Question
I’m a disability activist parent on a non-profit committee sponsored by the public schools, receiving state grants and private grants. I feel the meetings, which we advertise in the newspapers, should be open to journalists and that our budget info is public information. Others on the board want to keep things hush-hush. Do we have a right to keep our financial info private? Also, can’t reporters attend our meetings if they want? Don’t Brown Act rules apply to us, even if we’re not a city council or planning commission? We meet at the high school district offices and the special ed administrators frequently attend our meetings.
Answer
It is difficult to determine from the information provided in your submission if the meetings of the non-profit committee that is “sponsored” by the public schools and is the recipient of “state grants” is subject to the Brown Act (which applies to local agencies, such as city or county agencies) or the Bagley-Keene Act (which applies to state agencies). To answer that question, you will need to determine (at least) how the committee was created, by whom and under what authority.
Brown Act
Under Government Code section 54952, some committees, boards, and commissions created by the governing bodies (e.g., local school boards) are subject to the Brown Act. Under a court decision in a case called Frazer v. Dixon Unified School District, 18 Cal. App. 4th 781 (1993), a board, committee or commission created by an individual – such as the superintendent of schools – rather than a local governmental agency also is subject to the Brown Act if the local agency delegated to the superintendent the authority to create the committee. Consequently, if the committee referenced in your submission was created by superintendent of schools, and if the superintendent was delegated authority by the school board to create the committee, then the Brown Act should apply. I do not have sufficient information to determine whether the committee referenced in your submission qualifies as a committee created by a local body.
If the Brown Act applies, the committee meetings must be open to the public (including the parts of the meeting when financial information is discussed) (subject to some exceptions) and notice of those meetings (open or closed) must be given to anyone who requests it in writing, and must designate the specific time and place of the meeting. The requirements of the Brown Act can be found in Government Code sections 54950 through 54963.
Bagley-Keene Act
The Bagley-Keene Act imposes open-meeting requirements similar to the Brown Act. Under section 11121(b) of the Government Code, the Bagley-Keene Act applies to any “board, commission, committee or similar multimember body that exercises any authority of a state body delegated to it by that state body.” Assuming the committee qualifies as a committee within the meaning of this section, then the open-meeting requirement would apply if the pertinent state body delegated authority to it.
Furthermore, under section 11121(c) of the Government Code, the Bagley-Keene Act applies to any “advisory board, advisory commission, advisory committee, advisory subcommittee, or similar multimember advisory body” that is “created by formal action of [a] state body,” and has at least three members. I do not have sufficient information to determine whether the committee referenced in your submission qualifies as a committee that exercises the authority of a state body or an advisory committee created by a state body.
If the Bagley-Keene Act applies, the committee meetings must be open to the public (including the parts of the meeting when financial information is discussed) (subject to some exceptions) and notice of those meetings (open or closed) must be given to anyone who requests it in writing, and also must be posted on the Internet at least 10 days in advance of the meetings, and must designate the specific time and place of the meeting.
The requirements of the Bagley-Keene Act can be found in Government Code sections 11120 through 11132.
Lastly, the fact that the meetings take place in high school district offices and special education administrators attend them do not factor into this analysis. We hope you find this information useful.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.