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Background Six individual high school principals in the Capistrano Unified School District unilaterally; without Board approval, entered into 3rd party contracts which forced CUSD high school students to register for AP exams through a 3rd-party, for-profit company named Total Registration. The application required students to provide the following personally identifiable information in order to be able to sit for their AP Exam. There was no ability for students to OPT OUT of providing the information below... it was required to register.
In addition to the above information- social security numbers were also requested as an option for ID by certain school sites. Source: San Clemente High School
Statement of Facts: Individual High Schools Profited By Overcharging Students for AP Tests 1. California Education Code 48200 mandates that each person between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age is subject to compulsory- full-time education. 2. Article IX, Section 5 of the California Constitution aka the "Free School Guarantee" states that students in public school cannot be charged fees for participating in educational activities.. 3. The "FREE SCHOOL GUARANTEE" has been codified in California AB 1575, and states that students in public schools cannot be charged fees for participation in educational activities. "49010 AB1575(b) “Pupil fee” means a fee, deposit, or other charge imposed on pupils, or a pupil’s parents or guardians, in violation of Section 49011 and Section 5 of Article IX of the California Constitution, which require educational activities to be provided free of charge to all pupils without regard to their families’ ability or willingness to pay fees or request special waivers, as provided for in Hartzell v. Connell (1984) 35 Cal.3d 899. ..."
Current interpretation of the law regarding AP test fees is based on District policy.
If District policy mandates that AP students take the AP test as a requirement to complete the class, the test fee cannot be billed to students.
If District policy makes taking the AP Exam optional; the District may bill students for the cost of the exam without violating AB 1575.
4. At CUSD taking the AP Test is optional. Students who choose to take the AP Test can be charged a fee without violating AB 1575.
The "Fee" that is charged should cover the cost of the test. School Sites should not make a profit.
Any "profit" ia a violation of AB 1575.
5. Per College Board, the cost of each AP Exam is $94.
Source: CUSD Website: CUSD AP Exam Information takes you to the College Board Web site: Learn About the AP Program which then has a link to AP Fees and Fee Reductions
"Your school may require you to pay a higher fee to cover proctoring and administration costs."
 Source: Total Registration: Useful College Board Links
 6. CUSD students were charged a registration fee of $100 per exam. AP Exam Test Fee: $94 paid to College Board Administration Fee: $1 +(-) paid to Total Registration *Proctoring the Exam -0- *College Board rebates $9.00 per test to cover the cost of a proctor. 7. CUSD Students should have been billed $95 per exam and $9 of that fee should have been rebated to pay for test proctors. 8. Some schools used "Volunteer Proctors" to save the $9 rebate from College Board AP Exam Test Fee: $94 paid to College Board Administration Fee: $1 +(-) paid to Total Registration *Proctoring the Exam + $9 per test rebate not spent Schools that used "paid" proctors overcharged students by $5 per exam. 9. Cost to administer the AP Test using "Volunteer Proctors" was $86 per exam. *Proctoring the exam was FREE as CUSD schools sites asked for parent volunteers to proctor the exam. Schools that used "volunteer" proctors overcharged students by $14 per exam. From Dana Hills High School Web Site
Source: San Clemente High School Web Site
10. Capistrano Unified School District students take approximately 4,500 AP exams each year. Source: DataQuest AP Report (latest data) 2015-16 4,476 2014-15 4,370 2013-14 4,187 11. CUSD made a profit of $22,500.00 to $63,300 by overcharging students to take AP Exams 4,500 exams X $5 per exam = $22,500.00 4,500 exams X $14 per exam = $63,000.00 12. CUSD should refund students for these overpayments. 13. May 4, 2018 PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST
14. CUSDs' May 14, 2018 REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO RESPOND
15. CUSDs' May 23, 2018 RESPONSE
16. CUSD stated that: "There are no agreements between the Capistrano Unified School District and Total Registration. If an individual site made an arrangement with Total Registration, this document is not maintained by the District as a contract or memorandum of understanding by the District's purchasing department." Is CUSD stating that employees of the District can unilaterally enter into contracts with 3rd party for-profit companies that monetize student data without Board approval? 18. There must be agreements between individual school site principals (employees of CUSD) and Total Registration as evidenced by the following:
Source: Total Registration: Schools that Use Total Registration
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*Some school sites asked for Social Security Numbers as an optional form of ID.
Why was it necessary for students to to give this information to Total Registration for the purposes of registering for a test?
This constitutes a Data Breach and a violation of student privacy rights.
19. CUSDs' response to the Public Records Request implies that any district employee that has access to student data can now unilaterally enter into contracts with 3rd party vendors and profit from the monetization of student data.
CUSDs' response indicates that CUSD is not liable for the contractual obligations of its employees who enter into contracts while at work, using District property, and that CUSD has no responsibility to protect student privacy from a mis-use of student data.
20. CUSD's response to PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST #119 violates Government Code Section 6253(c)
(c) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 days from receipt of the request, determine whether the request, in whole or in part, seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession of the agency and shall promptly notify the person making the request of the determination and the reasons therefor. In unusual circumstances, the time limit prescribed in this section may be extended by written notice by the head of the agency or his or her designee to the person making the request, setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a determination is expected to be dispatched. No notice shall specify a date that would result in an extension for more than 14 days. When the agency dispatches the determination, and if the agency determines that the request seeks disclosable public records, the agency shall state the estimated date and time when the records will be made available. As used in this section, “unusual circumstances” means the following, but only to the extent reasonably necessary to the proper processing of the particular request:
The following responses by CUSD violate Government Code Section 6253(c)
This matter is being referred to the District attorney for review.
For Additional Data see: CUSDWatch: Attention CUSD Parents of AP Test Takers
