Temporary school closures: notification: survey.

Existing law requires the governing board of a school district to maintain all elementary schools and high schools for an equal length of time during the school year unless the school has been closed on account of contagious disease, fire, flood, or other public disaster. This bill would require the State Department of Education to develop and implement an internet website and a web-based application for the purpose of collecting information from a county office of education, school district, or charter school about temporary school closures, as specified. The bill would require the department to have the internet website and web-based application operative no later than July 1, 2021. The bill would require a county superintendent of schools, superintendent of a school district, or charter school administrator to notify the department through the internet website or web-based application of all temporary school closures each day the school is closed. The bill would authorize a county superintendent of schools to assume the responsibility of reporting a temporary school closure on behalf of all school districts and charter schools under the jurisdiction of that county superintendent. The bill would authorize a scheduled temporary school closure to be reported to the department through the internet website or web-based application in advance of the temporary school closure. The bill would require the department to make information related to a temporary school closure publicly available on its internet website. The bill would require the department to develop a survey for the purpose of collecting specified information from local educational agencies during school closures of longer than 5 school days. The bill would require the survey to be automatically distributed to a local educational agency that reports a school closure of longer than 5 school days using the above-described internet website or web-based application developed by the department. The bill would require a county superintendent of schools, superintendent of a school district, or charter school administrator, or their designee, to submit a response to the survey to the department within a timeframe established by the department. The bill would authorize a county superintendent of schools to assume the responsibility of submitting a response to the survey on behalf of all school districts and charter schools under the jurisdiction of that county superintendent. By imposing additional requirements on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.