Charter schools.

(1) The Ralph M. Brown Act requires that all meetings of a legislative body, as defined, of a local agency be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is authorized. The Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act requires, with specified exceptions, that all meetings of a state body be open and public and all persons be permitted to attend. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, unless it is operated by an entity governed by the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, in which case the school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the California Public Records Act. (3) Existing law prohibits certain public officials, including, but not limited to, members of governing boards of school districts and citizens' oversight committees, from engaging in specified activities that are inconsistent or incompatible with, or inimical to, their duties as public officials, including, but not limited to, entering into a contract in which the official or the official's family member has a financial interest, as specified. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to these provisions. (4) The Political Reform Act of 1974 requires every state agency and local governmental agency to adopt a conflict-of-interest code, formulated at the most decentralized level possible, that requires designated employees of the agency to file statements of economic interest disclosing any investments, business positions, interests in real property, or sources of income that may foreseeably be affected materially by any governmental decision made or participated in by the designated employee by virtue of his or her position. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the Political Reform Act of 1974. (5) This bill would state various exceptions and clarifications regarding the applicability of the acts described above in paragraphs (1) to (4) , inclusive. (6) Existing law requires a member of the governing board of a school district to abstain from voting on personnel matters that uniquely affect a relative of the member. This bill would provide that an employee of a charter school is not disqualified from serving as a member of the governing body of the charter school because of that employment status. The bill would require a member of the governing body of a charter school to abstain from voting on, or influencing or attempting to influence another member of that body regarding, any matter affecting his or her own employment or any personnel matter that uniquely affects a relative of the member. The bill would provide that a person who provides a loan to a charter school due to a school fiscal emergency, or who leases, or signs a guarantor agreement relative to the lease of, real property to be occupied by a charter school, is not disqualified because of that loan, lease, or guarantor agreement from also serving as a member of the governing body of the charter school or being an employee of the charter school and would require that person to abstain from voting on, or influencing or attempting to influence another member of that body regarding, all matters affecting the loan agreement or the real property lease agreement, as applicable. (7) The bill would make these provisions operative on July 1, 2012.