Existing law, the California Safe Drinking Water Act, requires the State Water Resources Control Board to administer provisions relating to the regulation of drinking water to protect public health. Existing federal regulations require community water systems to contact all schools and childcare facilities, as defined, to provide information about the health risks from lead in drinking water and of eligibility to be sampled for lead by the water system. Existing federal regulations require a community water system to report to the state annually on the notification of eligibility and sampling for lead, and information regarding the number and names of schools and childcare facilities served by the water system, those sampled in the previous year, the facilities that declined sampling, facilities that did not respond to outreach attempts for sampling, and information pertaining to those outreach attempts for sampling. Existing law makes it a crime to knowingly make any false statement or representation in any application, record, report, or other document submitted, maintained, or used for purposes of compliance with this act. This bill would require a community water system, when making outreach attempts to elementary schools and childcare facilities for the purposes of offering lead sampling in drinking water, to compile specified information and to provide elementary schools and childcare facilities that decline lead testing with an opportunity to provide information about their reasons for declining by allowing them to select from a list that includes specified options, unless the school or childcare facility is exempted from lead testing by federal waiver, as provided. The bill would authorize the state board to add additional reasons for declining lead testing to that list. The bill would require a community water system to submit all of the above-described information that it compiles or that is provided to it to the state board, as provided. The bill would require the state board, on or before June 30, 2028, to make all of that information publicly available in a searchable format on its internet website, as specified. The bill also would require, on or before December 31, 2028, a community water system to include, in its annual consumer confidence report, a written statement about the availability of information pertaining to lead testing in schools and childcare facilities on the state board's internet website and a direct link to that website. Because knowingly making a false statement or representation in that report would be a crime under the California Safe Drinking Water Act, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by expanding the scope of a crime. 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 no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
(1) Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission to recommend curriculum frameworks and instructional materials for adoption to the State Board of Education. Existing law requires, at the next regularly scheduled revision of the curriculum framework in English Language Arts and English Language Development, the commission to consider including content designed to provide teachers with resources to meet the unique academic and English language development needs of newcomer pupils at all grade levels. Existing law also requires the commission to ensure that the instructional materials for pupils in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, that it recommends to the State Board of Education for adoption include resources to help teachers meet the needs of newcomer pupils. This bill would instead require, at the next adoption or followup adoption of instructional materials for use in kindergarten and grades 1 to 8, inclusive, in English Language Arts and English Language Development, the commission to consider including resources to help teachers meet the unique academic and English language development needs of newcomer pupils. (2) Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt a state master plan for services to migrant children, as provided. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in implementing the state master plan for services to migrant children, to establish the service regional system as the primary method for the delivery of services to migrant children. Existing law requires the Superintendent to review and approve plans for the establishment of service regions and to incorporate specified criteria in the approval of regional plans, as provided. Existing law defines "migrant region," for purposes of this law pertaining to services for migrant children, as an operating agency comprised of a county or a combination of counties, or a public or private nonprofit agency not controlled in whole or part by a school district, or a combination of counties and agencies, meeting specified criteria. This bill would revise the definition of "migrant region" to instead mean an operating agency meeting the specified criteria comprised of a county office of education or a combination of county offices of education, a combination of school districts within a county, a public or private nonprofit agency not controlled in whole or part by a school district, or a combination of county offices of education and public or private nonprofit agencies. (3) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law sets forth the maximum ratios of administrative employees to each 100 teachers in the various types of school districts. Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to determine, for each current fiscal year, for each school district in the state, the total number of administrative employees and the total number of teachers, except as provided, the total maximum number of administrative employees that should be employed by the school district based upon the application of the appropriate ratio prescribed by law, and the number of administrative employees in excess of the number allowable without penalty, as provided. Existing law requires the Superintendent to determine a reduction in state support resulting from excess administrative employees, as specified, and requires the school district's 2nd principal apportionment for the current fiscal year to be reduced by that amount. Existing law exempts the Paradise Unified School District from that reduction in state support for the 2021–22 fiscal year to the 2023–24 fiscal year, inclusive. This bill would further exempt the Paradise Unified School District from that reduction in state support for the 2024–25 fiscal year to the 2026–27 fiscal year, inclusive. The bill would require the Paradise Unified School District to, by September 1, 2026, submit a report related to the administrative employee-to-teacher ratio to the Superintendent, the Department of Finance, and the appropriate budget and policy committees of both houses of the Legislature, as specified. By imposing additional reporting requirements on the Paradise Unified School District, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Paradise Unified School District. 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. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt regulations to establish and maintain the minimum qualifications for service as a faculty member teaching credit instruction, a faculty member teaching noncredit instruction, a librarian, a counselor, an educational administrator, an extended opportunity programs and services worker, a disabled students programs and services worker, an apprenticeship instructor, and a supervisor of health. Existing law provides, notwithstanding that provision, that a person authorized to serve as a community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, or chief administrative officer under a credential shall retain the right to serve under the terms of that credential, and, for that purpose, shall be deemed to possess the minimum qualifications specified for every discipline or service covered by the credential until the expiration of that credential. Existing law requires the board of governors to adopt regulations authorizing local governing boards to employ faculty members and educational administrators who do not meet the specified minimum qualifications, subject to alternative minimum qualifications. This bill would explicitly require a community college instructor, librarian, counselor, student personnel worker, supervisor, administrator, chief administrative officer, extended opportunity programs and services worker, disabled students programs and services worker, apprenticeship instructor, or supervisor of health to be a person who meets the above-described minimum qualifications to serve in that position or the alternative qualifications to serve in that position.
Existing law establishes the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, consisting of 15 voting members, including the Superintendent of Public Instruction as a permanent member and 14 other members, including 6 practicing teachers from public elementary and secondary schools and 3 representatives of the public, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, serving staggered 4-year terms, as provided. The bill would authorize the governor to appoint to the commission, as one of the 6 practicing teachers, a teacher with a commission-issued child development teacher permit who teaches at a licensed state-funded preschool or prekindergarten program, as provided. The bill would, upon the occurrence of the first vacancy of a public representative position on or after January 1, 2026, reduce the number of public representatives on the commission from 3 to 2 and require the governor to appoint instead one early childhood faculty member representing the early childhood higher education systems who teaches at either (1) an early childhood or child development baccalaureate degree program at one of the California State University or University of California campuses or (2) an associate degree program in one of the California Community Colleges' early childhood education programs.
Existing law authorizes a school district or county office of education to develop a schoolsite-based oral health assessment program. Existing law authorizes school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to enter into a memorandum of understanding with a nonprofit eye examination provider to provide eye examinations to pupils at any schoolsite within the local educational agency. Existing law authorizes school districts to release pupil directory information, as specified, and defines directory information as one or more prescribed items, including, among others, a pupil's name, address, telephone number, and date of birth. Existing law prohibits the release of directory information of a pupil identified as a homeless child or youth, as defined, unless a parent or eligible pupil has given written consent that the information may be released. This bill, notwithstanding the above provision, would authorize the disclosure of directory information of a pupil identified as a homeless child or youth, as defined, to facilitate an eye examination or an oral health assessment, as described above, unless the parent or a pupil who has been accorded parental rights, as provided, has provided written notice to the school that they do not consent to the physical examination, as specified. The bill would require directory information disclosed pursuant to this authorization to be disclosed only for the purpose of facilitating an eye examination or an oral health assessment, as provided. The bill would provide that reports made to a parent, legal guardian, or caregiver of a pupil experiencing homelessness about a pupil defect identified from an eye examination or an oral health assessment, as described above, should be made by alternative communication channels rather than mail, when possible.
Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to establish standards for the issuance and renewal of credentials, certificates, and permits. Existing law sets forth the minimum requirements for a preliminary services credential with a specialization in administrative services, which include, among other requirements, possession of one of various types of credentials and the completion of either an entry-level program of specialized and professional preparation in administrative services or a one-year internship in a program of supervised training in administrative services, as provided. This bill would limit the above-described one-year internship programs to those provided by a school district, county office of education, or regionally accredited institution of higher education. The bill would require the commission to examine its preservice, professional development, and supervision requirements for those internship programs when the commission next considers administrative services credential pathways. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44270 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1009 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1009 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
This measure would recognize May 2025 as Head Start Month and call on the Congress and the President of the United States to protect and increase funding for Head Start.
Existing law requires the State Board of Education to adopt standards, rules, and regulations for school library services. Existing law requires the Instructional Quality Commission, among other duties, to recommend the adoption of minimum standards for courses of study in preschool, kindergarten, elementary, and secondary schools to the state board upon request. Existing law requires the courses of study in public schools to conform to those minimum standards when adopted. This bill would require, on or before July 1, 2028, and every 8 years thereafter, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in consultation with the state board, to consider recommending revisions to the standards for school library services to the state board. The bill would require, if the Superintendent decides to recommend revisions, the Superintendent to convene a group of experts to assist the Superintendent in developing the recommended revisions. The bill would require the Superintendent, in consultation with the Instructional Quality Commission, to hold a minimum of 2 public hearings in order for the public to provide input on the recommended revisions. The bill would require the Superintendent, within 18 months of convening the experts, to present to the state board the revised content standards for school library services, which the state board is required to adopt, reject, or modify, as provided. The operation of the bill would be subject to an appropriation being made for its purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Existing law provides that it is the intent of the Legislature that all public schools, in kindergarten, and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, operated by school districts, in cooperation with specified entities and individuals, develop a comprehensive school safety plan, as provided. Existing law provides that school districts and county offices of education are responsible for the overall development of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools, as provided. Existing law, the Charter Schools Act of 1992, provides for the establishment and operation of charter schools, including countywide charter schools, and requires a petition for the establishment of a charter school to contain comprehensive descriptions of various matters and procedures, including procedures that the charter school will follow to ensure the health and safety of pupils and staff. The act requires those procedures to also require the development of a school safety plan, as provided. Existing law encourages, on or before July 1, 2030, each public school, including charter schools, with an enrollment of 100 pupils or more to implement a web-based or app-based school safety program that includes certain program parameters. If a school implements a web-based or app-based school safety program, existing law requires the school to ensure that the program developers ensure that best practices are implemented to protect the security and data of all pupils and staff listed within the program, as provided. This bill, upon appropriation by the Legislature, would establish the School Mapping Data Grant Program under the administration of the Office of Emergency Services to provide one-time grants to participating school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to enter into contracts with qualified vendors providing school mapping data, as provided, for purposes of assisting public safety agencies in efficiently responding to on-campus emergencies at schools. The bill would require a school mapping data program, to be eligible to receive funding under the grant program, to include the same program parameters as, and to have the program developers implement the same best practices to protect the security and data of all pupils and staff as, a web-based or app-based school safety program, as described above. Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest. This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.
