Open meetings: school boards: emergencies: notifications by email.

Existing law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, generally requires that meetings of a legislative body of a local agency be conducted openly and that the body provide notice, as specified, prior to its meetings. In an emergency situation involving matters upon which prompt action is necessary due to the disruption or threatened disruption of public facilities, existing law authorizes a legislative body to hold an emergency meeting without complying with specified 24-hour notice and posting requirements. Existing law instead requires the presiding officer of the legislative body, or a designee, to notify specified media entities by telephone one hour before the emergency meeting or at or near the time the members of the legislative body are notified, as specified. If the telephone services are not functioning, existing law waives this notification requirement and requires the legislative body, or a designee, to notify those media entities of certain details of the emergency meeting as soon after the meeting as possible. This bill would authorize a school board holding an emergency meeting, as described above, to fulfill the premeeting notification requirement by email instead of by telephone, as specified. If the internet and telephone services are not functioning, the bill would similarly waive the premeeting notification requirement and require the postmeeting notification described above. By imposing a new requirement on school boards to send a premeeting notification by email when internet services are functioning but telephone services are not functioning, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. The California Constitution requires local agencies, for the purpose of ensuring public access to the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies, to comply with a statutory enactment that amends or enacts laws relating to public records or open meetings and contains findings demonstrating that the enactment furthers the constitutional requirements relating to this purpose. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.