Pupil rights: pregnant and parenting pupils.

(1) Federal and state regulations prohibit an educational institution from applying any rule concerning a pupil's actual or potential parental, family, or marital status that treats pupils differently on the basis of sex. This bill would codify those regulations and related regulations in state law, as they apply to local educational agencies, defined to include a school district, a county office of education, a school operated by a school district or a county office of education, a charter school, the California Schools for the Deaf, or the California School for the Blind. The bill would find and declare that pregnant and parenting pupils are entitled to accommodations that provide them with the opportunity to succeed academically while protecting their health and the health of their children, and would establish specified accommodations as rights of pregnant and parenting pupils of local educational agencies. The bill would include in these established accommodations, among other rights, that a pregnant or parenting pupil is entitled to 8 weeks of parental leave, as specified. The bill would authorize a complaint of noncompliance with those established rights to be filed with the local educational agency pursuant to the Uniform Complaint Procedures, as specified. The bill would require local educational agencies to notify pregnant and parenting pupils and parents and guardians of pupils of the rights and options available to pregnant and parenting pupils, as specified. (2) Existing law requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences. This bill would include as another type of excused absence an absence to care for a sick child, for which the school is prohibited from requiring a note from a doctor. (3) To the extent that this bill would impose additional duties on schools of school districts and county offices of education, charter schools, county offices of education, and school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 48205 of the Education Code proposed by SB 816 to be operative only if this bill and SB 816 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.