AB 65 mandates that public school and community college employers provide up to 14 weeks of paid leave for employees unable to work due to pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, or related medical conditions. This leave is designed to include both prenatal and postnatal periods if the employee is disabled. It prohibits the deduction of this leave from other accrued leave balances and requires employers to maintain health coverage during the leave. Additionally, it eliminates minimum work hour or service length requirements for eligibility.

AB 84 requires educational joint powers authorities and charter schools to conduct annual financial and compliance audits, adhering to specific statutory standards. The bill establishes the Office of the Education Inspector General to ensure these audits are conducted properly and timely. Charter schools must comply with enhanced data reporting requirements, including average daily attendance and financial transparency. Additionally, the bill includes provisions to regulate fiscal practices in charter schools, specifically limiting compensation contracts and ensuring nonsectarian activities.

This bill changes hiring rules for student jobs at California's public colleges and universities. It prevents the University of California, California State University, and California Community Colleges from disqualifying students from campus employment simply because they can't provide proof of federal work authorization, unless that proof is specifically required by federal law or by the terms of a grant funding that particular job. The bill also clarifies that a federal law prohibiting the hiring of undocumented immigrants doesn't apply to these institutions since they're branches of state government, and states that if student employment counts as a 'benefit' under federal law, this bill serves as the state's authorization to provide that benefit. Schools have until January 2027 to put these changes into practice. For the University of California, the new rules only take effect if the UC Regents formally adopt them. Because the bill creates new responsibilities for community college districts, the state may need to reimburse them for related costs under existing constitutional requirements.

Starting with the 2028–29 school year, children must complete one year of kindergarten before entering first grade in public elementary schools. Exceptions exist for children admitted to a California kindergarten judged ready for first grade. This requirement imposes a state-mandated local program. If state-determined costs arise, reimbursements will follow established procedures.

California's SB 1101 requires educational institutions to notify faculty, staff, and students if their personal information is to be shared with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights during investigations or compliance actions. The sharing of personal data is permissible only if mandated by federal or state law. Notifications must detail the types of personal information disclosed. This bill imposes new duties on community college districts and requires state reimbursement for any state-mandated costs.

AB 477 adjusts the local control funding formula to increase salaries for schoolsite employees in California. The bill proposes new base grant amounts and inflation adjustments for funding allocated to county offices, school districts, and charter schools. This aims to account for cost increases and ensure fair compensation from the 2036-37 fiscal year onward.

AB 537 amends the eligibility requirements for the California College Promise to include students enrolled in nine or more semester units, instead of the previous requirement of twelve. The bill prohibits mislabeling other financial aid programs under the California College Promise name, ensuring clarity and disallowing misrepresentation by community colleges and districts.

AB 2098 amends existing workers’ compensation laws, introducing requirements for employees to schedule medical treatments outside work hours when possible. It mandates employer-provided leave during work hours for treatments, aligning with federal and state leave acts. Noncompliance by employers can result in misdemeanors. This measure ensures treatment time does not penalize the employee while reinforcing the employer's responsibility to accommodate necessary medical treatments resulting from workplace injuries. The bill also aligns with both federal Family and Medical Leave and California Family Rights Acts.

This legislative proposal requires educational institutions to classify short-term employees into the permanent service category if they exceed 75% of a school year in their roles, or if they separate and are rehired. This adjustment to employee classification aims to offer greater employment security for short-term employees working within school and community college districts, reflecting changes to enhance their employment conditions.

AB 2197 aims to protect school employees by regulating the solicitation of financial services or products at school workplaces. The bill sets strict conditions, including security measures and transparency requirements for businesses soliciting at schools. It forbids misleading affiliations and incentives to school staff, ensuring fair and clear communication. Additionally, email solicitations must contain specific identifying language to maintain transparency and integrity.

This bill aims to make sure part-time community college faculty understand their retirement plan options and can actually choose the one that fits them best. By July 1, 2027, the State Teachers' Retirement System, working with the Public Employees' Retirement System, must post clear online information comparing the Defined Benefit Program, the Cash Balance Benefit Program, and Social Security, including how contributions and benefits differ between them. Starting on that same date, community college districts must share this information with newly hired temporary employees who perform teaching-related work, and those employees must be given the ability to choose which retirement option they want to participate in. Because this creates new responsibilities for community college districts, the state will reimburse them for any mandated costs if the Commission on State Mandates confirms such costs exist. The goal is to help part-time faculty, who often face confusing or inconsistent retirement enrollment practices, make informed decisions about their financial future.

This bill changes the eligibility rules for the California College Promise program, which helps community college students get their fees waived. Currently, students need to be enrolled in at least 12 semester units to qualify, but this bill lowers that threshold to 9 units, making the program accessible to more part-time students while still allowing accommodations for students with disabilities. The bill also requires community colleges to send written notifications to students when they first become eligible for the program, explaining details about their two years of eligibility. This change aims to help more students afford community college by reducing the course load requirement, while ensuring students better understand how the program works and how long their benefits last.

This bill significantly expands and refines California's efforts to keep students safe from employee misconduct in schools. It broadens the types of complaints, investigations, and discipline that schools and private schools must disclose when checking on a job applicant's background, no longer limiting disclosure to only cases that led to a substantiated finding. It also revises the statewide data system tracking egregious misconduct investigations, requiring schools to request access by May 2027, designate contact points for notifications, and preserve records related to substantiated cases. Schools would be required to investigate credible complaints of misconduct following specific timelines, notify employees of investigation outcomes, and complete investigations even if the employee resigns. Private schools must adopt written investigation policies by July 2027. The bill also strengthens the Commission on Teacher Credentialing's authority to review misconduct cases, gather records from schools, and extends its investigative reach to private schools. Additionally, it tightens background check rules for contractors and subcontractors working with students, requiring criminal record checks and disclosure of misconduct history as a condition of contracts, and mandates that contracts include termination clauses for noncompliance. Data in the statewide system would be shielded from public records requests to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations. Finally, the bill shifts approval authority for private schools' alternative mandated-reporter training from insurance providers to the schools' own governing bodies. Local governments and schools would receive state reimbursement for any new costs imposed by these requirements.

This bill addresses a practical safety gap that can occur when construction crews are working on school campuses while classes are still in session. It requires local school boards to make sure any construction contract for work happening during school hours includes specific security measures designed to limit access to the construction site and prevent unauthorized individuals from wandering onto school property. The idea is to close potential security vulnerabilities that can arise when outside workers, equipment, and open construction areas create additional points of access to a campus. Because these new contract requirements could create extra work or costs for school districts and other local education agencies, the bill acknowledges that this may qualify as a state-mandated program, meaning the state could be required to reimburse local agencies for those costs under existing constitutional and statutory rules governing state mandates.

SB 1262 addresses the management of general fund balances within California community college districts. It mandates that, starting in the 2027–28 fiscal year, these districts' unrestricted general fund balances must not exceed 50% of their expenditures. Further, it restricts fund transfers that would result in fund balances exceeding 33% of expenditures. Violations of these rules require excess funds to be distributed to specific district employees, imposing new operational requirements on the districts.