Summer is almost over, and when millions of children head back to school in California, they will face changes and new regulations on everything from AI and smartphones to immigration enforcement and truancy.
Here are ten new laws that will impact the upcoming school year for California students.
1. AB 3216: Schools must implement a policy to limit or prohibit the use of smartphones while students are at school.
AB 3216, passed in 2024, requires all school districts, charter schools, or county offices of education to pass a policy limiting or prohibiting the use of smartphones while students are at school or under the supervision of teachers or school officials. The law required schools to pass these policies by July 1, 2026, and to update it every five years.
However, the law only mandates that a policy must be in place to "limit or prohibit" smartphones, granting schools considerable flexibility. Some districts, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District, ban phones from the first bell until dismissal. Others, like San Francisco Unified School District, ban phones during instructional periods, but allow them during lunch or passing periods.
However, no matter the policy a district adopts, students can't be prohibited from using their phone during an emergency, if a teacher gives permission, if a physician determines it's medically necessary, or when it's required by a student's individualized education plan.
2. AB 2148: Schools cannot use AI to fulfill staffing requirements.
AB 2148, passed in June, explicitly defines public school employees and contractors providing services in a public school to mean a "natural person." This means that public K-12 districts cannot use AI to satisfy staffing requirements for teachers, counselors, and administrators. Schools are still allowed to use AI tools to help develop and implement lessons, however.
3. AB 49 - Limitations on immigration enforcement in schools.
AB 49 places a number of new limitations upon immigration enforcement operations within schools. First, it prohibits immigration officers access to nonpublic parts of a campus, such as classrooms and offices, without a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order.
Schools are also now required to verify the identities of immigration enforcement officers and prohibited from handing over student information without judicial due process. Unless there is a judicial warrant, subpoena, or court order, or parents have provided written consent, schools cannot disclose information about the student, their family, or their educational records.
4. AB 419 - Schools must publicly display student immigration rights.
Schools are required to post student immigration and educational rights, including those listed above, in the administrative buildings of schools, which typically include the main office of schools and district offices. They must also be posted on school and district websites.
The posters must explain, in every language provided by the attorney general, that every child has a right to a free public education regardless of immigration status, district policies on responding to immigration enforcement, limits on sharing student information, family emergency planning recommendations, and more.
5. SB 848 - Expanded employee background checks and abuse prevention training
SB 848 aims to bolster student safety through a number of measures. It expands mandated reporters to include board members, contractors who interact with students, and adult volunteers. Schools are also now required to conduct more comprehensive background checks, request concrete employment histories, and contact previous school employers. Schools are prohibited from expunging records of egregious misconduct, or using severance or settlement agreements to conceal substantiated findings of abuse.
Effective July 1, schools must track and provide annual mandated reporter and abuse training for all new mandated reporters. Private schools must also adopt written child-safety and professional boundaries policies. Starting July 1, 2027, both public and private schools are expected to report findings of egregious misconduct to a statewide Commission on Teacher Credentialing database, and schools will have to check this database when screening job applicants.
6. AB 2429 - Mandatory fentanyl education
AB 2429 requires school districts and charter schools that already require a health education course for graduation to provide instructions on the dangers of fentanyl. These schools must teach what fentanyl is, the differences between fentanyl and other drugs, the dangers of counterfeit pills and fentanyl-laced drugs, and overdose prevention and awareness.
7. AB 461 - Decriminalizing chronic truancy
Until AB 461, chronic truancy - defined as being absent without a valid excuse for 10% or more of the school year - was a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $2000 and up to one year in jail, provided prosecutors could prove that the parent did not supervise the child's attendance after the school had already offered support services and other interventions.
Parents can no longer be criminally prosecuted over a child's chronic truancy. California schools tend to use attendance interventions, support services, and existing social programs rather than the threat of prosecution to address truancy.
8. SB 760 - Requires public and private schools to provide at least one all-gender bathroom
SB 760 requires all K-12 public and private schools to provide at least one accessible, all-gender restroom for student use. These restrooms must be clearly marked and unlocked during school hours, except for documented safety concerns.
9. AB 727 - Schools must print LGBTQ+ crisis hotline on ID cards
Public schools serving grades 7–12 that issue student ID cards must now include The Trevor Project's LGBTQ+ crisis hotline on the cards. Public colleges and universities that issue student IDs must do the same. The hotline is a 24/7 crisis intervention and suicide hotline providing trained counselors for LGBTQ+ students facing a crisis.
School ID cards are already required to include the numbers to the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Hotline.
10. AB 1264 - Begins the phaseout of ultra-processed foods
AB 1264 begins a long process of phasing out ultra processed foods. The law takes effect in the 2026-27 school year, but nothing will disappear from cafeterias just yet. By June 1, 2029, the bill requires the California Department of Public Health to define "ultra-processed foods of concern" and use scientific criteria to develop a list of banned foods. The list should be based on whether these foods are linked with adverse health effects, are banned or restricted elsewhere, contribute to food addiction, or are high in sugar, sodium, or saturated fat.
Schools will begin phasing out those foods July 1, 2029. By July 1, 2032, vendors can no longer sell those foods to schools. By July 1, 2035, schools will not be able to include those foods.
Starting Dec. 31, 2027, foods sold in schools will not be able to contain a number of synthetic food dyes, including Blue 1, Blue 2, Green 3, Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6.
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