Continuation schools and classes: youth workforce development programs.

The document was reformatted from a formal 'Authenticated Electronic Legal Material' chaptered layout (with page numbers and official headers) to a web-based bill viewer interface with navigation menus, version history, and metadata fields. No policy language was added, removed, or altered.

The enrolled bill header (Assembly/Senate passage dates, Governor receipt blanks) was replaced with the standard chaptered law header including the chapter number (696), approval date (October 13, 2025), and filing date.

Formatting and line-break changes throughout due to different page layout between the enrolled and chaptered versions. No words in the operative statutory text were added, removed, or altered.

Removed the provision that youth workforce development program days would be deemed as instructional days for purposes of Section 46208, which governs state funding withholding when a district offers fewer than 180 days of instruction. Without this, districts offering these programs may face funding penalties if those days are not otherwise counted.

Fiscal committee designation changed from 'yes' to 'no', consistent with the removal of the Section 46208 funding provision.

Subsection (b) was restructured from having two numbered paragraphs to a single unnumbered subsection, reflecting the removal of the old paragraph (2).

Assembly Member Alanis added as coauthor of the bill.

New subdivision (b) allows governing boards of school districts maintaining continuation high schools or continuation education classes to offer youth workforce development programs to pupils on one or two weekdays per school week, provided they ensure at least 15 hours of class attendance per school week.

The bill's scope expanded from a single change (reducing minimum attendance from 180 to 170 minutes) to a broader framework covering both the reduced attendance threshold and a new youth workforce development program structure for continuation schools.

New subdivision (b)(2) deems youth workforce development program days as instructional days for purposes of Section 46200, which governs the 180-day instruction requirement and associated state funding withholding. This means schools will not lose funding for those days.

New subdivision (c) requires school districts that implement a youth workforce development program under this section to establish procedures to track pupil attendance and participation while pupils are engaged in the program.

New subdivision (d) defines 'youth workforce development program' as a program implemented by a continuation high school or school offering continuation classes that enables pupils to engage in workplace or real work experiences, or workforce development training, with the goal of providing skills and experience necessary to obtain employment at a livable wage following graduation.

Removed 'or county office of education' from the funding withholding provision, so only school districts (not county offices of education) can have state funding withheld for offering fewer than 180 instructional days.

Changed the cross-reference in subsection (b)(2) from Section 46200 to Section 46208, redirecting the 'deemed instructional day' provision to a different statutory section governing funding withholding.

Removed the phrase 'Notwithstanding subdivision (a) or any other law' from subsection (b)(2), eliminating the explicit override language that would have made the workforce development program days provision take precedence over other laws.

Narrowed the definition of youth workforce development program by changing 'workplace or real work experiences' to simply 'workplace experiences,' removing the broader 'real work' category.

Changed the fiscal committee vote from 'yes' to 'no,' meaning the bill no longer requires approval from the Legislative Fiscal Committee before passage.

The provision reducing the minimum attendance requirement from 180 minutes to 170 minutes per day in continuation high schools was removed. The 180-minute standard remains unchanged.

All state-mandated local program language was removed, including Section 2 which provided for reimbursement through the Commission on State Mandates. The bill is no longer classified as a state-mandated local program.

The definition of 'youth workforce development program' was expanded to require that programs enable pupils to earn academic credit or an industry certificate, be aligned to pupil skills and in-demand careers, provide technical training and soft skills, and be offered in partnership with a community college district, adult education program, regional occupational program or center, WASC-accredited workforce development program, or an organization offering industry-recognized certifications.

A new definition of 'supervision' was added, meaning pupil participation in paid or unpaid on-the-job experiences where the training site supervisor and certificated school personnel share responsibility for supervision.

The cross-reference for deeming youth workforce development program days as instructional days was changed from Section 46200 to Section 46208 of the Education Code.

The bill's short description was narrowed from 'school attendance. education finance.' to just 'education finance,' reflecting the removal of the attendance-minute reduction.