Ryan P. Tung
Partner | Los Angeles, Walnut Creek
rtung@lozanosmith.com
Tel: 213.929.1066
Fax: 213.929.1077
Vcard
Bio
Overview
Ryan P. Tung is a Partner in Lozano Smith's Walnut Creek Office, and co-chair of the firm's Governance Practice Group. Mr. Tung's practice focuses on general governance, charter school, and student issues. Mr. Tung also frequently conducts and oversees work-place investigations for public agency clients.Experience
Mr. Tung regularly advises administrators and boards on a wide variety of governance issues, including the Brown Act, the Public Records Act, and conflicts of interest. Mr. Tung is also experienced in assisting public agencies navigate the complexities of election matters, including the California Voting Rights Act, Federal Voting Rights Act, redistricting, special elections and vacancies.Mr. Tung frequently conducts and oversees investigations related to discrimination and harassment and advises clients on the complexities of Title IX compliance. Mr. Tung is well-versed in all aspects of charter school law, including drafting and negotiating MOUs, charter reviews, assisting clients with Prop. 39 facility requests, charter oversight, facility issues, petition review and revocation, and frequently advises clients on a broad range of student related matters.
Education
Mr. Tung received his Juris Doctor degree (cum laude) from University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he was a recipient of the Moot Court Best Brief award, as well as a Staff Editor for the Hastings Business Law Journal. He received numerous CALI Awards and Witkin Awards, including Education Law, Effective Representation in Mediation, and Roles and Ethics. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at San Diego, where he majored in International Studies and received a minor in United States history.Expansion of Opportunities and Incentives to Students Serving as Pupil Members of Governing Boards
November 2023Number 42Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed two bills into law that expand the opportunities and incentives for students to serve as pupil members of governing boards.First, Assembly Bill (AB) 417 expands who can be selected to serve as a pupil member of the county board of education (County BOE) in cases where a petition has not been submitted for the selection of a student. For context, there are two ways for a pupil member to be appointed to the position of a County BOE: (1...
California Supreme Court Issues Long-Awaited Decision in California Voting Rights Act Challenge
September 2023Number 34On August 24, 2023, the California Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated opinion in Pico Neighborhood Association et al., v. City of Santa Monica, reversing an unprecedented Court of Appeal decision that had previously favored the City of Santa Monica. In reaching its decision, the Supreme Court established a new standard for evaluating California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) claims, including: (1) clarifying that a plaintiff must prove both racially polarized v...
The End of the COVID-19 State of Emergency Impacts Remote Board Meetings under AB 361
February 2023Number 8Effective March 1, 2023, local agencies will no longer have the option to rely on the COVID-19 proclaimed state of emergency to conduct fully remote legislative body meetings pursuant to Assembly Bill (AB) 361.BackgroundOn March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom declared a state of emergency in California due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He also signed various executive orders temporarily allowing legislative bodies of local agencies to conduct meetings virtually, relaxing the tradit...
Attorney General Opines on Trustee Area Vacancies
December 2022Number 59On October 27, 2022, the California Attorney General (AG) released its Opinion No. 22-502 responding to pressing questions regarding vacancies on school district governing boards. Specifically, the AG opined:If a governing board member who was elected at-large vacates their seat during the district’s transition to by-trustee area elections, that vacancy should be filled “at-large.”If a board member vacates their seat while the school district is &...
New Options for Local Legislative Bodies to Access Public Meetings Remotely
October 2022Number 48State lawmakers have given members of local legislative bodies a new option for remote participation in public agency meetings.Assembly Bill (AB) 361 previously provided for remote attendance during declared emergencies through January 1, 2024. Now, effective January 1, 2023, AB 2449 retains existing Brown Act teleconferencing requirements for non-emergency situations, but also provides an additional opportunity for remote attendance even when there is no state of e...
Attorney General Addresses Who May Attend Closed Session Under the Brown Act
June 2022Number 26On May 26, 2022, the California Attorney General (AG) issued Opinion No. 21-1102, addressing certain aspects of "closed session" attendance under the Ralph M. Brown Act. Specifically, the AG opined:(1) Legislative support staff of an individual city councilmember generally may not attend closed sessions unless the staff member has an "official or essential role" to play;(2) City councilmembers may not share information obtained in closed session with their individual suppor...
New Laws Affect County Offices of Education: County Superintendent Oversight Duties and Student Board Members
November 2021Number 39On October 8, 2021, the Governor signed Assembly Bills (AB) 559 and 824 into law. AB 559 provides a new process for identifying schools that county superintendents are required to inspect each year. AB 824 authorizes county boards of education and charter schools to appoint high school pupils as members of their governing boards in response to a student petition.AB 559Previously, Education Code section 1240 required a county superintendent of schools to annually inspect ...
AB 361 Creates Exemptions to Brown Act Virtual Meeting Requirements During a State of Emergency
September 2021Number 26On September 15, 2021, the Governor signed Assembly Bill (AB) 361, amending the Ralph M. Brown Act to allow local agencies to continue conducting public meetings remotely during a state of emergency, so long as certain requirements are met. As explained in more detail below, public agencies who wish to conduct meetings remotely on or after October 1, 2021, must make specific findings, every thirty days, and ensure conditions related to public participation are satisfied...
New Law Allows School and Community College Districts to Adopt Trustee Areas Without Holding an Election for Voter Approval
August 2021Number 19Effective on January 1, 2022, a county committee on school district organization will be able to approve a school district or community college district’s adoption of a by-trustee area election method, without calling an election to seek voter approval.BackgroundMany school districts and community college districts’ governing board members are elected at-large, meaning that each board member is elected by voters of the entire district. Districts that hold elect...
Update on Timeline for Release of 2020 Census Redistricting Data and Impact On Upcoming CVRA Deadlines
*** UPDATED AS OF 2/12/21 ***February 2021Number 4As stated in our February 2021 Client News Brief (link here), the impact of COVID-19 caused the Census Bureau to delay delivery of the 2020 Census apportionment data to the states.As an update, the Bureau recently announced that it will deliver the redistricting data to all states by September 30, 2021. This is two months later than previously expected, and six months later than the statutorily contemplated deadline. This delay will impact man...
Release of the 2020 Census Data, its Relevance under the California Voting Rights Act, and its Impact on Public Agency Elections
February 2021Number 1In October of 2020, the United States Census Bureau completed "the count" for the 2020 Decennial Census. While the Bureau has yet to finish tabulating and verifying the final results, the anticipated release of the 2020 Census data will have an important impact on school district and public agency elections. Those public agencies that have already transitioned to "by-district" (or for school districts, "by-trustee area") elections are required by law to analyze the new Ce...
Court of Appeal Rules that Santa Monica's At-large Method of Elections Does Not Violate the California Voting Rights Act
July 2020Number 58On July 9, 2020, California's Second District Court of Appeal unanimously held that the City of Santa Monica's (City) at-large elections do not violate the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA) (Elec. Code, § 14025, et seq.). The CVRA is a state law that allows voters to sue public agencies whose at-large elections may result in underrepresentation of minorities. Pico Neighborhood Association et al., v. City of Santa Monica represents the first time a public agency has su...
Charter Schools Must Obtain Separate Approvals for New Schools, Renewals, and Revisions, Court Rules
March 2018 Number 10 A California appellate court has published a decision affirming that charter schools must obtain separate approvals for new initial petitions, charter renewals, and material revisions to charter school petitions. InToday's Fresh Start Charter School v. Inglewood Unified School District, et al. (Feb. 7, 2018, Case No. B280986) ___ Cal.App.5th ___, the Second District Court of Appeal issued a published decision, concluding that: (1) Charter schools may not use a renewal p...
Paper Laws, Electronic Records: An Overview of Record Retention Laws for California School Employees
Now that the California Supreme Court has directly addressed the universe of records accessible under the Public Records Act, it is more important than ever that school district employees and elected officials familiarize themselves with their obligations in retaining school district records to ensure that emails, texts and other electronic communications made or stored in private devices and accounts are maintained in accordance with these obligations. This article outlines California regul...
Closely Watched Charter School Decision Becomes Binding Precedent
January 2017 Number 5 The Third District Court of Appeal’s decision in Anderson Union High School District v. Shasta Secondary Home School (2016) 4 Cal.App.5th 262 (Anderson) is now binding law in California. Following successful legal argument by Lozano Smith, the court, on October 17, 2016, confirmed that the geographic and site limitations of the Charter Schools Act (Act) are applicable to all charter schools, including “nonclassroom-based” programs. On January 18, ...
Governor Vetoes Charter School Transparency Bill
October 2016 Number 74 On September 30, 2016, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 709, which would have expressly required California charter schools to comply with the same transparency and conflict of interest requirements as traditional public school districts. With recent reports of mismanagement by charter school governing boards across the state, there is constant discussion as to which conflict of interest and transparency laws apply to charter schools. AB 709 specifically...
New ADA Regulations Confirm Congressional Intent to Give Broad Protection to Individuals with Disabilities
August 2016 Number 56 The Department of Justice recently released revisions to the regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments of 2008, which went into effect on January 1, 2009. The 2008 amendments were passed by Congress in response to various Supreme Court cases which denied protection to individuals under the ADA based, in part, on a finding that the individuals failed to qualify as "disabled" under the law. The purpose of the newly released revisions...
Two Cases Demonstrate the Reach of Government Code Section 1090: Criminal and Civil Penalties Await the Unwary Government Official
March 2016 Number 15 Two recent cases involving high profile public officials highlight the reach of Government Code section 1090. Government Code section 1090 prohibits conflicts of interest, self-dealing and corruption among public entity officials. Sweetwater Union School District v. Gilbane Building Company (February 24, 2016) 245 Cal.App.4th 19, sprang from one of the largest political corruption scandals in San Diego County history, in which construction vendors provided gifts to...
County Committees May Now Decrease the Governing Board of Small School Districts from Five to Three Members
December 2015 Number 77 Small school districts sometimes have difficulty finding people to fill all seats on a five member board. To address this issue, the California legislature recently passed Assembly Bill (AB) 331, providing county committees on school district organization (County Committees) the authority to decrease school district governing boards from five members to three members in districts with an average daily attendance (ADA) of less than 300 during the preceding year. Spe...
Court Rules That School District Did Not Violate the ADA or Section 504 When Employees Filed CPS Reports
August 2015 Number 41 A federal district court recently ruled that a school district and its employees did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008 (ADA) or Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) when they filed reports of parental child abuse with child welfare authorities. (Thomas E. Smith v. Harrington, Ph.D et al (March 27, 2015) 2015 U.S. Dist. Lexis 39628.) In Smith, a parent claimed that the child abuse reports were filed in retaliation for his a...
The California Supreme Court Provides School Districts Guidance in Determining the Number of Classrooms to Provide Charter Schools Under Prop. 39
April 2015 Number 20 The California Supreme Court has weighed in on Proposition 39, the law that requires school districts to provide facilities to charter schools. In California Charter Schools Association v. Los Angeles Unified School District (April 9, 2015) S208611, the California Charter School's Association (CCSA) filed suit against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), alleging that the use of "norming ratios" to calculate classroom allocations to charter schools in r...
PERB Determines That an Employer's Broad "No-Contact" Admonition During Administrative Leave May Violate Labor Laws
February 2015Number 3 The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) recently held that a public school employer violated the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA) when it issued a notice of paid administrative leave to an employee which directed him not to contact faculty, staff, or students during the employer's workplace investigation. (Los Angeles Community College District (2014) PERB Decision No. 2404-E.) In this case, Carlos Perez, an adjunct electronics instructor, was placed on p...