Piedmont Schools and City Still Comply with Brown Act
School District Adheres to California “Sunshine Law” –
The following information was provided by the Piedmont Unified School District on its adherence to the Brown Act requirements after Governor Jerry Brown temporarily suspended the law for cities and counties:
“We continue to comply with the Brown Act, and have never asked for reimbursement of our expenses in regard to compliance.”
“The State budget actions that suspended agenda posting requirements was applicable to cities and counties and did not apply to school districts or community colleges. We remain obligated to comply fully with the provisions of the Brown Act. This was spelled out in recent legislation (AB 1464) and is also required under provisions of the Education Code.”
While compliance by the City of Piedmont is now optional, the City confirmed it will voluntarily continue Brown Act notifications.
“There will be no change in the way we do business because of the proposed changes at the State level. It is Piedmont’s tradition to meet the requirements of the Brown Act and we will continue to do so.”
As of the effective date of the 2012-13 California State Budget, the legal obligation to provide notifications of local government hearings and decisions pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act (California’s “Sunshine” Law) were suspended for cities and counties due to de-funding of state reimbursements for compliance. The 59-year-old Brown Act, enacted in the 1950’s to increase government transparency and improve public access to local and state decisions, for the moment, is optional, rather than a legal requirement for cities and counties.
Details on state reimbursement to Piedmont in prior PCA article.
