On October 10, 2025, Governor Newsom approved two laws intended to facilitate workforce housing development on land owned by local educational agencies (LEAs).
Two recent bills grapple with modern technology’s pervasive presence and growing impact on local educational agencies (LEAs), both on school grounds and beyond. Assembly Bill (AB) 962 and AB 772 each address a common point of concern for LEAs: smartphones and cyberbullying, respectively.
California passed four bills aimed at strengthening policies for the health, safety, and wellbeing of its young people. The new laws involve changes to existing health and safety legislation pertaining to young athletes, the use of epinephrine auto-injectors in California schools, access to LGBTQ+ resources, and homeless youth access to care.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that charter schools can refuse to purchase religious curricular materials for their independent study programs.
Effective January 1, 2026, Assembly Bill (AB) 640 and Senate Bill (SB) 827 will require school boards, city councils, county boards of supervisors, and special district governing boards, as well as elected and certain administrative officers of cities, counties, and special districts, to receive mandatory training on budgetary and financial legal matters specific to each type of agency.
On July 14, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 784, amending Education Code section 56031. Individualized education program (IEP) teams can now provide deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) services as stand-alone supports to students who do not require additional specialized instruction.
On October 7, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1412, enhancing educational continuity for students with disabilities who transfer into California schools from out-of-state, with a particular focus on students of military families.
Effective October 1, 2025, Assembly Bill (AB) 503 permanently restored the ability of school districts to include a proportionate share of the costs of facility maintenance and repairs in the fees charged to users of nonclassroom facilities and grounds.
The California First District Court of Appeal recently ruled in Berkeley People’s Alliance v. City of Berkeley (2025) 114 Cal.App.5th 984, that the City of Berkeley may have violated the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) when it moved several City Council meetings to smaller rooms in response to public disruptions.