-12 on school site and community resources for LGBTQ students. Current law also requires the Department to monitor local schools to ensure the adoptions of policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression.

If local schools find that more training or resources on this topic is needed, they have the flexibility to use their resources as they see best.

AB 677 (Chiu), Chapter 744, Statutes of 2017, expands the list of state entities currently required to collect voluntary self-identification information on sexual orientation and gender identity to include various education and employment-related state agencies and prohibits an LEA that administers the California Healthy Kids Survey to middle or high school pupils from removing a specific question regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

AB 1318 (Chiu) of the 2017-18 Session would have required an LEA to provide staff members with information about local resources available to support pupils subject to bias and discrimination; would have required professional development trainings of certificated staff to address intergroup conflict; and would have required the California Department of Education (CDE) to provide specific information on its website related to bias and discrimination and intergroup conflict. This bill was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

AB 2845 (Williams), Chapter 621, Statutes of 2016, requires the CDE, as part of its existing compliance monitoring activities, to assess whether LEAs have provided information to staff serving students in grades 7 through 12 on resources related to bullying due to religious affiliation, and requires the CDE to post on its Web site, and annually update a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth, and their families, who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, including school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying on the basis of nationality, race, or ethnicity, or perceived nationality, race, or ethnicity.

AB 827 (O’Donnell), Chapter 562, Statutes of 2015, requires the CDE to monitor whether LEAs have provided information on existing schoolsite and community resources related to the support of LGBTQ pupils to certificated schoolsite employees who serve pupils in any of grades 7 to 12.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

Api Equality Northern California
California School Nurses Organization
El/La Para Translatinas
Equality California
Gay Asian Pacific Alliance (Gapa)
Glsen Los Angeles
National Center For Lesbian Rights
San Francisco Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community Center
San Francisco Unified School District
Transgender Law Center

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087

Date of Hearing: April 10, 2019

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Patrick O'Donnell, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 711 (

Author:Chiu) – As Introduced Ver:February 19, 2019

SUBJECT: Pupil records

SUMMARY: Requires a school district to update and reissue a former pupil’s records if it receives documentation that a former pupil’s legal name or gender has been changed. Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires a school district, if it receives documentation demonstrating that a former pupil’s legal name or gender has been changed, to update the former pupil’s records accordingly.
2. Requires the school district to reissue any documents conferred upon the former pupil with the former pupil’s updated legal name or gender, if requested by the former pupil. Documents that may be reissued by the school district include, but are not limited to, a transcript, a high school diploma, or a high school equivalency certificate.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes that no person will be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate, including immigration status, in any program or activity conducted by an educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance, or enrolls pupils who receive state student financial aid. (Education Code Section 220)
2. Requires school districts to adopt a policy that prohibits discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on the actual or perceived characteristics, including immigration status, and disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. Requires the policy to include a statement that the policy applies to all acts related to school activity or school attendance occurring within a school under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of the school district. (Education Code Section 234.1 (a))
3. Requires school districts to adopt a process for receiving and investigating complaints of discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying based on any of the actual or perceived characteristics, including immigration status, and disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics. (Education Code Section 234.1 (b))
4. Requires school districts to establish, maintain, and destroy pupil records according to regulations adopted by the State Board of Education. (Education Code Section 49062)
5. Requires school districts to notify parents of the procedures for challenging the content of pupil records. (Education Code Section 49063 (g))
6. Allows school districts to make a reasonable charge in an amount not to exceed the actual cost of furnishing copies of any pupil record; however, prohibits charges for furnishing (1) up to two transcripts of former pupils’ records or (2) up to two verifications of various records of former pupils. No charge may be made to search for or to retrieve any pupil record. (Education Code Section 49065)
7. Permits the parent or guardian of a pupil or former pupil of a school district to challenge the content of any pupil record if the parent or guardian alleges that the information in the written records concerning their child is:
   1. Inaccurate
   2. An unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference
   3. A conclusion or inference outside of the observer’s area of competence
   4. Not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted
   5. Misleading
   6. In violation of the privacy or other rights of the pupil

The superintendent may sustain or deny the allegation and order a correction. If the superintendent denies the allegation, the parent or guardian may appeal the decision to the governing board of the school district. If the governing board also denies the allegation, the parent or guardian may submit a written statement to the student’s record. (Education Code Section 49070)

1. Protects the privacy of student education records in federal law with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education. FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99)
2. Permits students, current or former, to seek to amend their school records if the records are inaccurate, misleading, or in violation of the student’s right to privacy. (34 C.F.R. § 99.7(a)(2)(ii))

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.

COMMENTS:

Need for the bill. According to the author, “AB 711 is a common-sense fix to ensure that former students who are transgender and who need to update their diploma or transcript have the same right to do so as current transgender students in our schools. Making sure school records reflect a person’s actual name and gender is a no-brainer. If a record has a person’s incorrect name or ‘deadname’ on it, the document can out the person to anyone who sees it, putting the person at risk of discrimination or harm. This bill will give greater protections to transgender Californians and remove barriers to applying for college and employment opportunities.”

What is a school or school district’s obligation when a student’s stated gender identity is different than the student’s gender marker in the school’s or district’s official records? The following information was provided by the CDE to school districts, county offices of education and charter schools as guidance related to this topic.

“A school district is required to maintain a permanent student record which includes the legal name of the student and the student’s gender. If and when a school district receives documentation that such legal name or gender has been changed, the district must update the student’s official record accordingly.

If the school district has not received documentation supporting a legal name or gender change, the school should nonetheless update all unofficial school records (e.g. attendance sheets, school IDs, report cards) to reflect the student’s name and gender marker that is consistent with the student’s gender identity. This is critical in order to avoid unintentionally revealing the student’s transgender status to others in violation of the student’s privacy rights.

If a student so chooses, district personnel shall be required to address the student by a name and the pronouns consistent with the student’s gender identity, without the necessity of legal documentation or a change to the student’s official district record. The student’s age is not a factor. For example, children as early as age two are expressing a different gender identity. It is strongly suggested that teachers privately ask transgender or gender nonconforming students at the beginning of the school year how they want to be addressed in class, in correspondence to the home, or at conferences with the student’s parents.

In addition to preserving a transgender student’s privacy, referring to a transgender student by the student’s chosen name and pronouns fosters a safe, supportive and inclusive learning environment. To ensure that transgender students have equal access to the programs and activities provided by the school, all members of the school community must use a transgender student’s chosen name and pronouns. Schools should also implement safeguards to reduce the possibility of inadvertent slips or mistakes, particularly among temporary personnel such as substitute teachers.

If a member of the school community intentionally uses a student’s incorrect name and pronoun, or persistently refuses to respect a student’s chosen name and pronouns, that conduct should be treated as harassment. That type of harassment can create a hostile learning environment, violate the transgender student’s privacy rights, and increase that student’s risk for harassment by other members of the school community. Examples of this type of harassment include a teacher consistently using the student’s incorrect name when displaying the student’s work in the classroom, or a transgender student’s peers referring to the student by the student’s birth name during class, but would not include unintentional or sporadic occurrences. Depending on the circumstances, the school’s failure to address known incidents of that type of harassment may violate California’s antidiscrimination laws.”

The Committee may wish to consider that California and the Legislature have established policies to ensure that students who are currently enrolled in K-12 and institutions of higher education, and who identify as transgender, are protected from discrimination, are permitted to participate in school activities and use facilities consistent with their gender identity, and have their privacy protected. Federal law requires schools to allow transgender students to update their permanent record so that their name and gender identity are accurately reflected on educational documents and official school records. However, the majority of these protections apply to current transgender students, and the law and administrative regulations are largely silent related to the rights of former students who may have transitioned or come out after leaving K-12 education. As a result, according to one of the sponsors of the bill, the Transgender Law Center and Equity California, “Some schools have been reluctant to amend educational records for former students to reflect their correct name and gender. This can effectively “out” the person to anyone who sees the old record or diploma – potentially putting them at risk of discrimination or harm, or causing potential employers or other parties to call the person by the wrong name (‘deadnaming’).”

Nonbinary gender. Some individuals neither identify with male nor female genders, and may consider themselves “nonbinary.” This bill as written is inclusive of individuals who identify as nonbinary.

The California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) is currently being updated to include a nonbinary gender code by the 2019-20 academic year, and the CDE has notified LEAs to ensure that there is local agreement on which gender to report for a student who has elected to identify themselves with the “nonbinary” gender during the 2018-19 academic year.

Staff recommends the bill be amended to specify that the documentation provided by the individual requesting the name or gender change be a government issued document, including: state issued driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, social security card or a decree changing name and order recognizing change of gender.

Prior legislation. SB 179 (Atkins), Chapter 853, Statutes of 2017 authorizes, beginning September 1, 2018, persons to change their gender on birth certificates to be female, male, or nonbinary. Beginning January 2, 2019, the bill requires an application for an original or a renewal of a driver’s license to provide applicants the opportunity to choose a gender of female, male, or nonbinary.

AB 2153 (Thurmond) of the 2017-18 Session, would have required each school operated by a school district or county office of education and each charter school to annually provide in-service training to teachers of pupils in grades 7 to 12, and to all other certificated employees at that school, on schoolsite and community resources for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) pupils as well as strategies to increase support for LGBTQ pupils and thereby improve overall school climate. This bill was vetoed by the Governor with the following message:

This bill requires local schools to provide annual in-service training on available community and school site resources for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) students to teachers and supporting staff of grades 7-12 students.

I signed AB 827 (O'Donnell) in 2015, which required the Department of Education, as part of its compliance monitoring, to assess whether local schools have provided information to certificated staff serving of grades 7-12 on school site and community resources for LGBTQ students. Current law also requires the Department to monitor local schools to ensure the adoptions of policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying on the basis of sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or gender expression.

If local schools find that more training or resources on this topic is needed, they have the flexibility to use their resources as they see best.

AB 677 (Chiu), Chapter 744, Statutes of 2017, expands the list of state entities currently required to collect voluntary self-identification information on sexual orientation and gender identity to include various education and employment-related state agencies and prohibits an LEA that administers the California Healthy Kids Survey to middle or high school pupils from removing a specific question regarding sexual orientation and gender identity.

AB 1318 (Chiu) of the 2017-18 Session would have required an LEA to provide staff members with information about local resources available to support pupils subject to bias and discrimination; would have required professional development trainings of certificated staff to address intergroup conflict; and would have required the California Department of Education (CDE) to provide specific information on its website related to bias and discrimination and intergroup conflict. This bill was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense file.

AB 2845 (Williams), Chapter 621, Statutes of 2016, requires the CDE, as part of its existing compliance monitoring activities, to assess whether LEAs have provided information to staff serving students in grades 7 through 12 on resources related to bullying due to religious affiliation, and requires the CDE to post on its Web site, and annually update a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth, and their families, who have been subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying, including school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying on the basis of nationality, race, or ethnicity, or perceived nationality, race, or ethnicity.

AB 827 (O’Donnell), Chapter 562, Statutes of 2015, requires the CDE to monitor whether LEAs have provided information on existing schoolsite and community resources related to the support of LGBTQ pupils to certificated schoolsite employees who serve pupils in any of grades 7 to 12.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California School Nurses Organization
El/La Para Translatinas
Glsen Los Angeles
National Center For Lesbian Rights
Transgender Law Center

Opposition

None on file.

Analysis Prepared by: Marguerite Ries / ED. / (916) 319-2087