Local educational agencies: reports: school accountability report card: California School Dashboard: local control accountability plan: local control funding formula budget overview.

Section 33126.7(a) now requires the State Department of Education to provide its report on data duplication between the school accountability report card and other publicly available sources only to the Legislature, instead of to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Governor, and the Legislature. This narrows the distribution of the report by removing two recipients.

The deadline for the Department of Education's duplication report was changed from 'March 1, August 31, 2027' to simply 'August 31, 2027,' removing the earlier date that appeared to be a leftover from a prior version.

Section 33126.7(b)(2)(E) was restructured to specifically target data related to measures on the most recent school accountability report card template that a school district is also required to post on its website or present at a governing board meeting, rather than broadly covering any data a district must post online.

Section 33126.7(b)(2)(G) was broadened from 'any data element that is required to be included in' another plan or report to 'any data element of' another plan or report, widening the range of duplication the department must analyze.

Drafting errors in the legislative digest were corrected: instances where both the old and new word appeared (e.g., 'delete eliminate,' 'delete repeal') were cleaned up to use only the correct term.

The deadline for the State Department of Education to deliver its report identifying duplication between school accountability report card data and other publicly available data sources was extended from March 1, 2027 to August 31, 2027.

For charter schools and school districts, the annual presentation of the LCAP update and budget overview report remains a mandatory requirement (changed from 'may present' back to 'shall present'), but the specific February 28 deadline was removed. The prior version had made the entire presentation optional; this version keeps it required without a fixed date.

The duplication analysis report must now specifically describe differences including the level of information (schoolsite vs. district), how information is displayed or formatted, the number of years of data available, and the steps required to access the data.

Legislative findings were expanded to include a new statement that the school accountability report card is intended to help parents make meaningful comparisons between public schools for enrollment decisions, and a new intent provision requiring that reporting mechanisms provide information in meaningful, accessible, and efficient ways to enable active involvement of parents, guardians, pupils, educators, community leaders, school boards, and schoolsite teams in local decisionmaking.

The duplication analysis data sources were narrowed: data from other state entities now must be obtained pursuant to a data sharing agreement; district website posting and board meeting presentation data must be required by statute or regulation (not just any requirement); and plan/report data elements must come from plans or reports that are themselves required by statute or regulation.

Multiple instances of 'delete' were changed to 'repeal' when describing the removal of existing statutory requirements (school safety plan reporting, physical testing results from report card), and 'in cooperation with' was changed to 'in consultation with' for school safety plan development.

Replaced the multi-step crosswalk and state board certification process (which included a January 1, 2029 certification deadline and automatic removal of the SARC requirement upon certification) with a single duplication analysis report due March 1, 2027. The new section sunsets on January 1, 2028. This removes the built-in mechanism that would have triggered elimination of the annual school accountability report card.

Removed the requirement for each school to annually report on the status of its comprehensive school safety plan in the school accountability report card (Section 32286, former subdivision (b)). Schools must still adopt and review their safety plans by March 1 each year.

Removed the requirement that results of physical fitness testing of pupils be included in the school accountability report card (Section 33352). The department's categorical program monitoring will still track whether schools conduct physical fitness testing, but the results no longer need to appear in the SARC.

Changed the annual LCAP update and LCFF budget overview presentation from a required action with a February 28 deadline to an optional (authorized) action with no timing requirement. This applies to school districts (Section 52062), charter schools (Section 47606.5), and county offices of education (Section 52068).

Removed the January 1, 2029 state board certification deadline and the 60-day post-certification crosswalk update requirement that were part of the prior version's phased elimination plan for the SARC.

The central provision eliminating the school accountability report card (SARC) and designating the California School Dashboard as the constitutional SARC replacement was removed entirely. This included the legislative findings declaring the SARC duplicative and obsolete, the crosswalk requirement, the state board certification deadline of January 1, 2029, and the department website archive requirement.

Amendments to numerous sections were dropped, including Section 1240 (county superintendent duties and school visits), Section 14501 (audit definitions), Section 41020 (local educational agency audits), Section 41409, Section 44258.9, Sections 47605 and 47605.6, Section 51101.1, Section 52064.1, Section 56366, and Section 60811.8.

Repeals of Sections 33126.1, 33126.15, 33126.2, 35256.1, 35258, and 41409.3 were removed, meaning those existing provisions remain in force.

A new provision requires the State Department of Education to provide a report by March 1, 2027 to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, the Governor, and the Legislature identifying duplication between data contained in the school accountability report card and other publicly available data sources.

The change from requiring to merely authorizing school districts to present the annual LCAP update and local control funding formula budget overview at a February 28 board meeting was removed, preserving the existing mandatory requirement.

The state-mandated local program designation changed from yes to no, meaning the bill no longer triggers state reimbursement obligations for costs imposed on local agencies.

A sunset/authorization provision allowing the bill's statutory provisions to be amended by a two-thirds legislative vote and gubernatorial signature was removed.

New Section 33126.7 added to the Education Code, establishing a phased process: the State Board of Education must certify by January 1, 2029 that all data elements required in the SARC (except specified exceptions) are available on the department's website or in progress toward being available. The department must then update the crosswalk within 60 days of certification.

The State Board of Education must certify data element availability by January 1, 2029. The department must develop a crosswalk by March 1, 2027. The SARC requirement is only removed upon the State Board's certification, creating a conditional and delayed elimination rather than an immediate one.

The LCAP annual update and local control funding formula budget overview presentation (previously required on or before February 28 of each year) is changed from a mandatory requirement to an authorization. School districts are now permitted but not required to present this report at a regularly scheduled meeting.

Removed a section stating the Legislature's intent to enact subsequent legislation to consolidate, truncate, or eliminate duplicative or obsolete reports to reduce reporting burden of local educational agencies. This broader legislative intent language was dropped from the bill.

The bill's fiscal committee designation changed from 'no' to 'yes' and the state-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes', acknowledging that the new duties imposed on school districts constitute a state mandate with fiscal impact requiring reimbursement.

In Section 1240 (county superintendent duties), references to verifying data accuracy on the 'school accountability report card' were changed to 'California School Dashboard,' aligning the county superintendent's verification role with the new primary accountability tool.

The bill expanded from a single-section intent statement into a multi-section bill amending or repealing over 20 sections of the Education Code, covering county superintendent duties, audit requirements, school safety plans, accountability reporting, teacher credentialing oversight, and more.

Eliminates the School Accountability Report Card (SARC) established by Proposition 98, which required each school district to annually adopt a report card for each school including data on test scores, dropout rates, class size, instructional materials, teacher credentials, facility conditions, and other metrics.

Designates the California School Dashboard as the school accountability report card for purposes of the California Constitution, effectively replacing the SARC with the existing web-based dashboard system.

Requires the State Department of Education to maintain an internet website containing a history of the SARC and a crosswalk indicating where information comparable to former SARC requirements can be found on the California School Dashboard, DataQuest, or other department-managed systems.

Eliminates the requirement that school district superintendents present a report on the annual LCAP update and local control funding formula budget overview at a regularly scheduled board meeting on or before February 28 of each year.

Vote requirement changed from simple majority to two-thirds of the Legislature, because the bill now amends provisions of Proposition 98 (a voter-approved constitutional initiative). State-mandated local program designation changed from 'no' to 'yes,' and fiscal committee review changed from 'no' to 'yes,' reflecting new costs imposed on school districts.

Changes references throughout the Education Code from 'school accountability report card' to 'school accountability report card California School Dashboard,' updating audit requirements, county superintendent inspection duties, and school safety plan reporting to reflect the new system.