Based upon what appears to be an expanded view of the Supreme Court’s opinion in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the U.S. Department of Education (Department) has issued a new Guidance on Prayer and Religious Expression in Public Schools (2026 Guidance).
As of January 1, 2026, accessory dwelling units (ADU) or junior accessory dwelling units (JADU) are not “new residential construction” for purposes of assessing school impact fees, even if they are detached from the primary residence.
Assembly Bill 560 (AB 560), which took effect January 1, 2026, requires local education agencies (LEA) to take all reasonable steps to distribute the workload associated with initial special education assessments across all resource specialists employed by the LEA in an equal manner, unless otherwise collectively bargained.
California State University (CSU) prevailed in part against the California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) on a negotiability issue under the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) related to changes in CSU’s student vaccination requirements.
As reported in 2025 Client News Brief Number 61, this past December, in what is now referred to as Mirabelli v. Bonta, the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, granted summary judgment in a class action and issued a permanent in
On February 11, 2026, the California Department of Education (CDE) issued a letter entitled “Further Update Regarding FERPA” to all school district and county office of education superintendents.
In its recent decision in Thompson v. Central Valley School District No. 365 (9th Cir. 2025) 163 F.4th 654, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a U.S. District Court ruling that Central Valley School District (CVSD) had demonstrated that a former middle school assistant principal’s speech would reasonably cause disruption in the workplace and undermine CVSD’s interest in cre
On January 15, 2026, in City of Gilroy v. Superior Court (2026) 19 Cal.5th 38, the California Supreme Court clarified that enforcement orders under the California Public Records Act (CPRA) are not limited to compelling the production of improperly withheld records.
The State Allocation Board (SAB) has approved a 4.06 % increase for the “Level 1” developer fees that school districts are authorized to collect.