(a) Any person who is not a pupil of the public school, a parent or guardian of a pupil of the public school, or an officer or employee of the school district maintaining the public school, or who is not required by his or her employment to be in a public school building or on the grounds of the public school, and who has entered any public school building or the grounds of any public school, during school hours, and who is requested either by the principal of the public school or by the designee of the principal to leave a public school building or public school grounds, shall promptly depart therefrom and shall not return thereto for at least seven days. A request that a person depart from a public school building or public school grounds shall be made by the principal, or the designee of the principal, exclusively on the basis that it appears reasonable to the principal, or the designee of the principal to conclude that the continued presence of the person requested to depart would be disruptive of, or would interfere with, classes or other activities of the public school program.

(b) Any person who fails to leave a public school building or public school grounds promptly upon request of the principal of the public school or the designee of the principal made pursuant to subdivision (a) or who, after leaving a public school building or public school grounds pursuant to a request of the principal of the public school, or the designee of the principal, made pursuant to subdivision (a), returns thereto, except pursuant to subdivision (d), within seven days, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished pursuant to Section 626.8 of the Penal Code.

(c) Any person who is requested pursuant to subdivision (a) to leave a public school building or school grounds may appeal to the superintendent of the school district in which the public school is located. That appeal shall be made not later than the second succeeding schoolday after the person has departed from the public school building or public school grounds. The superintendent shall, after reviewing the matter with the principal, or the designee of the principal, and the person seeking ingress to the public school during school hours, render his or her decision within 24 hours after the appeal is made, and the decision shall be binding upon both parties. A decision of the superintendent may be appealed by the person seeking ingress to the public school during public school hours to the governing board of the school district in which the public school is located. That appeal shall be made not later than the second succeeding schoolday after the superintendent has rendered his or her decision. The governing board of the school district shall consider and decide the appeal at its next scheduled regular or adjourned regular public meeting, and the decision of the governing board shall be final.

(d) Where the office of the superintendent of the school district or the office of the governing board of the school district is situated in the public school building or on the grounds of the public school from which a person has been requested, pursuant to subdivision (a), to depart, the person may enter the public school building or the grounds of the public school solely for the purpose of, and only to the extent necessary for, personally making, at the office of the superintendent or the office of the governing board, an appeal pursuant to subdivision (c).

(e) The governing board of every school district shall cause to have posted at every entrance to each school and grounds of the district a notice which shall set forth “school hours,” which are hereby defined for the purposes of this section as the period commencing one hour before classes begin and one hour after classes end at any school, or as otherwise defined by the governing board of the school district.

(f) For the purposes of subdivision (a), a representative of a school employee organization engaged in activities related to representation, as defined by Section 7104, shall be deemed to be a person required by his or her employment to be in a school building or on the grounds of a school.

(g) Nothing in this section shall be construed as preempting any ordinance of any city, county, or city and county.

(Amended by Stats. 2003, Ch. 552, Sec. 11. Effective January 1, 2004.)