Asm. Alex Lee

Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed a specified act, including, among other acts, that the pupil possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, vaping products, and betel. This bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, remove having possessed or used tobacco, or products containing tobacco or nicotine products, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, miniature cigars, clove cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, snuff, chew packets, vaping products, and betel from the list of acts for which a pupil, regardless of their grade of enrollment, may be suspended or recommended for expulsion for. The bill would, commencing July 1, 2025, prohibit a charter school pupil in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, from being suspended or recommended for expulsion solely on the basis of those acts. Existing law requires the principal or superintendent of schools to recommend the expulsion of a pupil for certain acts committed at school or at a school activity off school grounds, including, among others, the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances, unless the principal or superintendent determines that expulsion should not be recommended under the circumstances or that an alternative means of correction would address the conduct. This bill, commencing July 1, 2025, would instead no longer require the principal or superintendent of schools to recommend the expulsion of a pupil for the unlawful possession of certain controlled substances under any circumstance. This bill would require the State Department of Education, on or before July 1, 2025, to develop and make available a model policy for a public health approach to addressing pupil possession and use of illicit drugs on school property, as specified. The bill would require the department to collaborate with stakeholders, including treatment providers, local educational agencies, and community-based organizations in the development of the model policy. The bill would require local educational agencies, as defined, to adopt, on or before July 1, 2025, a plan to address pupils who possess or use drugs on school property. The bill would require the plan to be youth-informed, reduce criminalization, and to include specific information on where on campus and in the community pupils can receive education, treatment, or support for substance abuse. By imposing additional duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. This bill would also make Legislative findings and declarations relating to these provisions, make conforming changes, and delete obsolete provisions. 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.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to incorporate materials relating to civil rights, human rights violations, genocide, slavery, and the Holocaust into publications that provide examples of curriculum resources for teacher use, consistent with the subject frameworks on history and social science and other requirements. Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. This bill would require the commission, when the history-social science curriculum framework is next revised, to consider providing for inclusion of, in its recommended history-social science curriculum framework, related evaluation criteria, and accompanying instructional materials, instruction on both (1) the historical, social, economic, and political contributions of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States and (2) examples of racism, discrimination, and violence perpetrated against Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders in the United States, as provided.

(1) Existing law establishes the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program, administered by the State Department of Education, with the purpose of encouraging, maintaining, and strengthening the delivery of high-quality career technical education programs. Existing law provides, for the 2021–22 fiscal year and each fiscal year thereafter, that $300,000,000 shall be available to the department, upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. Existing law prohibits an applicant from being awarded an amount higher than the amount that the allocation formula determines them to be eligible to receive under the program. This bill instead would provide, for the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, that $450,000,000 shall be made available to the department upon appropriation by the Legislature, for the program. The bill would delete the prohibition against an applicant being awarded more than the amount determined by the allocation formula. (2) Existing law requires grant applicants to meet minimum requirements, including, among other things, reporting to the Superintendent of Public Instruction data on the number of pupils completing career technical education coursework. This bill would require applicants to additionally report data on the number of pupils completing a career technical education pathway consisting of a sequence of 2 or more career technical education courses in the same career technical education subject matter discipline. (3) Existing law requires the Superintendent to take specified actions for purposes of administering the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program. This bill would require the Superintendent to establish, in collaboration with the executive director of the State Board of Education, a stakeholder workgroup, as specified, on or before June 30, 2024, to consider and provide recommendations on maximizing career technical education opportunities for pupils, as provided, and to report those recommendations to the policy and fiscal committees of the Legislature, the Department of Finance, and the Governor by January 31, 2025. The bill would require the Superintendent to ensure a level of professional staffing within the department that is dedicated to career technical education, sufficient to effectively administer the program and other federal and state career technical education programs, as specified. (4) Existing law requires the K–12 Workforce Pathway Coordinators and the K–14 Technical Assistance Providers to provide technical assistance and support to grant recipients, as provided. This bill would, commencing with the 2024–25 fiscal year, and each fiscal year thereafter, instead require $12,000,000 to be made available to the department, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act or another statute, to provide regional career technical education coordinators for the provision of technical assistance and support to local educational agencies in implementing all of their career technical education courses, programs, and pathways, as provided. (5) Existing law establishes the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, as one of the segments of public postsecondary education in this state. Existing law establishes the Strong Workforce Program to provide funding to career technical education regional consortia made up of community college districts, as specified. Existing law also establishes a K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program. Existing law provides that, commencing with the 2018–19 fiscal year, the amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act for the K–12 component of the program is used to create, support, or expand high-quality career technical education programs at the K–12 level that are aligned with the workforce development efforts occurring through the program. This bill would, as of July 1, 2024, repeal the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program and would require the administration of any outstanding allocations for the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program to be administered by the department pursuant to the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program.

Existing law establishes the Middle Class Scholarship Program (MCSP) under the administration of the Student Aid Commission. Existing law, subject to an available and sufficient appropriation, makes an undergraduate student eligible for a scholarship award under the MCSP if the student is enrolled at the University of California or the California State University, or enrolled in upper division coursework in a community college baccalaureate program, and meets certain eligibility requirements. This bill would require the Department of Finance, following a growth of General Fund revenues for 2 consecutive fiscal years, to fund the cost of the MCSP, as determined by the commission, over the 5 fiscal years following that growth, as provided.

Existing law authorizes school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to provide emergency naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to school nurses or voluntary trained personnel, and authorizes those nurses and voluntary trained personnel to use naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist to provide emergency medical aid to persons suffering, or reasonably believed to be suffering, from an opioid overdose, as provided. This bill would require each individual public school operated by a school district, county office of education, or charter school that has elected to make a school nurse or trained personnel available at the school pursuant to those provisions to maintain at least two units of naloxone hydrochloride or another opioid antagonist for purposes of those authorizations.

This measure would celebrate the history and culture of lowriding and cruising, encourage local officials and law enforcement to work with local car clubs to conduct safe cruising events, and declare the first Sunday of summer to be observed as California Lowrider Day.

This measure would declare August 7, 2023, as Purple Heart Day in California.

This measure would recognize June 19, 2023, as Juneteenth and would urge the people of California to join in celebrating Juneteenth as a day to honor and reflect on the significant role that African Americans have played in the history of the United States and how they have enriched society through their steadfast commitment to promoting unity and equality.

This measure would recognize July 15, 2023, as California State Grange Day.