By: Diana Lambert
This story was originally published by EdSource. Sign up for their daily newsletter.
Top Takeaways
- New California laws impact schools after summer break.
- Potential school employees will be vetted more rigorously.
- California schools must limit cellphone use under new law.
When California students return after the summer break, their schools must have at least one gender-neutral bathroom and cellphone policies that limit their use during school hours.
Student identification cards in secondary schools and institutes of higher education will now include the number for a crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth, and potential school employees will have to go through a more rigorous vetting process in order to be hired.
Four new laws that go into effect on July 1, focus on keeping California students healthy, safe and concentrating on learning, according to legislators.
Preventing child abuse
One new law going into effect is meant to prevent child abuse in schools before it begins.
Senate Bill 848, authored by Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Alhambra, builds on state laws protecting children by expanding the background checks of job applicants at schools, and requiring teachers, administrators and students to be trained on how to recognize signs of grooming or potential abuse.
The law requires school districts, county offices of education, charter and private schools to adopt and post safe-environment and abuse-prevention policies and resources, according to School Services of California Inc., an education consulting company.
District policies must outline standards for employee interactions with other employees, contractors, volunteers and students. They also must prohibit inappropriate electronic and social media communications, according to the bill.
By July 1, the state superintendent of public instruction must provide resources for districts to support age-appropriate instruction on preventing abuse. Parents will be able to opt their child out of the instruction, which will be given annually.
The legislation also broadens the definition of mandated reporters to include school board members, all public and private school employees and some volunteers.
The bill also establishes a statewide data system that tracks substantiated investigations of employee misconduct. The data system will go online by July 1, 2027, and will be accessible to all schools.
“More than 75% of states have enacted laws to prevent educator sexual misconduct,” Pérez said in her author’s statement. “California has taken significant steps in this area by implementing policy changes to safeguard both students and employees, and enhance transparency. However, several high-profile cases continue to highlight systemic failures and underscore the urgent need for stronger preventative measures and mandates to protect children.”
The new law is expected to cost the state about $2.5 million, primarily to hire more staff at the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing to implement the plan.
Limiting cellphone use
Cellphone restrictions have become increasingly common in California schools, but this school year, every school district, county office of education and charter school must have a policy limiting device use during the school day.
Assembly Bill 3216, renamed the Phone-Free Schools Act, is meant to curb classroom distractions, bullying and addiction to the devices.
In some schools with cellphone restrictions, students entering a campus or classroom are required to put their phones in an electronic pouch that can only be unlocked by school staff using a special magnet. In other schools, cellphones are turned off and put in lockers in the classroom. More commonly, students are asked to turn off their phones and to put them in their backpacks or pockets during class time.
At least 35 states have enacted laws or policies banning or limiting the use of cellphones in school, according to Ballotpedia.
“We know that excessive smartphone use increases anxiety, depression and other mental health issues — but we have the power to intervene,” said Gov. Gavin Newsom in a statement released after he signed the bill in 2024. “This new law will help students focus on academics, social development and the world in front of them, not their screens, when they’re in school.”
A 2024 study by the Association of American Educators in 2024 found that most teachers approve of cellphone bans. The association surveyed 1,517 teachers across the nation and found that 70% ranked cellphone use among their top five concerns. More than half of the teachers surveyed said cellphones are a distraction from learning, while 26% cited mental health concerns for their support of bans.
Requiring gender-neutral bathrooms
Beginning July 1, all California school campuses — except those with only one bathroom for male students and one for female students — are required to have a gender-neutral bathroom.
Senate Bill 760, signed by the governor in 2023, requires that signs identify the designated bathroom as being open to all genders and that it be kept unlocked during school hours.
The purpose of all-gender bathrooms is to allow any student to use a bathroom without shame or stigma, according to California Department of Education guidance to schools.
“SB 760 is a measure that aims to create a safe and inclusive environment not only for non-binary students, but for all students, by requiring each public school to establish at least one all-gender restroom,” said former Sen. Josh Newman, author of the bill.
Suicide hotline number on IDs
Student identification cards issued at California public secondary schools and institutions of higher education after July 1 will include the phone number for The Trevor Project, a crisis and suicide prevention hotline for LGBTQ youth.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 10 to 14, and the third leading cause of death for 14- to 25-year-olds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“In today’s political climate, LGBTQ+ students face significant levels of bullying, harassment, and discrimination — negatively impacting their mental health and academic success,” according to Assemblymember Mark González, author of the bill. “AB 727 will provide critical resources to support LGBTQ+ youth in crisis and those who have experienced harassment.”
The California Family Council, a conservative advocacy group, opposed the legislation, saying the mandate poses a threat to religious freedom and parental rights.
“AB 727 disregards the religious convictions of private, faith-based schools by forcing them to promote an LGBTQ advocacy organization that contradicts their values,” according to a statement from the organization. “AB 727 places California’s religious schools in an impossible position — forced to compromise their convictions by promoting an organization that contradicts their values.”
