Article 4. Rights Of Students of California Education Code >> Division 7. >> Title 3. >> Part 47. >> Chapter 1.5. >> Article 4.

Any currently enrolled or former student has a right to access to any and all student records relating to him maintained by community colleges. The editing or withholding of any such records, except as provided for in this chapter, is prohibited. Each community college district shall adopt procedures for the granting of requests by students to inspect and review records during regular school hours, provided that access shall be granted no later than 15 working days following the date of the request. Procedures shall include notification of the location of all official student records if not centrally located and the providing of qualified personnel to interpret records where appropriate.

A student may waive his or her right to access to student records devoted solely to confidential recommendations for career placement, postsecondary admission, or the receipt of an honor or honorary recognition. However, the recommendations shall be used solely for the purpose for which they were specifically intended, and the student shall be notified, upon request, of the names of all persons making confidential recommendations. A waiver may not be required as a condition for admission to, receipt of financial aid from, or receipt of any other services or benefits from a community college.

(a) Any student may file a written request with the chief administrative officer of a community college district to correct or remove information recorded in his or her student records which the student alleges to be: (1) inaccurate; (2) an unsubstantiated personal conclusion or inference; (3) a conclusion or inference outside of the observer's area of competence; or (4) not based on the personal observation of a named person with the time and place of the observation noted.
  (b) Within 30 days of receipt of the request, the chief administrative officer, or his or her designee, shall meet with the student and the employee who recorded the information in question, if any, if the employee is presently employed by the community college district. The chief administrative officer or his or her designee shall then sustain or deny the allegations. If the chief administrative officer, or his or her designee, sustains any or all of the allegations, he or she shall order the correction or removal and destruction of the information. If the chief administrative officer, or his or her designee, denies any or all of the allegations and refuses to order the correction or removal of the information, the student, within 30 days of the refusal, may appeal the decision in writing to the governing board of the community college district.
  (c) Within 30 days of receipt of an appeal, the governing board shall, in closed session with the student and the employee who recorded the information in question, if any, and if that employee is presently employed by the community college district, determine whether to sustain or deny the allegations. If the governing board sustains any or all of the allegations, it shall order the chief administrative officer, or his or her designee, to immediately correct or remove and destroy the information. The decision of the governing board shall be final. Records of these administrative proceedings shall be maintained in a confidential manner and shall be destroyed one year after the decision of the governing board unless the student initiates legal proceedings relative to the disputed information within the prescribed period.
  (d) If the final decision of the governing board is unfavorable to the student or if the student accepts an unfavorable decision by the chief administrative officer, the student shall have the right to submit a written statement of his or her objections to the information. This statement shall become a part of the student's record until the information objected to is corrected or removed.

Whenever there is included in any student record information concerning any disciplinary action taken by community college personnel in connection with the student, the student shall be allowed to include in such record a written statement or response concerning the disciplinary action.

Whenever there is included in any student record information concerning any disciplinary action taken by a community college in connection with any alleged sexual assault or physical abuse, including rape, forced sodomy, forced oral copulation, rape by a foreign object, sexual battery, or threat of sexual assault, or any conduct that threatens the health and safety of the alleged victim, the alleged victim of that sexual assault or physical abuse shall be informed within three days of the results of any disciplinary action by the community college and the results of any appeal. The alleged victim shall keep the results of that disciplinary action and appeal confidential.