Law allows donations, but not required payments



The parents of student athletes will be asked to make a $40 donation and a $35 donation for bus fees under proposed new Capistrano Unified School District policies drawn up under an ACLU lawsuit that challenged the legality of fees charged by schools throughout the state.

That change is one of many proposed as CUSD responds to a 2010 lawsuit from the ACLU alleging illegal fees for academics and extracurricular activities statewide. Fees at San Clemente High, Dana Hills High and other CUSD schools were cited in the lawsuit.

Shortly after taking his post, Superintendent Joe Farley assembled a task force of parents, coaches, teachers, district officials and other stakeholders to look at the issue of fees.

District spokesman Marcus Walton said the task force, which included about two dozen people, looked at fees being charged throughout the district, although they did not try to quantify them. “There were some policies and practices that needed to be changed,” Walton said.

The result, a nine-page booklet, will go before the Capistrano Board of Education on June 13, Walton said. It will be an informational item, just to get trustees’ feedback.

“There was nothing like this in the district before,” Walton said.

The 2010 lawsuit, filed on behalf of two unnamed Orange County students, named the state as a defendant but identified alleged violations of the state’s “free education” doctrine in 40 districts, including Capistrano Unified. San Clemente High was among the schools specifically cited, for a requirement that students purchase books for English classes. Sports and extracurricular activities were not specified in the lawsuit, but also fall under the California Constitution’s requirement that education be free, said David Sapp, an ACLU attorney who worked on the lawsuit.

Officials earlier announced a settlement in the lawsuit, but that was with then Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration, Sapp said, and now Gov. Jerry Brown’s office is not interested in settling the case. But the ACLU is also sponsoring a law proposed by Assemblyman Ricardo Lara, D-South Gate, that would accomplish most of the same goals of the settlement: Ensuring students don’t have to pay to participate in classes or extracurricular activities.

Regardless of the state of Lara’s bill or the settlement, Capistrano Unified School District is moving forward with its new policies and procedures, Walton said.

In addition to suggested verbiage for school programs to follow in fliers and on websites, the booklet explains the laws and what are allowable fees. Districts are allowed to charge spectator fees at events, for food and parking on campuses and bus transportation to and from school, the booklet says. Additionally, schools can charge for PE clothing, but the school cannot mandate the clothing be bought from the school and a student cannot be punished for not wearing the clothing “arising from circumstances beyond the control” of the student.

Field trips and school-related excursions can carry a fee, but students who cannot pay cannot be excluded, the booklet says.

It also says very clearly that students cannot gain extra credit or privileges because they have donated.

Other CUSD policies cited in the lawsuit included a requirement at Dana Hills High that students subscribe to a news magazine for AP Government, while Capistrano Valley High School’s Academy of Technology, Math and Science required students to complete geometry prior to ninth grade or enroll in a summer program at their own expense.

But parents of athletes, cheerleaders and others report spending hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for their student to participate in those programs.

Sapp said the suit was spurred by parents’ complaints in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties. The list of alleged violations was drawn up by just surfing the Internet and finding fees listed on school websites, he said.

“This was not a comprehensive review or even a systematic review, and we found 30 high schools that required students to pay in academic classes and 40 high schools with some sort fee,” Sapp said. “I was shocked.

“What you have here is informal, illegal taxation.”

Sapp said Lara’s law, which has been approved by two Assembly committees and is due on the Assembly floor this month before heading to the Senate, would also make it easier for parents to report suspected illegal fees. The law would require information about fees, and how to challenge them be posted in classrooms. Procedures would have to be established to allow parents to question fees, for the district to investigate and return the fees if improperly charged. The Superintendent must also report to the state on the resolution of complaints, and illegal fees must be dealt with in public session, the proposed law says.

Additionally, the law would require auditors to look at whether fees are being charged and whether complaints are being properly resolved, Sapp said.

Those oversight steps don’t exist now, he said.

“It’s been up to school districts, and school districts have an incentive not to enforce this law,” Sapp said.

He rejected speculation the ACLU lawsuit will hurt educational programs and extracurricular efforts by tying the financial strings. Sapp said the ACLU found examples of schools that did not charge fees, instead relying on donations and community support. That’s the key, he and school officials said, especially as school districts across the state struggle with years of budget cuts.

Capistrano Unified this year is facing an anticipated $6.9 million budget shortfall.

The proposed CUSD policy on “Student Fees, Donations and Fundraising” emphasizes the need that any mention of funding emphasize that the money is a non-mandatory donation. Requiring a fee but offering liberal waivers—which Sapp said districts have done for years to keep the fees but avoid trouble with offended parents—is not legal, nor is requiring parents to donate hours in lieu of money.

Additionally, the district’s proposed policy says that beginning in September, all school-connected organizations—including those with an IRS tax-free designation—must submit an annual “assurance” signed by its president that certifies any and all funds raised for any district-related activity meet district policies.

“This is a change for the entire state,” Walton said. “This puts into writing the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts.’ People mean well and want to provide the best opportunities for their children—we just need to make sure it’s done in the proper manner.”

Walton said those on the task force, and throughout the administration, are confident parents will continue to support the programs. Additionally, he said, the change might be an opportunity for programs to look at how they operate.

“If there’s a reduction of funds, we still feel the programs can be competitive,” Walton said. “Maybe we need to look at what the programs’ needs to function are, not at what ‘would be nice’ to have.”