AB 772: Cyberbullying: off-campus acts: model policy. - California

08/29/25 - Amended Senate → 09/11/25 - Enrolled · 3 edits · Sep 11, 2025

MINOR

This diff represents the transition from the Senate-amended version to the enrolled version of AB 772, which requires the California Department of Education to develop a model policy on addressing off-campus cyberbullying and requires local educational agencies to adopt or modify their anti-bullying policies accordingly. The substantive changes are minimal: a duplicated word ('policy policy') was corrected, and a clarifying phrase ('adopted pursuant to Section 234.4') was added to specify which existing procedures LEAs may modify. All other changes are standard enrolled-bill formatting (removal of amendment history, addition of passage dates, removal of line numbers, addition of Governor approval block).

TECHNICAL

Fixed a duplicated word in subdivision (c)(1): 'policy policy' corrected to 'policy'.

Cleaned up garbled text in the legislative counsel's digest where phrases like 'as specified, which the specified' were corrected to proper sentence structure.

REQUIREMENT

Added the phrase 'adopted pursuant to Section 234.4' after 'existing procedures' in subdivision (c)(1), clarifying that local educational agencies may modify their existing anti-bullying procedures (those required under Section 234.4) rather than any arbitrary existing policy.

10/11/25 - Chaptered → AB772 · 1 edit

MINOR

No substantive policy changes were made between these two versions. The diff reflects a transition from the formal authenticated chaptered document format to a web-based display of the same bill text on the California legislature website. All legal provisions, dates, requirements, and definitions remain identical.

TECHNICAL

The document was reformatted from an official authenticated chaptered layout (with state headers, page numbers, and formal typography) to a web page rendering with navigation menus, search tools, version history links, and a digest key section. The underlying bill text is unchanged.

06/30/25 - Amended Senate → 08/29/25 - Amended Senate · 3 edits · Aug 29, 2025

MINOR

The August 29, 2025 amendment gives local educational agencies more flexibility in how they comply with the off-campus cyberbullying policy requirement. Instead of mandating that each agency adopt a brand-new policy, the bill now allows agencies to either adopt a new policy or modify their existing anti-bullying procedures already required under Section 234.4. The legislative digest was also updated to reference this existing legal obligation and to explicitly state that the bill imposes a state-mandated local program.

REQUIREMENT

Local educational agencies are now permitted to modify their existing anti-bullying procedures (adopted under Section 234.4 by December 31, 2019) rather than being required to adopt an entirely new policy addressing off-campus cyberbullying. This gives districts a compliance path that builds on work they have already done.

SCOPE

The legislative digest now explicitly references the existing Section 234.4 requirement for LEAs to adopt anti-bullying procedures, providing context for how the new off-campus cyberbullying policy interacts with existing obligations.

FISCAL

The digest now includes an explicit statement that by imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill imposes a state-mandated local program, which triggers potential state reimbursement obligations under the California Constitution.

09/11/25 - Enrolled → 10/11/25 - Chaptered · 3 edits · Oct 11, 2025

MINOR

This diff reflects the transition of AB 772 from its enrolled (legislatively passed) form to its chaptered (signed into law) form. The Governor approved the bill on October 11, 2025, and it was assigned Chapter number 620. No substantive policy changes were made; all differences are administrative and formatting in nature.

TECHNICAL

The bill was assigned Chapter number 620 upon the Governor's signature on October 11, 2025.

The document header changed from the enrolled bill format (showing Assembly and Senate passage dates) to the authenticated electronic legal material format used for chaptered laws.

Page numbering, line breaks, and column widths were adjusted to match the standard chaptered law layout. No statutory text was altered.

04/21/25 - Amended Assembly → 06/30/25 - Amended Senate · 4 edits · Jun 30, 2025

MODERATE

The Senate amendment narrows the scope of AB 772 by requiring schools to address only 'reported' acts of cyberbullying rather than all such acts, removes the obligation to distribute policy copies directly to employees, pupils, and parents (replacing it with a website posting requirement), and adds a new provision requiring the state department to consider guidance on factors for determining what constitutes an intimidating or hostile educational environment.

Scope change

Scope narrowed: schools are now only obligated to address cyberbullying that has been reported to them, and their distribution obligation is reduced from direct delivery to employees, pupils, and parents to website posting only.

SCOPE

The word 'reported' was inserted before 'acts of cyberbullying' throughout the bill, limiting school obligations to cyberbullying that has been brought to their attention rather than all cyberbullying they may become aware of.

REQUIREMENT

A new paragraph (a)(3) requires the state department, in consultation with stakeholders, to consider establishing guidance on the factors necessary to determine what constitutes an intimidating or hostile educational environment and the factors that demonstrate severity and pervasiveness.

The requirement for each local educational agency to provide a copy of the adopted policy to credentialed employees, enrolled pupils, and parents or guardians was removed. The only remaining distribution obligation is to post the policy on the LEA's internet website and each schoolsite's website.

The optional provision allowing the policy copy to be provided to parents or guardians as part of the annual notification under Section 48980 was removed entirely.

02/18/25 - Introduced → 04/01/25 - Amended Assembly · 4 edits · Apr 1, 2025

MODERATE

AB 772 was significantly narrowed in scope from addressing all forms of off-campus bullying, harassment, and intimidation to focusing specifically on cyberbullying only. The bill was also renumbered from Section 48901.3 (pupil discipline) to Section 234.41 (educational equity), reflecting a shift in how the legislature categorizes the issue. A new existing law paragraph was added to the digest describing statewide resources for youth subjected to school-based discrimination.

Scope change

The bill's scope was substantially narrowed: it now requires a model policy addressing only cyberbullying (rather than all forms of off-campus bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, and intimidation), and it was repositioned from the pupil discipline section to the educational equity section of the Education Code.

SCOPE

The model policy requirement was narrowed from covering 'acts of bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, sexual harassment, or intimidation' occurring off-campus to covering only 'cyberbullying' occurring off-campus. This is a major reduction in the types of conduct the policy must address.

The bill was renumbered from adding Section 48901.3 (within the pupil discipline chapter) to adding Section 234.41 (within the educational equity part of the Education Code), repositioning the bill's legal framework.

The bill's stated purpose was expanded from 'relating to pupil discipline' to 'relating to pupil discipline. educational equity,' reflecting the repositioning within the code.

TECHNICAL

A new existing law paragraph was added to the legislative digest describing the Superintendent of Public Instruction's duty to post and annually update a list of statewide resources, including community-based organizations, that provide support to youth subjected to school-based discrimination, harassment, intimidation, or bullying.

04/01/25 - Amended Assembly → 04/21/25 - Amended Assembly · 6 edits · Apr 21, 2025

MODERATE

AB 772 was significantly narrowed and repositioned between these two amendments. The bill moved from the pupil discipline section of the Education Code (48901.3) to the educational equity section (234.41), dropped coverage of bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, and intimidation (keeping only cyberbullying), added explicit language that local educational agencies are authorized but not required to address off-campus cyberbullying and face no liability for failing to do so, and gave districts the option to adopt their own locally developed policy instead of being forced to adopt the state model policy verbatim.

SCOPE

The bill was moved from Section 48901.3 (pupil discipline/suspensions/expulsions) to Section 234.41 (educational equity), reframing it as an equity measure rather than a discipline measure.

Coverage was narrowed from 'bullying, cyberbullying, harassment, sexual harassment, or intimidation' to only 'cyberbullying.'

REQUIREMENT

The model policy must now clarify that local educational agencies are authorized but not required to address off-campus cyberbullying acts, and the section explicitly states it does not impose liability on a local educational agency for failing to address those acts.

Local educational agencies are no longer required to adopt the state model policy verbatim. They may now adopt either the state model policy or a locally adopted policy developed with input from stakeholders.

TECHNICAL

The method of distributing the adopted policy changed from providing copies to credentialed employees, pupils, and parents/guardians to posting it on the LEA's internet website and the website of each schoolsite.

Assembly Member Bryan was added as principal coauthor and Assembly Member Bonta as coauthor.

Cyberbullying: off-campus acts: model policy.

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