Elementary and secondary education: omnibus.

(1) Existing law requires each chartering authority to be responsible for reviewing the audit exceptions contained in an audit of a charter school under its jurisdiction and determining whether the exceptions have been either corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed, and after completing those financial and compliance audit oversight responsibilities, to identify and provide notification to the governing body of the charter school within 60 days of any material concern arising out of the chartering authority's ongoing oversight and monitoring activities. This bill would instead require the chartering authority, not later than July 1 of each year, to identify and provide written and timely notification of any material concern arising out of the chartering authority's ongoing oversight and monitoring activities during the previous 12 months. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on chartering authorities, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials. Existing law requires, as a minimum requirement for a preliminary multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential, the satisfactory completion of a program of professional preparation, as specified. Existing law also authorizes the commission to issue a PK–3 early childhood education specialist instruction credential, as provided. Existing law requires a candidate for a credential to obtain a certificate of clearance from the commission before admission to student teaching under any professional preparation program approved by the commission, or participation in a field experience program, as provided. This bill would revise and recast that latter provision by requiring a candidate, before admission to any professional preparation program approved by the commission for one of the above-described credentials to provide verification that the candidate either (A) holds a valid permit or credential previously issued by the commission or (B) has applied for a certificate of clearance from the commission. For a candidate who provides verification that the candidate has applied for a certificate of clearance, the bill would require the candidate to obtain the certificate of clearance before beginning student teaching, clinic practice, or participation in a field experience program, as provided. This bill would require a professional preparation program approved by the commission for one of the above-described credentials to (A) submit specified candidate profile information to the commission for each enrolled credential candidate within 30 days of the candidate beginning the program, (B) update each candidate's profile information annually, and (C) indicate to the commission a candidate's program completion within 30 days of the candidate completing all credential requirements. Existing law requires the commission to annually use specified data provided by the State Department of Education to produce an initial data file of vacant positions, as defined, and educator assignments that do not have a clear match of credential to assignment. Commencing July 1, 2027, existing law requires a teacher employed by a local educational agency, as defined to include a school district, county office of education, charter school, or educational joint powers authority, and offering a course in which pupils receive course credit or that counts toward instructional minutes, or both, to hold the certificate, permit, or other document required by the commission for that assignment and to be monitored. This bill would, among other things, also require those teachers to be reported to the department by the local educational agency annually, and would remove educational joint powers authority from the definition of a local educational agency for purposes of these provisions. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated program. (3) Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil's level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the assessment for initial identification to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil, excluding enrollment in a transitional kindergarten program, as provided. Existing law authorizes a school district or charter school to maintain a transitional kindergarten program, as provided. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, by no later than March 31, 2026, to select, subject to the approval of the executive director of the State Board of Education, a list of screening instruments that meet specified requirements to support the identification of multilingual learners, as defined, enrolled in transitional kindergarten, and authorizes the Superintendent, in the 2026–27 school year, to select local educational agencies to voluntarily conduct a field test of the selected screening instruments. This bill would instead authorize the above-described field test to be conducted in the 2027–28 school year. Existing law, commencing with the 2027–28 school year, requires a local educational agency that serves pupils in transitional kindergarten to screen those pupils whose primary language is a language other than English, as indicated on a home language survey administered upon the pupil's enrollment, to identify them as multilingual learners using a screening instrument selected by the Superintendent, as provided. This bill would delay the commencement of that requirement until the 2028–29 school year. Existing law appropriates $10,000,000 from the General Fund to the Superintendent to acquire the selected screening instruments and any training materials, as specified, and to support field tests of the screening instruments. Existing law requires those funds to be available for expenditure or encumbrance through June 30, 2028. This bill would instead require those funds to be available for expenditure or encumbrance through June 30, 2029. By extending the encumbrance or expenditure date for an existing appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation. (4) Existing law provides that each person between 6 and 18 years of age not exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education and requires a person subject to compulsory education to attend the public full-time day school or continuation school or classes in the school district in which the residence of the parents or legal guardian is located. Existing law requires a school district to accept enumerated documentation, including property tax payment records, as reasonable evidence of a pupil's residence. Existing law states that a pupil complies with the residency requirements if the pupil's parent is transferred or is pending transfer to a military installation within the state while on active military duty pursuant to an official military order. Existing law authorizes a parent to use one of several enumerated addresses, including that of a temporary on-base billeting facility, for purposes of school application, enrollment, and registration. This bill would expand the list of addresses authorized for the purposes identified above to include, among others, an off-base hotel. To the extent the bill imposes additional duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (5) Existing law establishes that the State Seal of Biliteracy certifies attainment of a high level of proficiency by a graduating high school pupil in one or more languages, in addition to English, and certifies that the graduate meets certain criteria for being proficient in English and one or more languages other than English. For purposes of the State Seal of Biliteracy, proficiency in one or more languages other than English can be demonstrated through at least one of specified methods, including passing a world language Advanced Placement examination with a score of 3 or higher, passing a world language International Baccalaureate examination with a score of 4 or higher, or passing a world language ACTFL Writing Proficiency Test (WPT) and an Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) with scores of Intermediate Mid or higher. This bill would include, beginning with the 2024–25 school year, achieving a level 3 on the high school California Spanish Assessment (CSA) as another method to demonstrate language proficiency in one or more languages other than English for purposes of the State Seal of Biliteracy. (6) Existing law, on or before July 1, 2027, requires the governing board of a school district or educational joint powers authority, the governing body of a charter school, or the county superintendent of schools to adopt a policy for the local educational agency to comply with in order to evaluate and approve contractors. Existing law requires the policy to include certain provisions, including, among others, a provision that provides that a local educational agency shall only contract with an entity that has a business license or business certificate, where applicable, and has appropriate insurance for the service being offered. This bill would exempt contracts with family daycare homes and certain license-exempt providers from that provision. Existing law requires the above-described policy to also include a provision that provides that contractors are prohibited from charging fees to a pupil or the pupil's parent or legal guardian. This bill would require that provision to instead provide that contractors are prohibited from charging fees to a pupil or the pupil's parent or legal guardian, except as otherwise authorized for specified programs. (7) 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. (8) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.