Holidays.

The effective date for both K-12 school districts (Section 37224) and higher education institutions (Section 66095) was changed from the 2026-27 school/academic year to the 2027-28 school/academic year, delaying implementation by one year.

A new pre-litigation requirement was added to Section 66095(d) for higher education: before filing a civil action, a person must request in writing from the institution the specific basis for its determination that it could not avoid scheduling an institutional event conflicting with a religious, cultural, or ancestral holiday.

A new pre-litigation requirement was added to Section 11131(d) for state agencies: before filing a civil action, a person must request in writing from the state agency the specific basis for its determination that it could not avoid scheduling a meeting, conference, or other function conflicting with a religious, cultural, or ancestral holiday.

The definition of institutional event in Section 66095(b)(3) was clarified by adding 'Final exam week' after 'Academic examination days.'

The effective date for K-12 school districts (Education Code Section 37224) and higher education institutions (Education Code Section 66095) was delayed from the 2026-27 school/academic year to the 2027-28 school/academic year, pushing back implementation by one full year.

The phrase 'every good faith, reasonable effort' was changed to 'good faith, reasonable efforts' in both the higher education provision (Section 66095) and the state agency provision (Government Code Section 11131(c)), slightly softening the standard by removing the word 'every' which implied a more exhaustive obligation.

The standard for higher education institutions (community colleges, CSU, UC) and state agencies was changed from 'every reasonable effort' to 'every good faith, reasonable effort,' adding a subjective good-faith component to the obligation to avoid scheduling events on covered holidays.

A new private right of action was added to Section 66095 (higher education academic calendars) allowing a person who suffered harm from a violation to bring a civil action. The sole remedy is injunctive relief, and the plaintiff must demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the violation was due to bad faith, willful misconduct, or callous disregard.

A parallel private right of action was added to Section 11131 (state agency meetings) with the same injunctive-relief-only remedy and clear-and-convincing-evidence standard for violations of the holiday-scheduling provision.

Senator Allen was added as a coauthor alongside Senator Stern.

Grammatical corrections were made throughout, such as changing 'the governing board or of the school district' to 'the governing board of the school district.'

Section 1 (K-12 schools): Clarified that all three entity types - the governing board of a school district, the county office of education, AND the governing body of a charter school - are each individually subject to both the knowledge requirement and the duty to actively seek community input. The Assembly version ambiguously referred only to 'the governing board or county office of education,' potentially leaving out charter schools.

Section 2 (Higher Education): Removed 'California Community Colleges' as a separately obligated entity alongside 'the governing board of a community college.' The Assembly version listed both, which was redundant since the governing board of a community college is the local decision-maker. The Senate version correctly limits the obligation to the governing board of a community college and the California State University.

Section 2 (Higher Education): Simplified 'avoid commencing an academic term calendaring an institutional event' to 'avoid calendaring an institutional event.' This removes redundancy because the definition of 'institutional event' already includes 'the beginning or ending of an academic term,' making the old phrasing circular.

The higher education section (Section 66095) now requires institutions to avoid scheduling not only the commencement of an academic term but also any 'institutional event' on a conflicting holiday date, significantly expanding what events are covered.

The specific list of nine named holidays (Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Feast of the Nativity, Maha Shivaratri, Pesach/Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Dussehra) was removed from both the K-12 school section (Section 37224) and the higher education section (Section 66095), replacing it with a general reference to 'a religious, cultural, or ancestral holiday.' The named list remains in the state agency (Section 11131) and local agency (Section 54961) provisions.

The higher education section now explicitly names the 'governing board of a community college' as a responsible entity alongside the California State University, clarifying which body at each institution bears the obligation.

A new definition of 'institutional event' was added to Section 66095, covering student orientation, student housing move-in day, academic examination days, the beginning or ending of an academic term, and commencement ceremonies.

A new subsection (c) in Section 66095 requires community college governing boards and the California State University to seek input from student and faculty organizations on campus prior to calendaring institutional events; the University of California is requested but not required to do the same.

Added effective date of the 2026-27 school year for K-12 school district and charter school requirements to consider avoiding scheduling first day of class and high school graduation on religious, cultural, or ancestral holidays.

Added effective date of the 2026-27 academic year for California State University and California Community Colleges requirements to make every reasonable effort to avoid commencing an academic term on those dates.

Clarified that charter schools are covered through their 'governing body' as a distinct entity from the 'governing board of a school district,' making the applicability to charter schools more explicit.

Removed the final section (old Section 1) that declared it was the Legislature's intent to subsequently amend the bill to include provisions defending accessibility to state agency programs. This placeholder language is no longer in the bill.

Fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' and state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' formally acknowledging that the bill imposes reimbursable costs on local agencies and school districts.

Added coauthors: Assembly Members Bains, Bauer-Kahan, and Hadwick, and Senator Stern.

New Education Code Section 37224 requires school district and charter school governing boards, or county offices of education, to consider avoiding scheduling the first day of class and high school graduation on dates conflicting with nine listed holidays (Eid al-Adha, Eid al-Fitr, Feast of the Nativity, Maha Shivaratri, Passover, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Dussehra).

New Education Code Section 66095 requires the California State University and California Community Colleges to make every reasonable effort to avoid commencing an academic term on a listed holiday date. The University of California is only 'requested' to do so, not required.

Amended Government Code Section 11131 adds a new subdivision requiring state agencies to make every reasonable effort to avoid conducting meetings, conferences, or other functions on dates conflicting with the listed holidays.

Amended Government Code Section 54961 adds a new subdivision encouraging (not requiring) local agency legislative bodies to consider avoiding meetings on dates conflicting with the listed holidays.

School districts and county offices of education must actively seek input from the affected community and consider other relevant sources when determining which dates to avoid, ensuring inclusive public participation.

New Section 6 provides that if the Commission on State Mandates determines the bill contains state-mandated costs, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts shall be made under existing statutory provisions. The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes'.

New Section 5 contains legislative findings that the amendment to Section 54961 furthers constitutional purposes related to public access to meetings of local public bodies, as required by the California Constitution for laws amending open meeting statutes.