Know Your Rights: Free Public Education in California

Up-date 1-23-14

Public Records Show that the Capistrano Unified School District Collected $337,225 in Illegal Parking Fees in 2013-14 and is on track to collect over $500 thousand in 2014-15

Documents have been posted at the link above.

Up-date 1-6-15

CUSD Response to Public Records Request - records will be available on or before January 21, 2014. See copy of e-mail posted today.

Michael Robertson is the parent of a student in the San Dieguito School District in San Diego County. When his child was charged $40 per year to park on campus, he challenged the legality of the fee. A Public Records request showed that the San Dieguito School District collected $77,000 in parking fees last year. Since the issue has been brought to light the District volunteered to make parking for all students free.

See: http://www.michaelrobertson.com/archive.php?minute_id=383

The Issue:

Do School Districts have the legal authority to charge students to park on campus?

The Law:

Public Schools are governed by California Code of Regulations, Article 3. Privileges of Pupils. § 350. Fees Not Permitted.

“A pupil enrolled in a school shall not be required to pay any fee, deposit, or other charge not specifically authorized by law.”

Source:
https://law.resource.org/pub/us/ccr/gov.ca.oal.title05.html

School Districts site Vehicle Code § 2113 as the authority for charging students a parking permit fee.

California Vehicle Code § 2113 authorizes public and private educational institutions to establish rules and regulations governing parking on their property.

”(g) A public agency, including, but not limited to, the Regents of the University of California and the Trustees of the California State University, may adopt rules or regulations to restrict, or specify the conditions for, the use of bicycles, motorized bicycles, skateboards, and roller skates on public property under the jurisdiction of that agency.”

Source:
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/vctop/vc/d11/c1/a3/21113

Without specific authorization in the Education Code, fees cannot be charged. The law gives School Districts the authority to establish rules and regulations governing parking; it does not specifically give Districts the authority to charge fees for parking, and is therefore open to judicial scrutiny.

Other Considerations:

School Fees and AB 1575

Parking on campus is related to an educational activity. Schools cannot charge fees for educational activities.

Source:
https://www.aclusocal.org/cases/doe-v-california/school-fees/

Equal Protection Under The Law

The law (Vehicle Code § 2113) is not being applied equally to everyone. The parking fees have been imposed unilaterally and apply only to minors - not visitors or staff. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits States from denying any person within its jurisdiction the equal protections of the laws. So Districts must charge everyone or charge no one.

Source: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/equal_protectionhttp://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html


Discrimination Based on Wealth

Poor students who cannot afford the fee either have to park off campus or seek a waiver. Requiring indigent students to get a parking fee waiver identifies those students as charity cases; causing humiliation and shame to students who cannot afford the fee.

Capistrano Unified School District

After hearing about this issue I decided to look at the Capistrano Unified School School District’s Policy on Student Parking Fees and a couple of things caught my eye.The District web site does show that parking is a permissible fee citing Vehicle Code § 2113 as the authority for making parking permit fees a “permissible fee”. However, when I started looking for District Policy on the parking fees I could not find one. It appears that parking permit fees are determined at the school site level and the fees charged are not uniform across the District.

Source: See Question 5 [8]http://capousd.ca.schoolloop.com/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1302857358740

Student Parking Permits are tied to School Disciplinary Policies. Of the High Schools in CUSD where the information was easy to find, I found the following.

Capistrano Valley High School

“CVHS STUDENT PARKING PERMIT

Not all students will have the opportunity to park at CVHS. Provided there are enough physical spaces on campus, qualifying seniors will be given priority for parking. If there are any spaces available, Juniors who qualify will be part of a lottery run by the administration. Permit is valid for one semester.”

“PARKING PERMIT FEES per Semester:

WITHOUT ASB $60.00

WITH ASB $50.00

Cash, credit & checks accepted in the Activities Office

Source: http://www.cvhs.com/news/view?d=x&id=1403330922333


San Juan Hills

Source: at page 15 & 16http://sjhhs.schoolloop.com/file/1215043711560/1215045215260/6432769873713855985.pdf

Tesoro High School

Parking Fees

Full Year -
$100 with ASB Card or
$110.00 without ASB Card

Second Semester -
$50.00 with ASB Card or
$60.00 without ASB Card

The replacement fee for a lost or stolen parking permit is:
Full Year - $110.00 with ASB card or $120.00 without ASB card

PRIVILEGE: Because parking is limited at THS, it is treated as a privilege and is available to students who work hard. As a result, any student who receives two or more “F’s” at a 6-week grading period will lose their parking permit and will be re-evaluated at the next 6-week grading period. Any student receiving one “F” as a semester grade will not be eligible for parking until the next 6-week grading period of the ensuing semester and grades have improved. Excessive tardies and/or truancy periods may also result in a permit being revoked.

Source:
http://www.tesorohighschool.com/ParkingPermit 


Parents who feel they have been wrongly charged a parking permit fee can file a complaint and seek reimbursement for that fee -

See: http://www.cde.ca.gov/re/cp/uc/

I sent the District a Public Records Request for information and documentation and will post any information that I receive as an up-date to this post.

From: Dawn Urbanek
Date: December 28, 2014
Subject: CPRA Request
To: Kristen Vital - Superintendent

I am requesting all documents related to billing, collection and expenditures of parking permit fees at district high schools from 2014-2015.

In particular please provide:

1) Total Parking Permit Fees Collected at each individual school site for 2013-14 and 2014-15

2) Total Parking Fees collected for 2013-14 and 2014-15

3) Are the fees that are collected sent to the Districts General Fund or do the individual school sites keep the funds that are collected?

4) Is there a Board Policy Governing Parking Permit Fees? If yes, please provide a copy of the District Policy.

5) When did the policy of collecting parking permit fees begin in the Capistrano Unified School District?

Thank you,

Dawn Urbanek

Parent Advocate