Education

(1) Existing law requires local educational agencies, as defined, to identify, locate, and assess individuals with exceptional needs and to provide those pupils with a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment, with special education and related services as reflected in an individualized education program. Existing law requires each special education local plan area to ensure that a continuum of program options is available to meet the needs of individuals with exceptional needs for special education and related services, as required by federal law. Existing law requires the continuum of program options to include, among other options, a resource specialist program, designated instruction and services, and special classes, as provided. Existing law requires the resource specialist program to provide, among other things, monitoring of pupil progress on a regular basis, participation in the review and revision of individualized education programs, as appropriate, and referral of pupils who do not demonstrate appropriate progress to the individualized education program team. Existing law requires caseloads for resource specialists to be stated in specified local policies and in accordance with regulations established by the State Board of Education, and prohibits a resource specialist from having a caseload that exceeds 28 pupils. This bill would require local educational agencies to take all reasonable steps to distribute the workload associated with initial assessments across all resource specialists employed by the local educational agency in an equal manner, unless otherwise collectively bargained. By imposing additional duties on local officials, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (2) Existing law requires special classes that serve pupils with similar and more intensive educational needs to be available, and authorizes special classes to enroll pupils only when the nature or severity of the disability of the individual with exceptional needs is such that education in the regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services, including curriculum modification and behavioral support, cannot be achieved satisfactorily. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, on or before July 1, 2027, to recommend a maximum adult-to-pupil staffing ratio for those special classes, as provided, and to post the recommendation on the department's internet website. The bill would require the Superintendent to report their recommendations to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature and the state board on or before April 1, 2027, as specified. (3) 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, 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.

ACR 25 designates February 2025 as Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month in California. It does not create new laws or funding but formally recognizes the need to educate young people about healthy relationships and dating violence. The resolution encourages schools, community groups, and local governments to host events and awareness campaigns during this month. It specifically references existing efforts in San Francisco (like those by Black Women Revolt Against Domestic Violence and the San Francisco Youth Commission) but applies statewide as a symbolic recognition. This is a non-binding resolution focused on raising awareness, not implementing new policies.

Existing law requires a pupil to complete designated coursework while in grades 9 to 12, inclusive, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school. The coursework requirements include, among others, the completion of one course in visual or performing arts, foreign language, or career technical education. Existing law establishes the Division of Apprenticeship Standards within the Department of Industrial Relations and requires the division, among other things, to evaluate apprenticeship and preapprenticeship programs to ensure that the program evaluated is complying with its standard, as specified. This bill would authorize school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to deem a pupil who successfully completes coursework provided in an apprenticeship or preapprenticeship program to have fulfilled, in order to receive a diploma of graduation from high school, the one course in visual or performing arts, foreign language, or career technical education requirement if the apprenticeship or preapprenticeship program meets specified requirements, including, among others, that it is approved by the division or registered with the United States Department of Labor.

Existing law establishes a system of public elementary and secondary schools in this state, and authorizes local educational agencies throughout the state to operate schools and provide instruction to pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 12, inclusive. This bill would appropriate $21,500,000 from the General Fund to the Paradise Unified School District for the purpose of completing construction of schools damaged by the Camp Fire of 2018. This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the Paradise Unified School District. Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum​ funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by​ Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.

(1) Existing law requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to require those electrical corporations with 250,000 or more customer accounts in the state, and those gas corporations with 400,000 or more customer accounts in the state, to fund as part of their energy efficiency portfolios the joint School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program, which consists of: (A) the School Reopening Ventilation and Energy Efficiency Verification and Repair Program (SRVEVR Program) to award grants to local educational agencies to reopen schools with functional ventilation systems that are tested, adjusted, and, if necessary or cost effective, repaired, upgraded, or replaced to increase efficiency and performance; and (B) the School Noncompliant Plumbing Fixture and Appliance Program (SNPFA Program) to provide grants to state agencies and local educational agencies to replace noncompliant plumbing fixtures, as defined, and noncompliant appliances, as defined, that fail to meet water efficiency standards and waste potable water and the energy used to convey that water with water-conserving plumbing fixtures and appliances. Existing law requires the PUC to require those utilities to fund the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program by allocating their energy efficiency budgets for program years 2021, 2022, and 2023 in specified amounts and requires all funds allocated to be spent or returned to each utility by December 1, 2026. Existing law requires, for each program year, that 75% of these moneys are allocated to the SRVEVR Program and that 25% of these moneys are allocated to the SNPFA Program. Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission) to ensure that moneys from each utility for the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program are used for projects located in the service territory of that utility from which the moneys are received and authorizes the Energy Commission to set application and encumbrance deadlines to ensure that the reversion of funds to each utility occurs by December 1, 2026. Existing law repeals the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program on January 1, 2027. This bill would revise and recast various definitions for purposes of the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program, including, among others, by defining "noncompliant appliance" to additionally include a commercial propane, natural gas, or oil water heater. The bill would extend the date by which all funds allocated pursuant to the program are required to be spent or returned to each utility by December 1, 2030, as specified. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to set application and encumbrance deadlines to ensure that the reversion of these funds occurs instead by December 1, 2030. The bill would additionally authorize the Energy Commission to establish the timing of grant funding, as specified. The bill would require, for the first 2 program years, that 75% of these moneys are allocated to the SRVEVR Program and that 25% of these moneys are allocated to the SNPFA Program. The bill would, after the first 2 program years, instead authorize the Energy Commission to reallocate remaining moneys between the SRVEVR and SNPFA programs based on need. The bill would instead repeal these provisions on January 1, 2031. Under existing law, the moneys in the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program Fund are continuously appropriated. By extending the term of a continuous appropriation, the bill would make an appropriation. (2) Existing law requires the Energy Commission, until March 1, 2027, to annually submit a report to the relevant policy committees of the Legislature and the Joint Legislative Budget Committee describing programmatic activities and spending pursuant to the School Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program, as specified. This bill would extend the above-described annual reporting requirement to require that report until March 1, 2031. (3) Under existing law, a violation of the Public Utilities Act is a crime. Because certain provisions of this bill would be part of the act, the violation of which would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. (4) 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.

The Donahoe Higher Education Act sets forth the missions and functions of California's public segments of higher education and their respective institutions of higher education. Provisions of the act apply to the University of California only to the extent that the Regents of the University of California act, by appropriate resolution, to make them applicable. Among other things, the act requires the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, and the Regents of the University of California to adopt and implement a rape and sexual assault education program at each of their respective campuses or other facilities. Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Existing law requires each California State University campus to establish, and each University of California campus to designate, a Title IX office that is under the administration of a Title IX coordinator who is responsible for coordinating the campus' implementation of and compliance with systemwide nondiscrimination policies, as provided. This bill would require the Attorney General to establish a statewide Gender and Sex Discrimination Educational Oversight Office. The bill would require the office to serve as a point of contact for students who are dissatisfied with their campus-based policies or investigative procedures designed to prevent or address incidents of harassment, rape, sexual assault, and violence at their respective campuses. The bill would require the office to receive complaints from students regarding the students' campuses' noncompliance with any aspect of Title IX. The bill would authorize the office to establish a process to investigate campus-based policies and investigative procedures relating to harassment, rape, sexual assault, and violence complaints. The bill would require the office to receive an annual report on incidents of harassment, rape, sexual assault, and violence that involve students who are enrolled at a campus of a community college district, the California State University, an independent postsecondary educational institution, or the University of California, as provided, and would authorize the office to investigate those institutions' policies, procedures, or campus-based investigations following the incident, and make recommendations to the Attorney General, district attorney, or city attorney, as provided. The bill would require the governing board of each community college district, the Trustees of the California State University, the governing board of each independent postsecondary educational institution, and the Regents of the University of California to submit an annual report to the office regarding those incidents, as specified. By imposing new duties on community college districts, this 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 states the intent of the Legislature to ensure that all pupils in foster care and those who are homeless, as defined, have a meaningful opportunity to meet the challenging state pupil academic achievement standards to which all pupils are held. Existing law requires educators, county placing agencies, care providers, advocates, and the juvenile courts to work together to maintain stable school placements and to ensure that each pupil is placed in the least restrictive educational programs and has access to the academic resources, services, and extracurricular and enrichment activities that are available to all pupils, as provided. This bill would require the State Department of Education to administer formula grants as part of a pilot program, to be known as the Unaccompanied Youth Support Grant Program, for school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide supports necessary to improve school attendance, pupil engagement, pupil graduation rates, and pupil wellbeing for unaccompanied youth, as defined, who are 16 or 17 years of age, including connecting youth with resources to find stable housing. The bill would require, subject to an appropriation and subject to specified allocation metrics, 5-year grants that commence with the 2028–29 fiscal year, to be awarded by the Superintendent of Public Instruction to local educational agencies, or consortia of local educational agencies, to support unaccompanied youth, and would require grant funds to be used for, among other things, referrals to existing social services support systems, and providing basic needs and educational support services, as specified. The bill would require, to be eligible to apply for a grant under the program, a local educational agency to have identified at least one unaccompanied youth enrolled during the prior fiscal year, as specified. The bill would require local educational agencies applying for grant funds under the program to submit an application that includes, among other things, a description of how grant funds will be used to identify eligible pupils, the types of supports to be provided based on the eligible uses of grant funds, and the performance measures the local educational agency will use to measure progress towards program goals. The bill would require local educational agencies awarded grant funds under the program to submit annual reports to the department that include, among other things, a description of the expenditure of funds and the number and characteristics of unaccompanied youth served.

Existing law allows an individual taxpayer to contribute amounts in excess of their personal income tax liability for the support of specified funds and accounts, including, among others, to the Native California Wildlife Rehabilitation Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2033, allow an individual to designate on their tax return that a specified amount in excess of their tax liability be transferred to the continuously appropriated California Sea Otter Voluntary Tax Contribution Fund, which would be created by this bill. The bill would require the Franchise Tax Board to revise the tax return form to include a space for the designation of contributions to the fund. By establishing a new continuously appropriated fund, this bill would make an appropriation. The bill would also require the fund to appear on the personal income tax return for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026, and before January 1, 2033. The bill would require that the above provisions remain operative only until December 1, 2033, and be repealed as of that date. However, the bill would provide for an earlier repeal if the Franchise Tax Board determines that the amount of contributions estimated to be received during the 2nd and later calendar years after its first appearance on a return will not at least equal the minimum contribution amount, in which case these provisions would be repealed on December 1 of that year. The bill would require, notwithstanding the repeal of the bill's provisions, that any contribution amounts designated prior to the repeal of the bill's provisions be transferred and disbursed in accordance with those provisions, as specified.

Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to authorize a pupil who meets specified criteria to attend community college as a special part-time or full-time student. Existing law authorizes a community college district to admit to any community college under its jurisdiction as a special part-time or full-time student a pupil who is eligible to attend community college under these provisions. This bill would require, commencing with the 2029–30 academic year, a local educational agency serving high school pupils that does not have an existing dual enrollment program to establish a dual enrollment program through a formal partnership or agreement with the governing board of a community college district, as provided. The bill would require a local educational agency that does not have an existing dual enrollment program to establish a formal partnership through a College and Career Access Pathways partnership or an early or middle college high school, as specified. The bill would require courses offered through a dual enrollment program pursuant to these provisions to lead to a degree, credential, certificate, or transfer. To the extent the bill would impose additional duties on local educational agencies and community college districts, 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.