Law Firm News

May 2025
Number 18

School districts, county offices of education, and charter schools should update their parental annual notice (Annual Notice) for the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. The following is a summary of the required Annual Notice updates, as well as some optional provisions.

Mandatory Annual Notice Provisions

1. Excused Absences – Military Entrance Processing (Senate Bill (SB) 1138)

SB 1138 has added a student’s participation in military entrance processing to the list of excused absences under Education Code section 48205, which is a mandatory parental Annual Notice provision. The military uses military entrance processing, or MEP, to assess applicants’ qualifications to enter a branch of the military. For more information, please see 2024 Client News Brief Number 45.

2. Excused Absences – Parent’s Military Deployment (Assembly Bill (AB) 1884)

For excused absences for students spending time with immediate family members who are active duty members of the military, and are leaving for or returning from deployment, AB 1884 removed the requirement that the deployment be to a combat zone or combat support position. Instead, this bill expanded the scope of this type of excused absence to encompass all deployments. (Education Code section 48205(a)(9).) This is also a mandatory parental Annual Notice provision.

2. Dual Enrollment or International Baccalaureate Courses Offered (AB 1796)

Local educational agencies (LEAs) must now give the parents or guardians of students advancing to grades 7 to12 annual notice of any dual enrollment or International Baccalaureate courses offered by the LEA. Effective January 1, 2025, AB 1796 added Education Code section 48980.6, which specifies that this is a mandatory Annual Notice provision for LEAs offering such courses.

4. Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship Programs (AB 2179)

Parents and guardians of 11^th and 12^th graders must now receive specified information regarding apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. Suggested language is as follows:

The District shall use the database of registered program sponsors provided on the internet website of the Department of Industrial Relations’ Division of Apprenticeship Standards (DAS) to assist students in locating apprenticeship opportunities. See the DAS webpage for more information: https://www.dir.ca.gov/das/. The District may use contact information contained in the Division of Apprenticeship Standard’s database to obtain information or materials, including, but not limited to, pamphlets or brochures.
AB 2179 adds Education Code section 48980.5 which makes this a mandatory annual notice provision for LEAs serving students in grades 11 to12. LEAs must also include the following direct link to the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards database on the LEA’s website: https://www.dir.ca.gov/das/.

5. Uniform Complaints – Discriminatory Instructional Materials and Curricula(SB 153)

SB 153 added Education Code section 244, which prohibits school district governing boards, county boards of education, and charter school governing bodies from adopting or approving the use of any textbook, instructional material, or curriculum for classroom instruction that would subject a student to unlawful discrimination, as defined.

SB 153 also allows a member of the public, including anyone electing to file anonymously, to file a uniform complaint alleging a violation of this new law. Such complaints may also be filed directly with the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Uniform Complaint Procedures, which are a recommended Annual Notice attachment, should be updated to include these types of complaints. (Education Code sections 220 and 244.) See also, 2023 Client News Brief Number 36 regarding enforcement of instructional materials more broadly.

6. Title IX Policy and Complaint Procedures

We recommend that school districts attach their Title IX policies addressing sexual harassment complaints, to the Annual Notice. Last year, many LEAs updated their Administrative Regulations and Exhibit 5145.71 to comply with the 2024 Title IX Regulations, but those regulations were recently vacated by the Tennessee v. Cardona federal decision, and the 2020 Title IX Regulations are now back in effect. Because LEAs must adopt Title IX grievance procedures in compliance with the 2020 Title IX Regulations, which differ from the 2024 Title IX Regulations in significant ways, we recommend that LEAs’ Administrative Regulation and Exhibit 5145.71 be updated as soon as possible. Please let us know if you would like our assistance with this. For more information, please see 2025 Client News Brief Number 7.

Optional Annual Notice Provisions

7. Annual Notice Regarding Synthetic Drugs (Fentanyl) (AB 2690)

Last year, we informed clients about the new requirement to notify parents and guardians about the dangers associated with using unprescribed synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl (AB 889). AB 2690 now adds the requirement that this notice include the risk of social media platforms being used to market and sell synthetic drugs. This notice must be provided annually at the beginning of the school year and may be included in the parental Annual Notice. (Education Code section 48985.5.)

This information must also be posted on both LEA and individual school websites. See also, 2024 Client News Brief Number 5 for more information on AB 889 recent overdose prevention legislation affecting school districts.

8. Homework Policies – Healthy Homework Act (AB 2999)

This new law encourages LEAs to: (a) develop homework policies, with stakeholder (e.g. students, parents, teachers, and other staff) input, by the start of the 2027-2028 school year for all grades maintained by the LEA; (b) formally adopt a final homework policy by the start of the 2028-2029 school year; and (c) update the adopted homework policy at least once every five years.

LEAs that have already formally adopted homework policies prior to July 31, 2024, are encouraged to update their homework policies before the start of the 2028-2029 school year or within five years of adoption, whichever is later. 

If an LEA adopts or updates a homework policy, it is encouraged to annually distribute the policy at the beginning of the school year to all certificated staff and administrators, to all students, and to parents and guardians as part of the parental Annual Notice, or upon enrollment. The homework policy should also be published on the LEA and individual school internet websites. 

The California Department of Education is encouraged to develop and post guidelines by January 1, 2026, for LEAs to use in developing a local homework policy.

Again, this law does not require that LEAs develop, adopt, or distribute homework policies. For further information see 2024 Client News Brief Number 48.

Reminder

9. Location of Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) (AB 3262)

When an AED is placed at a school serving grades 6 to 12, principals must now annually notify students, in addition to all school employees, of the location of all the AED units at their school. AB 3262 does not add a parental notice requirement, but this information could also be included here. (Health and Safety Code section 1797.196.) See also, 2019 Client News Brief Number 13 regarding the school site AED requirements.

Lozano Smith regularly reviews and updates Annual Notices for school districts and county offices of education around the State. Please contact one of the authors of this Client News Brief, or an attorney at one of our eight offices located statewide, if you would our assistance in updating your Annual Notice, Uniform Complaint Procedures, or Title IX policies and related documents, or if you have any questions about any of the requirements discussed in this Client News Brief. You can also subscribe to our podcasts, follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn, or download our mobile app.