2011 California Code
Education Code
TITLE 2. ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION [33000 - 64100]
ARTICLE 4. Notification of Parent or Guardian
Section 48985

(a) If 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in a public school that provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, speak a single primary language other than English, as determined from the census data submitted to the department pursuant to Section 52164 in the preceding year, all notices, reports, statements, or records sent to the parent or guardian of any such pupil by the school or school district shall, in addition to being written in English, be written in the primary language, and may be responded to either in English or the primary language.

(b) Pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 64001, the department shall monitor adherence to the requirements of subdivision (a) as part of its regular monitoring and review of public schools and school districts, commonly known as the Categorical Program Monitoring process, and shall determine the types of documents and languages a school district translates to a primary language other than English, the availability of these documents to parents or guardians who speak a primary language other than English, and the gaps in translations of these documents.

(c) Based on census data submitted to the department pursuant to Section 52164 in the preceding fiscal year, the department shall notify a school district, by August 1 of each year, of the schools within the school district, and the primary language other than English, for which the translation of documents is required pursuant to subdivision (a). The department shall make that notification using electronic methods.

(d) The department shall use existing resources to comply with subdivisions (b) and (c).

(Amended by Stats. 2006, Ch. 706, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2007.)