(1) Existing law requires a school district, county office of education, and charter school to annually inform parents and guardians of pupils at the beginning of the first semester or quarter of the regular school term of California's child access prevention laws and laws relating to the safe storage of firearms, as specified. Existing law requires the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2023, to develop, and subsequently update as provided, in consultation with the Department of Justice, and provide to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, and, upon request, to provide to private schools, model language for the notice regarding those child access prevention and safe storage of firearms laws. This bill would revise and recast those requirements by, among other things, (A) instead requiring those local educational agencies to inform parents or guardians of each enrolled pupil of the importance of practicing secure firearm storage for all homes in which firearms are present through a notice entitled "Secure Firearm Storage Notification" that contains, among other things, a description of the risks of children accessing unsecured firearms in the home and California's child access prevention laws and laws relating to the safe storage of firearms, (B) requiring the State Department of Education, commencing July 1, 2027, to post the model language for notice on its internet website, as specified, (C) requiring the department, on or before July 1, 2027, to provide formatting and content options for local educational agencies to post the notice on their respective internet websites and for posting other relevant information and resources about secure firearm storage using other internet-based communication options, and (D) requiring the department to encourage each local educational agency to adopt a policy and practice of providing the notice to parents, guardians, and caregivers when otherwise providing notice to parents, guardians, or caregivers of disciplinary actions or supports given related to threats against other pupils or threats of self-harm. The bill would make conforming changes. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires the department, on or before June 15, 2025, to curate and post on its internet website best practices pertaining to school shooter or other armed assailant drills for use by school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools, as provided. Existing law encourages a school district, county office of education, or charter school to comply with those best practices. This bill would require those best practices to also include distributing the Secure Firearm Storage Notification published by the department when providing a specified drill-related notice to parents and guardians of pupils and a recommendation to post the notice on the local educational agency's internet website. (3) Existing law requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to send a notice to each middle school, junior high school, and high school that encourages each school to provide suicide prevention training to each school counselor at least one time while employed as a counselor, provides information on the availability of the suicide prevention training curriculum developed by the department, and informs schools about the suicide prevention training provided by the department and describes how a school might retain those services. This bill would require that notice to also include the Secure Firearm Storage Notification model content published by the department as an example of information about reducing access to lethal means that can be given by a school counselor to a pupil's family, as provided. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 48986 of the Education Code proposed by SB 685 to be operative only if this bill and SB 685 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) 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.
(1) Existing law requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to issue district intern credentials authorizing persons employed by specified school districts to provide classroom instruction to pupils, as provided. Existing law makes a district intern credential valid for 2, 3, or 4 years, as provided, and authorizes the commission to grant a one-year extension of that credential upon the recommendation of the school district. Existing law requires the commission to require each applicant for a district intern credential to demonstrate that the applicant meets specified minimum qualifications for that credential. This bill would instead authorize the commission to grant a one-year extension of a district intern credential upon the recommendation of a commission-approved program sponsor. The bill would additionally require the commission to require that an applicant for a district intern credential demonstrate verified employment in a teaching position at a school district, county office of education, or charter school in the state. Existing law requires an internship program to provide interns who meet entrance criteria and are accepted to a multiple subject teaching credential program, a single subject teaching credential program, or certain education specialist credential programs the opportunity to choose an early program completion option, culminating in a 5-year preliminary teaching credential. Existing law requires that this early program completion option be made available to interns who meet specified requirements. This bill would clarify that the early program completion option is for interns who are enrolled in a multiple subject teaching credential program, a single subject teaching credential program, or certain education specialist credential programs. The bill would also limit the availability of the early program completion option to interns seeking their initial preliminary credential who meet those requirements. Existing law prescribes the minimum requirements for a clear multiple or single subject teaching credential, including, among other requirements, possession of a valid preliminary teaching credential and completion of a program of beginning teacher induction. This bill would apply the above-described minimum requirements to the clear education specialist teaching credential. (2) Existing law transfers, effective July 1, 2021, responsibility for certain childcare-related programs, responsibilities, services, and systems from the State Department of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the State Department of Social Services, as provided. This bill would require the State Department of Social Services, in cooperation with postsecondary educational institutions, to establish rules and regulations governing specified childcare and development programs established on or near those postsecondary educational institutions, as provided. (3) Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, or 2 or more school districts governed by governing boards of identical personnel, having an average daily attendance of 400,000 or more, as specified, to change or alter a contract for reconstruction or rehabilitation work, without the formality of securing bids, if the cost of the change or alteration does not exceed 25% of the original contract price, the change or alteration is a necessary and integral part of the work under the contract, and the taking of bids would delay contract completion. This bill would extend the authorization to change or alter a contract for reconstruction or rehabilitation work, as described above, to the governing board of any school district, or 2 or more school districts governed by governing boards of identical personnel, having an average daily attendance of 250,000 or more. (4) This bill would also delete obsolete provisions, correct cross-references, and make other nonsubstantive changes. (5) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Sections 44252, 44259, and 44325 of the Education Code proposed by AB 2206 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2206 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and assigns to the department numerous responsibilities relating to the governance of the public elementary and secondary schools in the state. This bill would require the department to conduct a study on nonconsensual artificial intimate images involving pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and would require the study to include, among other things, a summary of the resources for schools regarding nonconsensual artificial intimate images and the effects of nonconsensual artificial intimate images on pupils. The bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2028, to complete and submit the study to the appropriate fiscal and policy committees of the Legislature. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2032.
Existing law describes the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) as a voluntary organization that consists of school and school-related personnel with responsibility for administering interscholastic athletic activities in secondary schools, and sets forth the Legislature's intent regarding the CIF's implementation of certain policies. This bill would require the CIF to establish a 5-year pilot program, operating from the 2027–28 academic year through the 2031–32 academic year, that sanctions flag football as an authorized sport for high school boys who are enrolled in the California Interscholastic Federation's member schools in the Counties of Orange and Riverside. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Counties of Orange and Riverside.
Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary education in this state. Under this system, local educational agencies throughout the state provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive, and existing law establishes courses of study for those pupils. This bill would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to integrate outdoor learning into standards-aligned instruction across all grades and subject areas, as provided. Existing law establishes the State Department of Education under the administration of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, and assigns the department numerous duties relating to the governance and funding of local educational agencies. This bill would require the department, on or before July 1, 2028, to curate and maintain on its internet website resources for educators on outdoor learning. The bill would also encourage the department, in carrying out these provisions, to consult with county offices of education, classroom educators, tribal partners, mental and physical health professionals and researchers, environmental literacy experts, and community organizations with experience in outdoor learning. The bill would authorize the department to provide resources to address the particular needs of each local educational agency. The bill would authorize the department to accept voluntary contributions to be deposited into the Outdoor Learning and Environmental Literacy Account, which the bill would create in the State Treasury, to fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, the costs of these provisions.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district, when adopting instructional materials for use in school, to include relevant technology-based materials, defined for these purposes to mean basic or supplemental instructional materials that are designed for use by pupils and teachers as learning resources and that require the availability of electronic equipment in order to be used as a learning resource, and including the electronic equipment required to make use of those materials used by pupils and teachers as a learning resource, including, but not limited to, laptop computers and devices that provide internet access. Existing law prohibits a school official from requiring a pupil to purchase any instructional materials for the pupil's use in the school, except as provided. Commencing with the 2027–28 school year, this bill would prohibit, unless necessary under a specified circumstance, a school district, county office of education, or charter school from requiring a pupil in kindergarten, including a pupil in transitional kindergarten, to take home a school-issued electronic device, as defined, except that a local educational agency may authorize those pupils to take home a school-issued electronic device. The bill would encourage local educational agencies to regularly review and update their policies related to pupils' screen time and, in conducting that review, to solicit input from, among others, currently employed teachers and school administrators. This bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2027, to (1) curate and maintain on its internet website resources for age-appropriate screen time and electronic device use in schools and guidance on how to transition take-home school-issued electronic devices into dedicated classroom-based electronic devices and how to participate in e-waste recycling or buy-back programs, and (2) take into consideration when curating the resources and guidance, among other things, developmentally appropriate screen exposure time at each grade level.
Existing law establishes the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence to advise and assist school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools in achieving their local control and accountability plan goals. Existing law requires a local educational agency to exempt an individual with exceptional needs who satisfies specific eligibility criteria from all courses and other requirements adopted by the governing board or body of the local educational agency that are additional to the statewide course requirements and to award the pupil a diploma of graduation from high school, as provided. The bill would, subject to an appropriation, require the State Department of Education and the collaborative to, on or before July 1, 2027, establish a statewide resource focused on establishing alternate pathways to a diploma for individuals with exceptional needs through capacity building within the state's system of support, training, and technical assistance.
Under existing law, the State Department of Public Health is responsible for the licensing and regulation of various facilities and settings that provide health care services, as specified. Existing law, the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act prohibits, except to the extent expressly authorized by a patient, enrollee, or subscriber, or as otherwise permitted or required, a provider of health care, health care service plan, contractor, or corporation and its subsidiaries and affiliates from disclosing medical information for immigration enforcement. Existing law requires health care provider entities, as defined, to establish or amend procedures for monitoring, documenting, and receiving visitors to health care provider entities to the extent possible, and prohibits, unless required by state or federal law, a health care provider entity and its personnel from allowing any person access to nonpublic areas of the provider's facilities for immigration enforcement purposes, except as specified. This bill would, among other things, require a health care provider entity to, when there is a patient accompanied by an immigration enforcement officer, verify and document the identities and agencies of the accompanying immigration enforcement officers, to the extent possible. The bill would require a health care provider entity to ask an immigration enforcement officer to step out of the patient's room when discussing any matters pertaining to patient care, or performing any physical examination, or providing any medical care, except as specified, would prohibit an immigration enforcement officer from having any authority to make, influence, or participate in medical decisions on behalf of patient they accompany, and would require the health care provider entity personnel to report a refusal to comply with the requirements of this bill to the health care provider entity management, administration, or legal counsel, who is required to then document the actions, and, to the extent possible, the name and badge number of an immigration enforcement officer. The bill would also prohibit a health care provider entity from using blackout policies when admitting a patient who is accompanied by an immigration enforcement officer, except as specified, and defines blackout policies to mean any policy that is used by health care provider entities to conceal a patient's presence or identity at the entity's facility, including, but not limited to, registering patients under a pseudonym, removing the patient's name from the health care provider entity's directory, or prohibiting personnel from confirming that a patient is in the health care provider entity.
Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to have general control of, and be responsible for, all aspects of the interscholastic athletic policies, programs, and activities in its school district, as provided, and requires the governing board of a school district to ensure that all interscholastic policies, programs, and activities in the school district comply with state and federal law. Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to enter into associations or consortia with other governing boards for purposes of governing regional or statewide interscholastic athletics, as provided. Existing law describes the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) as a voluntary organization that consists of school and school-related personnel with responsibility for administering interscholastic athletic activities in secondary schools and states the intent of the Legislature that the CIF, in consultation with the State Department of Education, implement specified policies relating to interscholastic athletics. Existing law, the 1998 California High School Coaching Education and Training Program, declares the intent of the Legislature to establish a California High School Coaching Education and Training Program, to be administered by school districts with an emphasis on specific components, including, among other components, sports psychology. Existing law requires every high school sports coach to complete, at their own expense, a coaching education program that meets the guidelines established by the California High School Coaching Education and Training Program. This bill would add a component on mental health training, as specified, to the list of components to be emphasized by the 1998 California High School Coaching Education and Training Program. The bill, commencing with the 2027–28 school year, would require a person who serves as a coach in an interscholastic athletic program at a high school, including a private school, that is a member of the California Interscholastic Federation to complete an initial training, and a subsequent training every 2 years, on mental health, as provided. The bill, commencing with the 2027–28 school year, would also require a school district, county office of education, or charter school that elects to offer an athletic program, other than an interscholastic athletic program, to ensure that the athletic program's coaches complete an initial training, and a subsequent training every 2 years, that covers sudden cardiac arrest, as provided, and youth athletics behavioral and mental health training, as provided. This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 35179.1 of the Education Code proposed by AB 1626 to be operative only if this bill and AB 1626 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. This bill would make the operation of its provisions contingent upon the enactment of AB 1626 of the 2025–26 Regular Session.
Existing law, the Compulsory Education Law, generally makes persons between the ages of 6 and 18 years of age subject to compulsory full-time education, unless exempted. Existing law makes a parent or guardian of a pupil of 6 years of age or more who is in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 8, inclusive, and subject to compulsory full-time or continuing education, whose child is a chronic truant, as defined, who has failed to reasonably supervise and encourage the pupil's school attendance, and who has been offered support services to address the pupil's truancy, guilty of a misdemeanor that is punishable by a fine of up to $2,000, or imprisonment in a county jail for up to one year, or both that fine and imprisonment. This bill would repeal that criminal offense.
