A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering
– Hilary Hammell, Public Advocates attorney
In return for their receipt of public funding, charter organizations are not allowed to charge parents and guardians any type of fees for their students to attend these schools. This includes forcing them to fulfill a minimum quota of “volunteer” hours. As stated by the California Charter School Association (CCSA): “it is not legal nor appropriate for a student to be excluded from a charter school or a school activity because a parent did not volunteer or make a financial contribution to their school.” Still, a 2014 report by Public Advocates “found that 168, or almost one-third of the 555 charter schools [they] surveyed, explicitly require unpaid parent or family ‘service hours.’” Included in the report’s examples were two charters authorized by the LAUSD.
The prohibitions on requiring work hours do not stop charters from doing what they can to encourage parents to volunteer. For example, Alliance Collins Family College-Ready High School tells parents and guardians in its Parent/Student Handbook that they “are encouraged to complete 40 hours of parent volunteer service…each year.” However, its full compliance with the A Charter School Violates Student Privacy to Shame Parents Into Volunteering: