An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 13 - Student Applications And Enrollment Contracts

the signature line with the date and time and an IP address identifying the location where the agreement was signed. There was also evidence that the doctor used a unique log in and created a password to access the agreement and clicked a box to agree to complete the document using an electronic signature. The doctor claimed he did not recall ever signing the arbitration agreement. The court concluded that the employer’s evidence met the standards to properly authenticate the documents and the electronic signature.

Schools also should inform parents or legal guardians of the technological specifications required to view and sign the enrollment contract and obtain consent from that parent or guardian that their computer meets those specifications. Obtaining that consent may assist the school against a parent or guardian’s claim that he or she was unable to view all portions of the enrollment contract. Additionally, schools should provide the parent or legal guardian the ability to print or download the agreement and to obtain a paper version from the school if desired. An electronically signed contract may be rendered unenforceable if the signee is unable to print or store the contract. 2062 There are also precautions schools should take when the school electronically signs enrollment contracts. It is not sufficient for the school to create a blanket electronic signature that automatically appears on all enrollment contracts. Instead, each enrollment contract must be electronically signed by an individual who is authorized to sign on behalf of the school. Furthermore, the school’s electronic signature must be an act attributable to the individual whose name appears on behalf of the school on the enrollment contract. A school that has its head of school electronically sign enrollment contracts on behalf of the school must ensure that the head of school is the actual individual creating the electronic signature on each enrollment contract. Schools should refrain from assigning a designee to electronically sign on behalf of the head of school in order to avoid any future challenges to the validity of the school’s electronic signature. LCW Practice Advisor The following steps will boost the likelihood that an online enrollment agreement will withstand challenge:

1. Require each signatory of the agreement to create a unique username and password in order to log in; 2. Offer an option for signatories to print out the enrollment agreement, sign a hard copy by hand, and return it to the school; 3. Incorporate a screen where signatories explicitly indicate agreement to be bound by electronic signature; 4. Incorporate two modes of identifying the signatories of the agreement, such as typing in a name and then clicking “I accept;” 5. Provide an opportunity to cancel the signature before completion;

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 496