California school districts and county offices of education are required by July 1, 2025, to establish continuity plans to ensure students are provided instruction when natural disasters or other states of emergencies make in-person classes impossible.
As learning at K-12 campuses across the state has been disrupted by a pandemic and natural disasters like wildfires and flooding in the first half of the decade, the decision to mandate local educational agencies to include instructional continuity plans with their comprehensive school safety plans was solidified as part of the education omnibus budget trailer bill (Senate Bill 153) approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in late June.
“The Legislature finds and declares that, given the effects of public health emergencies and the significant and growing number of natural disasters that the state has faced in recent years, there is an increased need for local educational agencies to provide instructional continuity for pupils when conditions make in-person instruction infeasible for all or some pupils, and that maintaining access to instruction during a natural disaster or emergency is crucial in mitigating the negative impacts of lost learning time and supporting pupil mental health,” according to the trailer bill.
While CSBA opposed an earlier version of the bill, the Governmental Relations team’s advocacy resulted in a final product that better reflects LEAs’ best interests. CSBA, as part of a coalition of education organizations and LEAs, voiced concerns over the bill’s original language in a May letter to the Legislature as it would have jeopardized schools funding should a school closure occur due to emergency circumstances.
To aid LEAs in this endeavor, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction must have the California Department of Education develop and post guidance to its website by March 1.
Details
Under the revised education code, beginning July 1, 2025, schools must update their school safety plans to include procedures on how they will communicate with families and students and offer alternate modes of instruction when in-person options at their regular site aren’t viable.
Some form of student engagement will need to take place within five calendar days of the onset of an emergency. “Procedures shall be designed to establish two-way communication with pupils and their families and identify and provide supports for pupils’ social-emotional, mental health and academic needs,” the trailer bill reads.
Additionally, strategies to offer access to in-person or remote instruction no later than 10 school days after the start of an emergency should be included. “The plan may include support to pupils and families to enroll in or be temporarily reassigned to another school district, county office of education or charter school,” the bill states. Residency requirements will be bypassed in this case.
LEAs should strive to, at minimum, meet instructional standards equivalent to those of independent study programs.
The new law also asserts that schools that don’t have an instructional continuity plan by the July deadline will not be able to recover attendance-based funding.
For LEAs that submit an affidavit for an emergency that occurred after Sept. 1, 2021, but on or prior to June 30, 2025, the bill obligates the district or COE to certify that it has a plan to offer instruction within 10 school days.
It also requires that LEAs that submit an affidavit for an emergency after July 1 that causes school closures or a significant decrease in attendance “to certify that it has a comprehensive school safety plan, including an instructional continuity plan, in place and that it either offered pupil engagement and instruction consistent with the instructional continuity plan or that it did not do so due to extenuating circumstances, as provided.”
Background
In its letter to the Legislature, CSBA and allies argued that the proposed language changed existing law, which authorized LEAs to seek relief from financial penalties related to unanticipated, emergency-related closures or losses in instructional time, in favor of alterations to the J-13A process that would treat all emergencies equally “and ignore the challenges LEAs must manage in the immediate days following an emergency.”
LEAs submit J-13A forms to the CDE to prove compliance with instructional time laws and secure authority to maintain schools for less than the required number of days/minutes without impacting Local Control Funding Formula dollars.
Specifically, CSBA and its coalition found issue with the possibility of requiring LEAs to certify with their J-13A submission that remote learning options (or support for students to temporarily enroll in another LEA) were provided should an emergency last five or more days.
“For many enduring emergencies, these requirements upon which fiscal protection are conditioned are unreasonable and impractical,” the letter stated. Reasons included that student and staff health and safety should take priority, that schools serve as emergency shelters during emergencies and the fact that the infrastructure necessary to provide remote instruction could be compromised.
“CSBA appreciates that the Legislature and Governor took our concerns to heart when revising trailer bill language and ultimately did not impose unreasonable requirements on LEAs when they confront unanticipated emergencies,” said CSBA Legislative Director Chris Reefe. “LEA leaders should never have to worry about incurring fiscal penalties when they are serving their communities in times of great need.”
