Liability Limit for Willful Pupil Misconduct

December 20, 2012

Dear County Superintendents and Chief Business Officials:

ANNUAL ADJUSTMENT TO LIABILITY LIMIT OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN
FOR WILLFUL PUPIL MISCONDUCT

California Education Code (EC) Section 48904(a)(1) [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&group=48001-49000&file=48900-48927] provides that the parent or guardian of a minor is liable for all damages caused by the willful misconduct of the minor that results in the injury or death of any pupil, school district or private school employee, or school volunteer. The parent or guardian is also liable for damages to real or personal property belonging to the school district or private school, or personal property belonging to a school employee, resulting from the willful misconduct of the minor. The liability of the parent or guardian shall not exceed $10,000, adjusted for inflation per EC Section 48904(a)(2).

EC Section 48904(a)(1) also specifies that the parent or guardian of a minor is liable for any reward offered by a local agency pursuant to Government Code Section 53069.5 [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=gov&group=53001-54000&file=53060-53087.6] for information leading to the identification and apprehension of the minor who willfully damages or destroys property, or whose willful misconduct results in injury or death to any person. This liability also shall not exceed $10,000, adjusted for inflation per EC Section 48904(a)(2).

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is required to annually adjust both of the above $10,000 liability limits specified in EC Section 48904(a)(1) to reflect the percentage change in the Implicit Price Deflator for State and Local Government Purchases of Goods and Services for the United States, as published by the United States Department of Commerce for the 12-month period ending in the prior fiscal year. The inflation amount is rounded to the nearest one hundred dollars ($100).

Pursuant to the above calculation, and effective January 1, 2013, the SSPI has determined that the inflation adjusted liability limit will increase from $17,593 to $18,100. This includes a one-time adjustment to implement a statutory change to EC Section 48904(2) affecting the calculation. Shown below are the inflation adjusted bid thresholds for the current and two prior years.

This letter (with hypertext links to the Government Code and EC sections cited) has been posted to the Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/fg/ac/co/. Please share this letter with the school districts and charter schools in your county.

If you have any questions regarding this subject, please contact the Office of Financial Accountability and Information Services by phone at 916-322-1770 or by e-mail at sacsinfo@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,



Scott Hannan, Director
School Fiscal Services Division