(a) If a school district elects to undertake an investigation pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 48204.1, the governing board of the school district shall adopt a policy regarding the investigation of a pupil to determine whether the pupil meets the residency requirements for school attendance in the school district before investigating any pupils.

(b) The policy shall do all of the following:

(1) Identify the circumstances upon which the school district may initiate an investigation, which shall, at a minimum, require the school district employee to be able to identify specific, articulable facts supporting the belief that the parent or legal guardian of the pupil has provided false or unreliable evidence of residency.

(2) (A) Describe the investigatory methods that may be used by the school district in the conduct of the investigation, including whether the school district will be employing the services of a private investigator.

(B) Before hiring a private investigator, the policy shall require the school district to make reasonable efforts to determine whether the pupil resides in the school district.

(3) Prohibit the surreptitious photographing or video-recording of pupils who are being investigated. For purposes of this paragraph, “surreptitious photographing or video-recording” means the covert collection of photographic or videographic images of persons or places subject to an investigation. For purposes of this paragraph, the collection of images is not covert if the technology is used in open and public view.

(4) Require that employees and contractors of the school district engaged in the investigation identify themselves truthfully as such to individuals contacted or interviewed during the course of the investigation.

(5) Require a school district to specify the basis for a determination of nonresidency of a pupil, and provide a process to appeal that determination. If an appeal is made, the burden shall be on the appealing party to show why the decision of the school district should be overruled.

(c) The policy required pursuant to this section shall be adopted at a public meeting of the governing board of the school district.

(Amended by Stats. 2016, Ch. 86, Sec. 65. (SB 1171) Effective January 1, 2017.)