This bill designates March 22, 2026, as California STEAM Robotics Day to recognize the importance of robotics within science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education. The measure directly affects schools and educational organizations across the state by providing a specific date for them to host events or activities focused on robotics. It does not create new funding, change laws, or mandate specific actions, but rather serves as a formal proclamation to raise awareness about the field. The legislation was passed by the state legislature and signed into law as part of the 2026 statutes.
Existing law authorizes public and private secondary schools to participate in interscholastic sports, and authorizes schools to enter into associations or consortia to enact and enforce rules relating to eligibility for, and participation in, these activities. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district that maintains one or more schools containing any of grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to establish a policy regarding participation in extracurricular and cocurricular activities by pupils in those grades as a condition for the receipt of specified school funding allocations. Existing law requires the policy to condition pupil participation in extracurricular and cocurricular activities upon satisfactory educational progress in the previous grading period. This bill would authorize the governing board of a school district to adopt, as part of the above-described policy regarding participation in extracurricular and cocurricular activities, provisions establishing a drug testing program for pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive. The bill would require an adopted program to include nicotine testing for athletic extracurricular activities, and authorize the program to include testing for alcohol and controlled substances. The bill would, among other things, require the basis for testing to be random and suspicionless, unless the school has a reasonable suspicion that a pupil used nicotine, or, if applicable, alcohol or a controlled substance. The bill would authorize an adopted drug testing program to condition the voluntary participation in athletic extracurricular activities on participation in the drug testing program, as provided. The bill would prohibit the results of these drug tests from being made available to criminal or juvenile authorities, except as provided, and would require the results to be shared with the superintendent of the school district or their designee, the coach of the extracurricular athletic team, and the pupil's parents or other person having legal custody, as provided. The bill would authorize a pupil drug testing program to require a pupil to participate in a diversion program as a condition of continuing to participate in athletic extracurricular activities upon at least 3 cumulative instances of a positive drug test. Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed a specified act, including, among other acts, that the pupil (1) unlawfully possessed, used, sold, or otherwise furnished, or had been under the influence of, a controlled substance, an alcoholic beverage, or an intoxicant of any kind, or (2) possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or nicotine products. Existing law prohibits the suspension of a pupil who voluntarily discloses, in order to seek help through services or supports, their use of a controlled substance, alcohol, intoxicants of any kind, tobacco, products containing tobacco, or nicotine products solely for that disclosure. This bill would additionally prohibit the suspension of a pupil who tests positive for a controlled substance, alcohol, intoxicants of any kind, tobacco, products containing tobacco, or nicotine products pursuant to an adopted pupil drug testing program solely for that positive test. Existing law authorizes a principal or the principal's designee who, in their professional capacity, has knowledge of or observes a pupil whom they know, or reasonably suspect as evidenced by the pupil's apparent intoxication, has consumed an alcoholic beverage or abused a controlled substance, to report the known or suspected instance of alcohol or controlled substance abuse to the parent or parents, or other person having legal custody, of the pupil. Existing law prohibits a principal or principal's designee who so reports from being subject to civil or criminal liability, except as specified. This bill would extend the above-described authorization to report to the parent or parents, or other person having legal custody, and related liability protections, to a principal or the principal's designee who knows or reasonably suspects that a pupil has used nicotine, as provided.
This measure would recognize February 2026 as the centennial anniversary of Black History Month, urge all citizens to join in celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans during Black History Month, and encourage the people of California to recognize the many talents of African Americans and the achievements and contributions they make to their communities to create equity and equality for education, economics, and social justice. The measure would recognize the significance in protecting the fundamental human rights enshrined in the United States Constitution and its Amendments, the United States Bill of Rights, and the California Constitution, as specified. The measure would also affirm the commitment of the Legislature all people are equal and shall be treated with respect and dignity and shall enjoy the equal application of the law for which the Legislature has been entrusted.
Existing federal law establishes the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer for Children (Summer EBT) program, under which pupils who are eligible for free and reduced-price school meals receive $40 per month, with specified adjustments, during summer months for grocery benefits. Existing federal regulations require, by 2025, the designated state agency to make a Summer EBT application available to households whose children are enrolled in schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the School Breakfast Program and who do not already have an individual eligibility determination. Existing state law requires the State Department of Social Services, as the lead agency in partnership with the State Department of Education, to maximize participation in the Summer EBT program. Existing law requires the governing board of a school district and the county superintendent of schools to make paper applications for free or reduced-price meals available to pupils at all times during each regular schoolday. Existing law authorizes those entities to make an application electronically available online if the online application complies with certain requirements, including, among others, the inclusion of links to certain internet websites providing information on, and applications for, other government programs, such as CalFresh. This bill, the Stop Child Hunger Act of 2025, would require, upon an appropriation made by the Legislature, the State Department of Education, with support from the State Department of Social Services, to comply with the above-described federal regulations by developing, and providing families with, a statewide application that is made available through a single statewide internet website that enables families to submit federally required information relating to the Summer EBT program, as specified. The bill would require the internet website to, among other things, have the capability of routing a family's completed information to the family's local educational agency to determine Summer EBT eligibility. The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county superintendent of schools, and the governing body of a charter school to make the above-described paper applications available if required by federal law and guidance, as specified. The bill would require the governing board of a school district, a county office of education, the governing body of a charter school, or a school food authority that provides an application online for free or reduced-price meals, as described above, to also provide links to the internet website providing information about the Summer EBT program. To the extent that the bill would create new duties for local educational agencies or county or other local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. 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.
Existing law grants the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation authority to operate the state prison system and gives the department jurisdiction over various state prisons and other institutions. Existing law requires the department to make college programs available at every state prison and requires that these programs be provided by the California Community Colleges, the California State University, or the University of California, or other accredited, nonprofit colleges or universities. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, and annually thereafter, to report to the Legislature information related to the amount of space available for academic and vocational education, including the amount of the deficit or surplus of space at each prison.
Existing law, the World Language Teacher Exchange and Recruitment Law of 1963, requires the State Board of Education to adopt rules and regulations under which teachers employed by California school districts may exchange positions with teachers in schools in other countries for a period of one year or less. Existing law requires the arrangements for the exchanges to be made through the State Department of Education and in cooperation with the teacher exchange programs administered by agencies of the federal government. This bill would require the state board's rules and regulations for the exchanges to (1) expressly provide for exchanges with Mexico, (2) apply to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, and (3) authorize specified visa sponsors designated by the United States Department of State, in addition to the State Department of Education, to sponsor teachers from Mexico for placement in California school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to promote cultural exchange for specified purposes.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges. Existing law establishes community college districts throughout the state, under the administration of community college district governing boards, and authorizes these districts to provide instruction at the community college campuses they operate. Existing law establishes a statewide baccalaureate degree program that authorizes up to a total of 30 baccalaureate degree programs at community college districts to be approved per academic year, as provided. This bill would require the office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges to develop a Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program that authorizes select community college districts to offer a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree. The bill would limit the pilot program to 10 community college districts statewide and would require the chancellor's office to identify and select eligible community college districts based on specified criteria. The bill would require the chancellor's office to develop a process designed to assist community college districts with nursing programs that are applying for national accreditation for the purpose of qualifying for the pilot program, as provided. The bill would require each participating community college district to give priority registration for enrollment in the pilot program to students with an associate degree in nursing from that community college district. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to conduct an evaluation of the pilot program to determine the effectiveness of the program and the need to continue or expand the program, as specified, to be submitted to the Legislature on or before July 1, 2033. The bill would repeal these provisions as of January 1, 2035.
Existing law requires the State Department of Education to incorporate age-appropriate materials relating to, among other things, genocide and the Holocaust into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher use, consistent with the subject frameworks on history and social science. Under existing law, the Legislature encourages the incorporation of survivor, rescuer, liberator, and witness oral testimony into the teaching of genocide and the Holocaust. Existing law, upon appropriation by the Legislature, establishes the California Teachers Collaborative for Holocaust and Genocide Education to establish a statewide teacher professional development program on genocide, including the Holocaust, for school district, county office of education, and charter school teachers, and provides that the collaborative's mission is to ensure that genocide, including Holocaust, education is taught consistent with, among other things, content standards, curriculum frameworks, and instructional materials adopted by the State Board of Education, in ways that are interdisciplinary and age-appropriate to pupils of different grade levels. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction to establish the Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program to provide direct allocations to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools for the purposes of providing Holocaust and genocide education and professional development on Holocaust and genocide education, as provided. The bill would establish the Holocaust and Genocide Education Grant Program Fund in the State Treasury, and would require moneys in the fund to be available, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to the Superintendent for purposes of the grant program. The bill would require the department to issue a notice to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools serving pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, regarding genocide and Holocaust instruction, and would authorize the department to issue a survey to these local educational agencies on the status of Holocaust and genocide instruction at their schools, as provided.
Existing law establishes the Adult Education Program under the administration of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Existing law requires the chancellor and the Superintendent, with the advice of the executive director of the State Board of Education, to divide the state into adult education regions and approve one adult education consortium in each of those regions. Existing law requires, on or before February 1 of each fiscal year for which funds are appropriated for the program, the chancellor and the Superintendent to report to the Director of Finance, the Statewide Director of Immigrant Integration, the state board, and the Legislature about the use of specified funds and outcomes for adults statewide and in each adult education region, including, among other things, any recommendations related to delivery of education, immigrant integration, and workforce services for adults. Existing law requires, consistent with that reporting requirement, the chancellor and the Superintendent, with input from the Statewide Director of Immigrant Integration and adult education program providers, to identify common measures for meeting the needs of immigrant and refugee adults seeking integration, as specified. This bill would define immigrant integration for purposes of the program.
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue a clear multiple subject, single subject, or education specialist teaching credential to an applicant who satisfies, among other requirements, the state requirements for teaching English learners. Existing law requires the commission to issue authorizations for a teacher to provide specific services to limited-English-proficient pupils, if certain minimum requirements are met, including, among other requirements, completion of at least 6 semester units, or 9 quarter units, of coursework in a 2nd language at a regionally accredited institution of higher education. Existing law authorizes the commission to approve any regionally accredited institution of higher education to recommend to the commission the issuance of credentials to a person who has successfully completed a teacher education program with the institution, if the program meets the standards approved by the commission. This bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the commission to approve a teacher education program offered by a school district or county office of education administered for purposes of earning a cross-cultural language and academic development certificate or a bilingual authorization certificate, including a California Teacher of English Learners program. The bill would require the commission to apply the standards for approval of a program of professional preparation offered by a regionally accredited institution of higher education to a program of professional preparation offered by a school district or county office of education under these provisions.
