CSBA-sponsored legislation made it through the most recent legislative gauntlet as the Senate and Assembly raced to finish their work last week before the June 2 deadline to pass bills out of their house of origin.
The house of origin deadline marks the halfway point in this year’s legislative calendar. It is the point at which bills introduced in either the Assembly or Senate (i.e., house of origin) must be passed by the full floor of each respective house.
All legislation that met this deadline now moves to the opposing house. In effect, Assembly bills will now be considered by the Senate, and Senate bills will be considered by the Assembly. Each house will have until Sept. 14 to pass all legislation.
Six CSBA-sponsored bills were among those that cleared this latest hurdle and moved on to their second house for consideration:
- Assembly Bill 417 (Bennett, D-Ventura): Would increase county boards of education’s authority to appoint a student school board member by addressing a loophole in current law — in cases where a county board of education does not receive a student petition to create a student board member, AB 417 would allow students in high schools maintained by the county board of education an equal opportunity to serve on their governing board.
- AB 483 (Muratsuchi, D-Torrance): Would increase funding for and expand access to school-based health and mental health services by improving and streamlining the Local Education Agency Medi-Cal Billing Option Program (LEA BOP).
- AB 557 (Hart, D-Santa Barbara): Would extend the opportunity for school boards to offer virtual meeting options during states of emergency.
- AB 1023 (Papan, D-San Mateo): Would increase cybersecurity support for school districts by requiring the California Cybersecurity Integration Center (Cal-CSIC) at the Office of Emergency Services to include representatives from the California Department of Education (CDE) and explicitly lists school districts, county offices of education and charter schools among the specified entities with which Cal-CSIC is to coordinate information sharing.
- Senate Bill 551 (Portantino, D-Glendale): Would enhance the collaboration between county mental health agencies and school districts by requiring at least 20 percent of a county mental health board’s membership to be employed by an LEA and at least 20 percent to be individuals who are 25 years of age or younger, with scaled requirements based on county size.
- SB 765 (Portantino): Would waive the 180-day mandatory waiting period LEAs must observe before hiring a recently retired teacher and increase the maximum grant award for the Teacher Residency Grant Program from $25,000 to $40,000 per teaching candidate.
Below is a report on other key education results from this week’s hearings, listed by issue area.
Facilities
- AB 247 (Muratsuchi): Would place a $14 billion state general obligation bond measure on the 2024 statewide ballot to fund TK-12 and community college education facilities construction and modernization. CSBA Position: Support. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 25.
- SB 28 (Glazer, D-Orinda): Would authorize a $15 billion bond measure for the construction and modernization of public preschool, K-12, community college, University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) facilities to be placed on the March 2024 primary election ballot. CSBA Position: Support. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 24.
- SB 499 (Menjivar, D-San Fernando Valley): Would require all school sites and day care centers to, at the earliest time possible or the next time resurfacing or replacement of outdoor surfaces occurs, to replace cement, asphalt, brick, pebbles, sand, aggregates, rubber and synthetic turf with cool pavement technologies, natural grass, shrubs, trees, wood chips or other natural systems. Would also require schools to develop an extreme heat action plan by Jan. 1, 2025, and begin implementation by Jan. 1, 2027 (contingent upon a budget appropriation for this purpose), including addressing the planting of shade trees, installation or planting of a school garden, and installation or planting of a green barrier. Would also require school personnel to be trained in heat mitigation and the Departments of Education and Social Services to develop a template for an extreme heat action plan and a model program guidebook. CSBA Position: Oppose. Passed by the Senate on May 31.
Funding and Finance
- AB 938 (Muratsuchi): Would establish Local Control Funding Formula funding target levels for the 2030–31 fiscal year and express the Legislature’s intent to use the funds to increase the salaries of classified and certificated staff working at schoolsites. CSBA Position: Disapprove. Result: Passed by the Assembly on June 1.
- SB 98 (Portantino): Beginning in 2023–24, this bill would authorize LEAs to apply to the Superintendent of Public Instruction for supplemental funding equal to the difference of LCFF base funding between their average daily attendance and their enrollment, as defined in the bill. At least 30 percent of the supplemental funding is required to be spent to address chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy to improve attendance, regardless of whether the LEA is experiencing chronic absenteeism among its students. The supplemental funding is also subject to an ongoing maintenance of effort equal to the expenditures on staff in 2019–20 for efforts to address chronic absenteeism and habitual truancy. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 24.
Governance
- AB 715 (Dahle, R-Bieber): Would establish the Rural Education Task Force to provide assistance and advice to the Superintendent of Public Instruction on the needs of rural schools, including transportation costs, facilities, special education and qualified staffing. The task force would include members from various groups, including representatives from LEAs, members of school district governing boards and county boards of education, parents, school administrators and charter school leaders. CSBA Position: Support. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 31.
- AB 764 (Bryan, D-Los Angeles): Would make school districts, county boards of education and other local governments subject to similar criteria and process requirements that apply to counties and cities that are adjusting the boundaries of the districts used to elect members of their governing bodies. Would also increase the public hearing and outreach requirements that apply to all local jurisdictions as part of the process for adopting or adjusting boundaries and allow for legal challenges when a local jurisdiction does not comply with the requirements of state law related to redistricting. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 30.
Health and Wellness
- SB 234 (Portantino): Would require schools to maintain unexpired doses of naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist onsite. CSBA Position: Support. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 30.
- SB 509 (Portantino): Would require LEAs, on or before July 1, 2027, to certify to the CDE that 75 percent of its classified and certificated employees who have direct contact with pupils at each school have received specified youth behavioral health training. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 24.
Kindergarten and TK
- AB 1192 (McCarty, D-Sacramento): Would eliminate the budget contingency language associated with the 1:10 teacher-to-student ratio requirement for transitional kindergarten, thereby mandating all LEAs to institute the ratio in the 2025–26 school year despite a lack of additional funding for TK facilities and an ongoing staffing shortage; require LEAs to provide professional development to a teacher aide assigned to a TK classroom; and permit a 4-year-old child who turns 5 during the summer months following the school year to enroll in TK. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Assembly on June 1.
Labor and Human Resources
- AB 897 (McCarty): Would reduce the threshold for part-time probationary employees in adult education programs to be deemed to have served a complete school year if the employee has served 75 percent of a 60-percent short-term position. CSBA Position: Oppose. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 30.
- AB 1699 (McCarty): Would require LEAs to give priority to existing employees, providing they meet certain requirements, when hiring for open classified positions. CSBA Position: Oppose. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 31.
- AB 383 (Zbur, D-West Hollywood): Would, upon a budget appropriation, modify the School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program (CSETCP) to require an LEA receiving CSETCP grant funds to provide a participating classified employee with a leave of absence of up to 600 hours to complete a teacher training program, wage replacement for that leave of absence and benefits during that absence. The bill specifies that the grant administrator, the Commission on Teacher Credentialing, is to use CSETCP grant funds to pay LEAs to provide wage replacement and benefits. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 25.
- SB 433 (Cortese, D-San Jose): Would delete a school district’s authority to make the ultimate disciplinary action against a classified staff person by placing it into the hands of an impartial third-party hearing officer and require districts to fund the associated costs of obtaining that ruling. CSBA Position: Oppose. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 24.
School Transportation
- SB 88 (Skinner, D-Berkeley): Would impose new requirements on drivers who provide transportation services on a contracted basis to students, including volunteers and parents. Requirements would include a background check, a valid California driver’s license for the appropriate class of vehicle (including a commercial license for some vehicles), a minimum of completed training hours and a medical exam. CSBA Position: Oppose. Result: Passed by the Senate on May 30.
- AB 579 (Ting, D-San Francisco): Would require, commencing Jan. 1, 2035, all newly purchased or contracted school buses to be zero-emission vehicles, where feasible. In situations where an LEA determines this goal is not feasible due to both terrain and route constraints, the bill authorizes an LEA to request a one-time extension for five years, to be reviewed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in consultation with CDE. CSBA Position: Oppose unless amended. Result: Passed by the Assembly on May 31.
These bills now head to their second house for consideration in the Assembly and Senate policy committees. As the legislative process continues, CSBA advocates will continue to work these and the many other educational measures the Legislature is considering and keep members abreast of the latest developments and advocacy opportunities.
