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 charter school would be subject to the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act. (2) The California Public Records Act requires state and local agencies to make their records available for public inspection and to make copies available upon request and payment of a fee unless the records are exempt from disclosure. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to the California Public Records Act, except as provided for certain charter schools located on federally recognized California Indian reservations or rancherias. For those charter schools, this bill would require each charter school's chartering authority to execute California Public Records Act requests made to the charter school, as provided. To the extent these provisions would impose new duties on local educational agencies, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (3) Existing law prohibits certain public officials, including, but not limited to, state, county, or district officers or employees, from being financially interested in any contract made by them in their official capacity, or by any body or board of which they are members, except as provided. This bill would expressly state that a charter school is subject to these provisions, except that the bill would provide that an employee of a charter school is not disqualified from serving as such a member of the governing body of the charter school because of that employment status. The bill also would require such 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 concerning, any matter affecting his or her own employment. (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) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. (6) Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.