Existing law requires that every individual with exceptional needs, as defined, who is eligible, be provided with educational instruction, services, or both, at no cost to their parent or guardian or, as appropriate, to them. Under existing law, a free appropriate public education is required to be made available to individuals with exceptional needs in accordance with specified federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to investigate a complaint alleging a violation of the act and to issue a written decision within 60 days of the complaint being filed, as provided. This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, to create, or contract to create, and maintain a publicly available online aggregate database of all complaints that the department receives on and after July 1, 2027, that allege a violation of the federal law described above. The bill would require the database to include specified data for each complaint, including, among other things, the total number of complaints the department investigated disaggregated by school district, county office of education, or charter school. After the database has been created, the bill would require the department to ensure that the data required to be included in the database is updated and published on or before December 31 of each year.
This measure would urge Governor Gavin Newsom to exercise his executive authority to promptly submit California's election to participate in the federal Education Freedom Tax Credit program, as provided.
Existing law authorizes a school district, with the approval of its governing board, to procure design-build contracts for public works projects in excess of $1,000,000, awarding the contract to either the low bid or the best value, as provided. Existing law requires specified information relating to design-build bid proposals to be verified under penalty of perjury. This bill would authorize a school district, on or before December 31, 2031, and with the approval of its governing board, to procure multiple design-build contracts for comparable shade structure projects at various sites, bundled through a single solicitation, if the total value of the projects exceeds $1,000,000 but does not exceed $10,000,000, awarding the bundled contracts to the lowest bid or the best value. The bill would require each contract awarded through the bundled solicitation to be a separate contract for a single project, as provided. By expanding the crime of perjury, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The Field Act requires the Department of General Services under the police power of the state to supervise the design and construction of any school building or the reconstruction or alteration of or addition to any school building, if not exempted, to ensure that plans and specifications comply with adopted rules and regulations and building standards published in regulations, and to ensure that the work of construction is performed in accordance with the approved plans and specifications for the protection of life and property. The California Building Standards Code requires that specified buildings, structures, and facilities be accessible to, and useable by, persons with disabilities, including that when alterations or additions are made to existing buildings or facilities, an accessible path of travel to the specific area of alteration or addition is provided. Existing law limits the cost of complying with the requirement to provide an accessible path of travel to the installation of a free-standing, open-sided shade structure project that meets specified requirements and that is on a school district, county office of education, charter school, or community college campus to 20% of the adjusted construction cost, as defined, of the shade structure project. This bill would additionally limit the cost of complying with the requirement to provide an accessible path of travel to the installation of a shade structure integrated with playground equipment that meets specified requirements and that is on a school district, county office of education, charter school, or community college campus to 20% of the adjusted construction cost, as defined, of the shade structure project. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 17250.20 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1860 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1860 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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.
Existing law authorizes the California College Guidance Initiative to provide its services to all California school districts, including services that provide pupils and their families with direct access to online tools and resources for college and career planning. Existing law requires a school district, county office of education, or charter school to annually notify the parents or guardians of pupils admitted to, or advancing to, grades 7 to 12, inclusive, of any dual enrollment or International Baccalaureate courses offered by the local educational agency, as provided. This bill would require that notice to also include the benefits of the California College Guidance Initiative and encouragement to create parent accounts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, 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.
For purposes of state apportionments based on average daily attendance, as provided, if the average daily attendance of a school district, county office of education, or charter school has been materially decreased during a fiscal year because of a specified emergency, including, among others, the imminence of a major safety hazard as determined by a local law enforcement agency, existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to estimate the average daily attendance in a manner that credits to the school district, county office of education, or charter school approximately the total average daily attendance that would have been credited to the school district, county office of education, or charter school had the emergency not occurred. This bill, for the above-described purposes, would additionally allow a local fire agency to make a determination of the imminence of a major safety hazard. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
(1) Existing law requires school districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education considering an applicant for a noncertificated position, and private schools considering an applicant for any position, to inquire with each school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school and diagnostic center operated by the department, and private school that previously employed the applicant, as required to be disclosed, as to whether the applicant, while previously employed by the school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school or diagnostic center operated by the department, or private school was the subject of any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, as defined, that were used to support a substantiated investigation. Existing law requires those entities, when responding to an inquiry as to whether it has made a report of egregious misconduct to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, to also provide the inquiring entity with a copy of all relevant information that was used to support a substantiated investigation within its possession. This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, (A) requiring those inquiries and disclosures to be related to any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, instead of only those complaints, investigations, or discipline used to support a substantiated investigation, (B) requiring those entities to provide relevant evidence in addition to any information, as specified, (C) requiring the responses to inquiries described above to include reports of egregious misconduct submitted to the statewide data system described in paragraph (2) and other related employment history that has been submitted to the commission, as provided, (D) requiring those entities to also provide relevant evidence or information to the commission upon inquiry, and (E) requiring those entities to preserve evidence or information relating to a substantiated report of egregious misconduct, as specified. The bill would establish that a school employee may be subject to dismissal if the employee, while holding a previous position in a local educational agency or private school, was the subject of any credible complaints of, investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct, that was reported to the statewide data system described in paragraph (2) and either the employer failed to disclose that information or the employee did not disclose their previous education employers, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the commission, on or before July 1, 2027, and contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute, to develop a statewide data system that includes information relating to investigations of allegations of egregious misconduct of individuals serving in a noncertificated position for a local educational agency, as defined, or in any position for a private school. Existing law requires local educational agency employers and private school employers, following both the start of, and completion of, an investigation of egregious misconduct, to submit notice to the statewide data system, as provided. Existing law requires substantiated reports of egregious misconduct and employee departures from employment during investigations to be recorded in the statewide data system and prohibits the recording in the statewide data system of investigations of egregious misconduct that result in an unfounded or inconclusive report, as provided. This bill would revise and recast those provisions by, among other things, (A) specifying that the statewide data system to be developed is specific to investigations of egregious misconduct, (B) revising the statewide data system's data fields, as specified, (C) revising the data that is to be submitted by local educational agencies and private schools and the processes for submitting and updating that data, as specified, and (D) specifying the role and responsibilities of the commission, local educational agencies, and private schools regarding the statewide data system by, among other things, (i) requiring the commission to develop a secure interface, as provided, and (ii) requiring local educational agencies and private schools to (I) request access to the statewide data system through the secure interface by May 1, 2027, (II) provide the commission with a designated email address for purposes of receiving notifications from the statewide data system, and (III) preserve all information or evidence related to substantiated reports of egregious misconduct that are notated in the statewide data system. The bill would also explicitly state that these provisions apply to merit districts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would, among other things, provide that data contained in the statewide data system is not subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act and that specified rights under the Information Practices Act of 1977 do not apply to data maintained in the statewide data system that is personal information for purposes of that act. 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. This bill would require a local educational agency or private school, upon receiving any credible complaint or other reason to believe that an employee has engaged in egregious misconduct, to conduct an investigation to determine whether the employee committed egregious misconduct. For local educational agencies, the bill would, among other things, (A) specify investigative timelines and (B) require the local educational agency to give the employee a reasonable opportunity to provide a statement and evidence to the investigator and, within 10 calendar days of the conclusion of the investigation, to serve upon the employee a written notice relating to the findings, as specified. The bill would require each private school to adopt, by July 1, 2027, a written employee investigation policy that includes, at a minimum, a description of the steps to be followed during those investigations, reasonable timelines for commencing and concluding those investigations, and the rights or responsibilities of the employer and employee relating to those investigations. The bill would require local educational agencies and private schools to complete the investigation regardless of whether the employee ends the employment relationship. The bill would explicitly state that these provisions apply to merit districts. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law requires those local educational agencies and private school organizations that are responsible for employment, employee investigations, or hiring decisions to review the statewide data system to determine whether an investigation resulted in a substantiated report of egregious misconduct before hiring an individual for an applicable position. This bill would, among other things, require the statewide data system to be accessible only to commission employees for specified purposes and employees of local educational agencies and private schools that are responsible for employment, employee investigations, or hiring decisions, and would require all of those employees to keep information contained in the statewide data system confidential, as provided. (3) Existing law requires the commission to appoint a Committee of Credentials and requires allegations of acts or omissions for which adverse action may be taken against applicants or holders of teaching or services credentials to be presented to the committee. Existing law authorizes the committee to commence an initial review upon the receipt of any of a list of specified documents or information, including the receipt of a record of a substantiated report, and a record of a start of an investigation followed by a change in employment status during an investigation, entered into the statewide data system. Existing law authorizes the committee to commence a formal review, as specified, upon receipt of specified documents or information. This bill would, among other things, (A) additionally authorize the committee to commence a formal review upon the receipt of an entry in the statewide data system of a substantiated report or a record of a start of an investigation followed by a change in employment status during the investigation entered into the statewide data system, (B) authorize the commission to make inquiries and requests for production of information and records from local educational agencies and private schools for purposes of investigating substantiated reports of egregious misconduct submitted to the statewide data system, and (C) require an entry of a substantiated report of egregious misconduct that does not involve sexual misconduct with a minor or recurring conduct resulting in a pattern of misconduct to be presented to the Committee of Credentials for initial review within 4 years. Existing law authorizes the commission, for purposes of ascertaining the moral character and true identity of the holder of a credential or an applicant for a credential or the renewal of a credential after jurisdiction to commence an initial review has been established, to require the production of information, records, reports, and other data from any public agency, as provided. This bill would authorize the commission to also require the production of information, records, reports, and other data for those purposes from private schools. (4) Existing law authorizes the department to require employees, prospective employees, volunteers, contractors, and subcontractors for the department and the state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department to undergo a fingerprint-based state and national criminal history background check, as specified. This bill would instead require the department to require those background checks, as specified. Existing law requires any entity that has a contract with a local educational agency, as defined, to ensure that any employee who interacts with pupils has a valid criminal records summary. Existing law exempts entities from this requirement in an emergency or exceptional situation. If a pupil participates in services provided by a contractor as part of an independent study program, and the pupil is under the immediate supervision and control of the pupil's parent or guardian, existing law requires the local educational agency to either verify completion of a valid criminal records summary for all employees or ensure that the parent or guardian has signed a consent form. This bill would revise and recast these provisions by, among other things, expanding the requirement for a valid criminal records summary to any entity that has a contract with a local educational agency or the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department. The bill would extend the application of that requirement to any employee, including a subcontractor, who interacts with pupils or provides direct services to pupils, as provided. The bill would require, as a condition of the above-described exemption from this requirement for a valid criminal records summary, the entity's employee, including a subcontractor, to be within the immediate supervision and control of a school employee. The bill would, as applied to a pupil participating in an independent study program, instead require a local educational agency or the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department to verify the completion of a valid criminal records summary and remove the alternative of obtaining the consent form from the parent or guardian. The bill would also require a local educational agency and the department to include a requirement in contracts with these entities setting forth a termination clause for noncompliance with these requirements. This bill would separately require, on or before July 1, 2027, each governing board or body of a local educational agency, as defined, each private school, and the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department, when entering into a contract with any entity for specified services to pupils to (A) ensure that the contract terms and conditions include, among other things, the above-described requirements concerning background checks or, for private schools, other specified requirements concerning background checks and (B) enforce those terms. The bill would also require, on or before July 1, 2027, each governing board or body of a local educational agency, the department for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department, and private schools, when entering into a contract with any entity for specified services to pupils to ensure that the contract terms and conditions include, among other things, (A) a requirement that as part of qualifying to be a contractor or subcontractor for a local educational agency, the department, or a private school, the entity disclose any credible complaints of, or discipline for, reportable conduct, defined to include specified offenses, by the entity's employees, including subcontractors, who will be providing the services, as provided, and (B) a requirement on the local educational agency, the department, or the private school to check the names and pertinent identifying information provided by a contracting entity against the statewide data system or pursuant to alternate procedures, as specified. If any credible complaint of egregious misconduct by any contractor or subcontractor, or employee, including a subcontractor, of any contractor or subcontractor, performing services for the local educational agency, the department, or the private school is made or received, the bill would require the local educational agency, the department, or the private school to make specified notifications. (5) Existing law requires private schools, among other entities, to provide annual training, using an online training module provided by the State Department of Social Services or an alternative training, to their employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated reporters, as defined, on the mandated reporting requirements related to child abuse, as provided. Existing law requires this alternative training module to be approved by the liability insurance provider used by the private school, as provided. This bill would require the alternative training module for private schools to be approved by the private school's governing authority instead of by the private school's liability insurance provider. (6) 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.
The Open Enrollment Act authorizes the parent of a pupil enrolled in a low-achieving school to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school in a school district other than the school district in which the parent resides, as specified. The act defines "low-achieving school" to mean a school on a list created annually by the Superintendent of Public Instruction of 1,000 schools ranked by increasing Academic Performance Index score with the same ratio of elementary, middle, and high schools as existed in decile 1 in the 2008–09 school year. This bill would recast and revise the act. The bill would delete the definition of, and references to, the term "low-achieving school" in the act. The bill would instead generally revise the terminology of the act to specify that the parent of a pupil enrolled in a school district of residence, as defined, is authorized to submit an application for the pupil to attend a school district of enrollment, as defined. The bill would also delete from the act obsolete references to the Academic Performance Index and to the federal Race to the Top Fund.
This bill designates the week of January 25 to January 31, 2026, as National School Choice Week. The measure does not change any laws or affect funding, but it officially recognizes a period intended to highlight school choice options. It is a symbolic resolution that does not alter policy or impose new requirements on schools or families.
Existing law requires each school district that has one or more pupils who are English learners, and, to the extent required by federal law, each county office of education and each charter school, to assess the English language development of each pupil in order to determine the pupil's level of proficiency, as specified. Existing law requires the assessment for initial identification to be conducted upon the initial enrollment of a pupil, as provided. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, with the approval of the State Board of Education, to establish procedures for conducting the assessment and for the reclassification of a pupil from English learner to English proficient. Existing law requires those reclassification procedures to use multiple criteria in determining whether to reclassify a pupil as proficient in English, including, (1) an assessment of language proficiency using an objective assessment instrument, including the English language development test that is developed or acquired by the Superintendent of Public Instruction, (2) teacher evaluation, (3) parental opinion and consultation, and (4) a comparison of the performance of the pupil in basic skills against an empirically established range of performance in basic skills based upon the performance of English proficient pupils of the same age that demonstrates whether the pupil is sufficiently proficient in English to participate effectively in a curriculum designed for pupils of the same age whose native language is English. Existing law provides that parents and guardians of children enrolled in public schools have the right and should have the opportunity, as mutually supportive and respectful partners in the education of their children within the public schools, to be informed by the school, and to participate in the education of their children, as specified, including by, among other things, meeting with their child's teacher or teachers and the principal of the school in which their child is enrolled within a reasonable time of their request. This bill would make the provisions related to reclassification procedures inoperative on July 1, 2027, and would repeal them as of January 1, 2028. Commencing July 1, 2027, this bill would require a school district, county office of education, or charter school to communicate to the parent or guardian of a pupil who is determined to be an English learner in a clear, concise, and comprehensible manner specified information regarding the pupil, including, among other things, that the pupil has been classified as an English learner, that the parent or guardian is encouraged to engage as a partner with the school, as provided, and that the pupil will take an assessment each year to measure the pupil's progress toward becoming proficient in English. The bill would instead require that an English learner pupil who, in the 2025–26 school year or any school year thereafter, meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on an assessment of English language proficiency identified or developed pursuant to specified provisions, or, if applicable, the pupil meets the score established by the state board for purposes of reclassification on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, as provided, be reclassified as English proficient, as specified. Commencing July 1, 2027, the bill would require the department, as those pupil scores become available, to record the pupils who meet the scores established by the state board as reclassified in the appropriate data system. After a pupil is reclassified, the bill would require a local educational agency to ensure that the pupil's instructional program and placement reflects that the pupil is a reclassified pupil and communicate to the pupil's parent or guardian that their child has been reclassified, as provided. Commencing July 1, 2028, and subject to the availability of rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks described below, the bill would require a pupil who (1) is an English learner, (2) has an individualized education program (IEP) , (3) received English language development instruction but has not achieved the proficiency level required for purposes of reclassification, (4) has used all designated supports and accommodations and any domain exemptions required by the pupil's IEP, and (5) either scored an overall performance level that is one level below the level established by the state board for purposes of reclassification, or, as applicable, received any score on the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, and whose local educational agency determines that the pupil has demonstrated, through the use of specified alternate coursework and performance tasks, that the pupil has reached a level of proficiency that is comparable to the threshold for reclassification on the assessment of English language proficiency or the statewide alternate assessment for English language proficiency, to be reported to the department by the local educational agency as reclassified as English proficient. The bill would require a local educational agency, for a pupil who has been reclassified as English proficient, to monitor the pupil's progress to ensure, among other things, that English proficiency is not a barrier to the pupil's academic success, as provided. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would provide that, commencing January 1, 2027, parents or guardians of children enrolled in public schools also have the right to, among other things, meet with their child's teacher or teachers to discuss their child's progress toward reaching proficiency in English, as provided. By imposing new duties on public schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would require the state board, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify (1) means of monitoring reclassified pupils for 4 years after reclassification and (2) an appropriate instrument to be used for purposes of monitoring the progress of reclassified English learners, as provided. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to identify appropriate interventions for pupils who have been determined as needing additional support for their English language, as provided. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, and subject to state and federal law regarding the privacy of pupil information, the bill would require the department to annually post on its internet website the reclassification rates of each local educational agency and charter school, statewide reclassification rates, and outcomes of reclassified pupils, as provided. Existing law requires the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize specified funding appropriated in the Budget Act of 2026 to develop resources and provide technical assistance to support the implementation of alternative pathways and means to a diploma, as provided. This bill would require the Sacramento County Office of Education to utilize the same funding described above to (1) develop rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks to enable pupils who are English learners and have IEPs to demonstrate proficiency for purposes of reclassification, and (2) submit the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks to the department on or before January 1, 2028. By expanding the purposes for which previously appropriated funds may be used, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would require the department to (1) post the completed rubrics and sample alternate pupil work and performance tasks submitted by the Sacramento County Office of Education on its internet website on or before June 30, 2028, and (2) , subject to an appropriation for these purposes, contract for an evaluation of the effects of the changes to the reclassification criteria and process required by the bill to be completed and sent to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2032, as provided. This bill would delete obsolete provisions. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 51101 of the Education Code proposed by SB 1412 to be operative only if this bill and SB 1412 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. 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 requires the governing board of a school district or the governing body of a charter school that requires a course in health education for graduation from high school to include instruction in performing compression-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) , as provided. Existing law also encourages those entities to provide to pupils general information on the use and importance of an automated external defibrillators (AED) . Existing law further requires the State Department of Education to provide guidance on how to implement these provisions, including, but not limited to, who may provide instruction. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. This bill would require the commission, when the physical education framework is next revised after January 1, 2027, to consider including content on the importance, performance, and use of CPR and AEDs in that framework.
