State invests $6 billion in broadband infrastructure over 3 years. A problem that has been persistent in California for years, the digital divide was highlighted in a major way when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Perhaps more than any other sector, schools felt the impact of a sudden and almost total reliance on access to high-speed internet. In an effort to help remedy the issue, bills were quickly introduced in both houses of the state Legislature in 2020 and 2021. However, one of the most significant proposals this year came via enactment of the state budget.

This year, the youth mental health crisis received much-needed attention. Policymakers prioritized the issue responding to the pandemic’s exacerbation of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation rates amongst youth. A leading proponent on this issue was Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Cañada Flintridge), whose own family has been affected by suicide. The Senator authored companion bills related to youth mental health, both of which were signed by the Governor. SB 14, an urgency measure that took effect upon the Governor’s signature on October 8, adds “for the benefit of the pupil’s mental or behavioral health” to the list of categories of excused absences for purposes of school attendance. SB 14 also requires the California Department of Education (CDE), by January 1, 2023, to recommend best practices and identify evidence-based training programs for schools to address youth behavioral health. The language that would have required LEAs to train their staff utilizing these programs was removed from the bill late in the legislative process due to associated costs.

Brown Act flexibilities for teleconference meetings extended through 2023. In the early days of the COVID-19 Pandemic, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order (EO) N-29-20, which, among other things, allowed public agencies to conduct meetings virtually without having to comply with certain provisions of the Brown Act, including that every teleconference location be accessible to the public. Originally only intended to last as long as social distancing was required by State or local public health agencies, the Governor signed another EO, N-08-21, in June 2021, extending these flexibilities through September 30, 2021. With that deadline only a few weeks away, Governor Newsom then signed AB 361, authored by Assembly Member Robert Rivas (D-Hollister), which, until January 1, 2024, exempts local legislative bodies from certain provisions related to teleconference public meetings under the Brown Act, including the Act’s teleconference quorum, meeting notice, and agenda requirements, during states of emergency.

While only a handful of bills dealing with early learning and care were signed into law this year, that did not preclude the sector from seeing a truly seismic policy shift. As with many other areas dealing with PreK-12, the most significant policy change was carried out with the enactment of the state budget.

This year’s budget contained significant changes to current Independent Study (IS) law including making IS the sole alternative to in-person instruction in the 2021-22 school year. Originally designed as a program for students for whom traditional, in-person instruction did not work, the changes made to the program by AB 130 have made IS more about compliance and less about providing a mode of instruction designed to meet the needs of individual students. Changes include requiring daily live interaction or synchronous instruction and weekly synchronous instruction, depending on the grade, requiring a parent-teacher conference before signing an IS written agreement if requested by the parent, and requiring a local educational agency (LEA)  to develop tiered reengagement strategies for students struggling to meet the requirements of IS.

With relatively little fanfare, the Governor signed AB 438, by Assembly Member Eloise Gómez Reyes (D-Grand Terrace) with only a few days left before the signature deadline. The bill, co-sponsored by the California School Employees Association (CSEA), California Teachers Association (CTA), California Federation of Teachers (CFT), and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), applies the same layoff notice requirements for certificated staff to permanent classified staff. This includes requiring a local educational agency (LEA) to provide notice to a classified employee by March 15 and allowing a classified employee to request a hearing to determine if there was cause for the decision not to renew their employment.

While the 2020 Budget Act included a steep decline in general fund (GF) revenue and a $10 billion reduction in the Prop. 98 guarantee, the 2021 Budget Act rebounded with the largest single year growth in GF revenue and the Prop. 98 guarantee ever recorded. Prop. 98 funding dropped to about $71 billion in the 2020 budget, but then soared up to nearly $94 billion in the 2021 budget. This additional state revenue, along with considerable federal funding, allowed the state to create and expand a number of programs and services. This increase in funding, however, did not fully mitigate all the challenges facing LEAs as the Delta-variant of COVID-19 continued to disrupt educational programs and other essential services for children.

The 2021-22 Budget and subsequent clean-up legislation rewrote Independent Study law, leaving school administrators and teachers scrambling to retool long-standing operations in an already stressful start of a school year.