Special education: resource specialists: special classes.

The document was converted from an enrolled bill format to a chaptered law format. The standard enrolled bill elements (Assembly/Senate passage dates, clerk signatures, governor receipt line) were replaced with the official 'STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL' header, the chapter designation 'CHAPTER 560', and the approval/filing date of October 10, 2025.

Line breaks, indentation, and page numbering were adjusted throughout to conform to the standard chaptered law layout. The substantive text of Sections 1, 2, and 3 is unchanged.

Section 56364.3(a) changed from requiring the Superintendent to 'establish a maximum recommended adult-to-pupil staffing ratio' to requiring them to 'recommend a maximum adult-to-pupil staffing ratio.' This reduces the state's role from setting a standard to offering an advisory recommendation.

Section 56364.3(b) introductory language changed from 'In establishing the recommendation required pursuant to subdivision (a)' to 'In making the recommendation required pursuant to subdivision (a),' consistent with the shift from establishing to recommending.

New Section 56364 requires each public agency to establish a Special Education Team at every schoolsite by July 1, 2026. Teams must meet at least once per month, hold two inclusive practice meetings per year (one in the first month of school, one between March 1 and May 1), and develop an annual calendar for IEP planning meetings.

Resource specialist caseload limit reduced from 28 pupils to 20 pupils, and resource specialists are now required to conduct initial assessments as part of their duties. Effective July 1, 2026.

New Section 56363.3 establishes specific caseload limits for designated instruction and related services effective July 1, 2026: speech-language specialists (15-40 depending on setting), adapted physical education (45), psychological assessment (45) and counseling (22), hearing itinerant (12), orientation and mobility (12), and inclusion specialists (10).

New pupil-to-credentialed teacher class size ratios for special classes effective July 1, 2026: under age 5 intensive 6:1 and nonintensive 10:1; ages 5-22 autism 6:1, moderate-severe 8:1, mild-moderate 10:1, blended 12:1, emotionally disturbed 6:1, and low incidence categories ranging from 6:1 to 8:1. Applies only to SELPAs with a revised local plan approved under Section 56836.03.

The previous average caseload limit of 55 for language, speech, and hearing specialists (Section 56363.3) is repealed effective July 1, 2026 and replaced with the new service-specific limits in the replacement section.

Fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes' and state-mandated local program changed from 'no' to 'yes.' A new Section 8 provides that if the Commission on State Mandates finds costs mandated by the state, reimbursement shall be made to local agencies and school districts.

Changed the Superintendent of Public Instruction's obligation regarding special class adult-to-pupil staffing ratios from 'establish a maximum recommended ratio' to 'recommend a maximum recommended ratio,' making the action advisory rather than establishing a binding standard.

Corrected a drafting error in Section 56362(c) where 'No A resource specialist shall not have a caseload that exceeds 28 pupils' was changed to 'A resource specialist shall not have a caseload that exceeds 28 pupils.'

Removed redundant word 'both' from 'shall do both all of the following' in Section 56364.3(b), changing it to 'shall do all of the following.'

Restructured the consultation list in Section 56364.3(b)(1) from lettered sub-items (A, B, C, D) to roman numeral sub-items (i, ii, iii, iv), a formatting cleanup that does not change substance.

Clarified 'general and special educators' to 'general education and special education educators' in Section 56364.3(b)(3)(I) for readability.

The requirement for each public agency to establish a Special Education Team at every schoolsite by July 1, 2026 was eliminated entirely. This included monthly team meetings, twice-yearly inclusive practice meetings with general education teachers, and annual IEP planning calendars.

Mandatory pupil-to-credentialed teacher class size ratios for special classes were removed. The Assembly version had set specific ratios such as 6:1 for autism and emotionally disturbed pupils, 8:1 for moderate-severe, 10:1 for mild-moderate, and 12:1 for blended classes.

New caseload limits for designated instruction and related services providers were removed. These had set maximums of 15-40 pupils for speech-language specialists (depending on setting), 45 for adapted physical education, 45 for psychological assessment, 22 for counseling, 12 for hearing itinerant and orientation/mobility, and 10 for inclusion specialists.

The requirement that resource specialists conduct initial assessments was removed from the resource specialist program definition. The Assembly version had also reduced the resource specialist caseload cap from 28 to 20 pupils; the Senate version retains the existing 28-pupil limit.

The Superintendent's staffing ratio recommendation process (Section 56364.3) was expanded to require geographic diversity among consulted stakeholders (rural, urban, high-need regions), added consultation with researchers on inclusive practices and disability rights advocates, included chief business officials in the administrator category, and added two new consideration factors: enhancing pupil outcomes per IDEA principles and supports needed for educators implementing inclusive models.

The bill's overall scope was dramatically narrowed from a multi-section package covering caseload limits, class size ratios, Special Education Teams, and multiple service provider standards to a focused bill on initial assessment workload distribution and a future staffing ratio recommendation.

New Section 56364.3 requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish a maximum recommended adult-to-pupil staffing ratio for special classes (ages 3-22) by July 1, 2027, post it on the department website, consult with credentialed specialists, administrators, paraprofessionals, and parents, consider factors including pupil needs, age, school settings, existing practices, other states' ratios, workforce constraints, and least restrictive environment effects, and report recommendations to the Legislature by April 1, 2027.

New subsection (g) in Section 56362 requires local educational agencies to take all reasonable steps to distribute the workload associated with initial assessments across all resource specialists employed by the agency in an equal manner, unless otherwise collectively bargained.

The amendment to Section 56000 (legislative findings and declarations regarding special education rights) was removed from the bill. The digest previously noted these were nonsubstantive changes.

The fiscal committee vote changed from 'no' to 'yes,' indicating the bill now carries recognized state fiscal implications, likely due to the new staffing ratio recommendation requirement and workload distribution mandate.