Legal counsel and staff present an update on the ACLU lawsuit over student fees

At Tuesday night’s Board of Education meeting, attorney Mark Bresee presented an update on the American Civil Liberties Union’s lawsuit against the state of California over impermissible student fees. Keith Tuominen, the district’s director of secondary education, followed up by discussing the steps IUSD has taken to ensure legal compliance.

Noting that new legislation is working its way through Sacramento, Bresee said it’s important to draw a “bright line” between the existing law, which unequivocally states that fees and charges are impermissible for all educational activities, and new aspects of the proposed legislation that will require districts to set up complaint guidelines and audit procedures. Only the latter provisions are up for discussion in the Legislature, he said. Tuominen noted that the district has sent out notices to staff and parents communicating IUSD’s efforts to move toward a donation model in which voluntary contributions are sought to preserve valuable educational opportunities for students. New information, he said, will continue to be posted on the web at www.iusd.org/student-fee-info. To read a PDF recap of Tuesday's meeting, click here.