CHAPTER 10. Community Recreation Programs [10900. - 10914.5.]

Cal. Education Code - EDC 10.

in effect

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10900. Section 10900.

The purposes of this chapter are: (a) To promote and preserve the health and general welfare of the people of the state and to cultivate the development of good citizenship by provision for adequate programs of community recreation. (b) To authorize public corporations or districts having powers to provide recreation, cities, counties, cities and counties, and school districts to organize, promote, and conduct programs of community recreation as will contribute to the attainment of general educational and recreational objectives for children and adults of the state.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10900.5. Section 10900.5.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter, school districts which, prior to the effective date of this section, have interpreted their authority as permitting the use of school buses by nonprofit organizations for purposes consistent with community recreation may continue to permit this use under established practices, policies, and procedures.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10901. Section 10901.

The following terms, wherever used or referred to in this chapter have the following meanings, respectively, unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context: (a) “Public authority” means any city of any class, city and county, county of any class, public corporation or district having powers to provide recreation, or school district in the state. (b) “Governing body” means, in the case of a city, the city council, municipal council, or common council; in the case of a county or city and county, the board of supervisors; in the case of a public corporation or district, the governing board of the public corporation or district; and in the case of a school district, the governing board of the school district. (c) “Recreation” means any activity, voluntarily engaged in, which contributes to the physical, mental, or moral development of the individual or group participating therein, and includes any activity in the fields of visual and performing arts, handicraft, science, literature, nature study, nature contacting, aquatic sports, and athletics, or any of them, and any informal play incorporating any such activity. (d) “Community recreation” and “public recreation” mean the recreation as may be engaged in under direct control of a public authority, or any camping or outdoor recreation activity which is (1) sponsored by a nonprofit organization, (2) for the benefit of disadvantaged or handicapped schoolage children, and (3) in a county with a population less than or equal to 45,000 according to the most recent federal census. (e) “Nonprofit organization” means those nonprofit organizations which, as determined by the governing board of the school district, are unable to pay for the private transportation of disadvantaged or handicapped schoolage children to recreation activities. (f) “Recreation center” means a place, structure, area, or other facility under the jurisdiction of a governing body of a public authority used for community recreation whether or not it may be used primarily for other purposes, playgrounds, playing fields or courts, beaches, lakes, rivers, swimming pools, gymnasiums, auditoriums, libraries, parks adjacent to school sites, recreational community gardens, rooms for arts and crafts, camps, and meeting places. Playgrounds, outdoor playing fields or courts, swimming pools, and camps, with necessary equipment and appurtenances for their operation, under the jurisdiction of a governing board of a public authority used for community recreation shall be considered recreation centers within the meaning of this chapter whether or not they may be used primarily for other purposes.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10902. Section 10902.

The governing body of every public authority may do all of the following: (a) Organize, promote, and conduct programs of community recreation. (b) Establish systems of playgrounds and recreation. (c) Acquire, construct, improve, maintain, and operate recreation centers within or without the territorial limits of the public authority. No events for which an admission price is charged shall be held pursuant to this chapter, except amateur athletic contests, demonstrations, or exhibits and other educational events.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10902.5. Section 10902.5.

Any individual who willfully, and without just cause, interferes with or disrupts the recreational activities of individuals, groups, or entities granted the use of a recreation center by a governing body is guilty of an infraction, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200).

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10903. Section 10903.

Upon the transfer of duties and functions of the county board of supervisors to the county board of education, the county board of supervisors may provide by agreement with the county board of education that the county board of education will perform all or any portion of the duties and functions of the county under this chapter.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10904. Section 10904.

A public authority may permit the use of a recreation center or facility by parent cooperative nursery groups on a nonexclusive and nondiscriminatory basis when such use does not unreasonably impair or interfere with the right of the public to use the center or facility. As used in this section, a “parent cooperative nursery group” means a group of parents who (1) are licensed by a state agency; (2) on a nonprofit basis; (3) to provide recreation for their preschool age children; (4) on a nondiscriminatory basis.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10905. Section 10905.

The governing body of any public authority may cooperate with the federal government or any department thereof, and the governing bodies of any two or more public authorities may cooperate with each other or with the federal government or any department thereof to carry out the purposes of this chapter, and to that end may enter into agreements with each other, and may do any and all things necessary or convenient to aid and cooperate in carrying out the purposes of this chapter, or to establish, improve or maintain campgrounds or other recreation facilities under the control of the federal government or any department thereof. The governing bodies of any two or more public authorities having jurisdiction over any of the same territory or over contiguous territories may jointly establish a system or systems of recreation, and may jointly do any act which either is authorized to do under Section 10903. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit any joint or cooperative action authorized by this section.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10906. Section 10906.

The governing board of any union high school district located in a county of the third class which had an average daily attendance during the 1971–72 school year of between 17,500 and 18,500, and which, during the 1971–72 school year, had a modified assessed valuation per pupil of between twenty-one thousand dollars ($21,000) and twenty-three thousand dollars ($23,000), may cooperate with community nonprofit associations and corporations to carry out the purposes of this chapter including the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance, and operation of recreation centers within the territorial limits of and under the control of the governing board, and may enter into agreements with such nonprofit associations and corporations to share the costs of acquiring, constructing, improving, maintaining, and operating such recreation centers located on the property of the school district, provided that the board does not agree to contribute more than one-half the total cost of any one project.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10907. Section 10907.

The governing body of any public authority other than a school district may designate any already existing board, officer, or employee of the public authority to exercise the powers granted by this chapter to carry out the purposes of this chapter, or may provide for the appointment of a board of recreation commissioners to exercise these powers. A school district may appoint one or more members of the board of trustees, officers or employees, to represent the district on a board of recreation commissioners.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10908. Section 10908.

The board of recreation commissioners shall consist of either five members or seven members, as determined by the governing body or bodies providing for its appointment, who shall serve with or without compensation at the discretion of the governing body. If compensation is authorized by the governing body it shall not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25) per meeting for not more than one meeting of the commission in any one calendar month. The governing body may provide that the members of the commission shall receive their actual and necessary traveling expenses to and from the place of meeting of the commission and while traveling in connection with the business of the commission.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10909. Section 10909.

The board of recreation commissioners in each public authority, or the board, officer, or employee of the authority designated to exercise the powers, shall exercise such powers and perform such duties, pursuant to this chapter, as the governing body of the public authority may prescribe.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10910. Section 10910.

The governing body of any school district may use the buildings, grounds, and equipment of the district, or any of them, to carry out the purposes of this chapter, or may grant the use of any building, grounds, or equipment of the district to any other public authority for the purposes, whenever the use of the buildings, grounds, or equipment for community recreational purposes will not interfere with use of the buildings, grounds, and equipment for any other purpose of the public school system. Nothing in this section is intended to repeal any provision of, or to restrict or otherwise affect the use of school buildings under Sections 40040 to 40058, inclusive.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10911. Section 10911.

Every public authority may appoint, prescribe the duties of, and provide for the compensation and necessary expenses of such recreational directors, supervisors, custodians, assistants, deputies, and other employees as it deems reasonably necessary for carrying out the provisions and purposes of this chapter. Only persons employed in positions requiring certification qualifications shall be paid out of funds set aside for the payment of teachers’ salaries.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10911.5. Section 10911.5.

(a) Commencing with January 1, 1993, every public recreation program employer shall require each employee having direct contact with minors to immediately submit, or in the case of a new employee, to submit on or before the first day of his or her employment, one set of fingerprints to the Department of Justice. This requirement is a condition of employment. (b) For the purposes of this section “public recreation program employer” means a public recreation program that is exempt from licensure pursuant to subdivision (g) of Section 1596.792 of the Health and Safety Code. (c) The Department of Justice shall furnish a criminal record summary to the public recreation program employer designated by an employee submitting fingerprints pursuant to subdivision (a). The criminal record summary shall contain only arrests resulting in a conviction and arrests pending final adjudication. The criminal record summary furnished to the public recreation program employer shall be maintained by the public recreation program employer in a secured file separate from personnel files. (d) The Department of Justice may charge each applicant for a criminal record summary a reasonable fee to cover costs associated with the processing of the criminal record summary. In no event shall the fee exceed the actual costs incurred by the department. Nothing in this section prohibits the public recreation employer from paying the applicant charge or reimbursing the charge to the employee.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10912. Section 10912.

The governing body of a school district may require persons, other than students, or organizations desiring to use the recreational facilities on school grounds or belonging to a school or the facilities provided by the district at a community recreation center maintained solely by the district to pay fees for the use as the governing body may prescribe.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10913. Section 10913.

The governing body of a school district may require persons or organizations desiring to use schoolbuses belonging to a school to pay fees for the use as the governing body may prescribe.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10914. Section 10914.

All necessary expenses incurred by the governing body of any school district in carrying out the purposes of this chapter are a charge against the funds of the district from whatever source the funds have been received. All the expenditures shall be made in the same manner as funds are expended for other school purposes. Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to change in any way existing laws regarding the use of school grounds or school buildings by governing boards of school districts, except as specifically provided in this chapter.

Cal. Education Code - EDC § 10914.5. Section 10914.5.

The governing board of any school district may establish accounts for community recreation programs established in the schools of the district, in one or more banks. There shall be no more than one account established by a district for any one school in the district. If one account is established for all of the schools in the district which have community recreation programs, the account shall be known as “The Community Recreation Program Account of (insert name of district) District.” All funds for the community recreation programs, from whatever source such funds are received, shall be placed in the appropriate Community Recreation Program Account established pursuant to this section, and all authorized community recreation expenses shall be paid therefrom. The governing board of the district shall designate an employee or employees of the district to have custody of the account or accounts, who shall be responsible for the payment into the account or accounts of all moneys required to be paid into the account or accounts, and for all expenditures therefrom, subject to such regulations as the governing board prescribes.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026