Existing law requires school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide 2 school meals free of charge during each schoolday to any pupil who requests a meal without consideration of the pupil's eligibility for a federally funded free or reduced-price meal, with a maximum of one free meal for each meal service period, as provided. Existing law requires these meals to be nutritiously adequate meals that qualify for federal reimbursement. Existing law conditions these requirements upon an appropriation for these purposes by the Legislature, as specified. Notwithstanding any other law, existing law requires school districts, county superintendents of schools, and charter schools maintaining kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, to provide each needy pupil with one nutritionally adequate free or reduced-price meal during each schoolday. Existing law defines "schoolday" for these purposes to mean any day that pupils in kindergarten or grades 1 to 12, inclusive, are attending school for purposes of classroom instruction, including, but not limited to, pupil attendance on minimum days, state-funded preschool, transitional kindergarten, summer school including incoming kindergarten pupils, extended school year days, and Saturday school sessions. This bill would, contingent upon an appropriation for its purposes and to the extent authorized by federal law, require the State Department of Education to establish a process for state reimbursement, adjusted annually for inflation, for federal summer meal program operators, as defined, for meals served to guardians, as defined, of eligible pupils receiving a meal pursuant to a summer meal program, as defined. The bill would require the department to develop related guidance, as specified, and, if necessary, to apply for a waiver of federal law to secure federal reimbursement for these meals. The bill would require the department to distribute information about the federal Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer for Children Program to guardians whose children are eligible for specified summer food programs. The bill would require a guardian of an eligible pupil to be present at the summer meal program site in order for the summer meal program operator to receive state-funded reimbursement for that meal, unless noncongregate rules are in place. The bill would require participating summer meal program operators to report to the department the number of meals served to guardians by meal site no later than 30 days after the end of summer meal site operations.
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Existing law requires the adopted course of study for grades 7 to 12, inclusive, to offer courses in specified areas of study, including, among others, science and mathematics. This bill would require the governing board of each school district, and the governing body of each charter school, maintaining any of grades 9 to 12, inclusive, by January 1, 2025, to adopt a plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting to offer at least one course in computer science education pursuant to a specified timeline, to post the plan to its internet website, and, on or before May 31, 2025, and annually thereafter, to review the plan at a regularly scheduled public meeting and report to the public on the plan's implementation, as provided. The bill would, among other things, specify that a computer science education course means a computer science course that is aligned to the computer science academic content standards adopted by the State Board of Education and in which pupils do not merely use technology as passive consumers, but understand why and how computing technologies work, and then build upon that conceptual knowledge by creating computational artifacts. The bill would require school districts and charter schools to describe in the plan their planned efforts to increase the computer science course enrollment of female pupils, pupils with disabilities, pupils who belong to ethnic and racial groups, and pupils eligible for free or reduced-priced meals that are underrepresented in the field of computer science. The bill would require school districts and charter schools, on or before June 30, 2026, and by each June 30 thereafter, to report specified computer science education course-related data to the department, as specified. By imposing additional duties on school districts and charter schools, 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.
Existing law establishes various grant programs. Existing law, the Grant Information Act of 2018, requires the California State Library to create an internet web portal to provide a centralized location for grant seekers to find state grant opportunities and requires the California State Library to report to the Legislature on the effectiveness of the portal, including, among other things, the utilization rate by state agencies. This bill would impose minimum requirements for the administration of covered grants that meet maximum size and duration requirements and are available to nonprofit organizations, as defined. The bill would require administrators, as defined, to post eligibility, application, and other information for covered grants on their internet website and the above-described grant portal created by the California State Library. The bill would require administrators to provide eligible recipients with the ability to apply for a covered grant online. The bill would require administrators for grant programs totaling $200,000 or more to conduct outreach to nonprofit organizations eligible for covered grants, as specified. The bill would impose minimum requirements on the distribution of grant funds. The bill would impose limitations on specified reporting requirements for covered grant recipients and would prohibit an administrator from requiring a grant recipient to carry insurance coverage limits in excess of the risk associated with the covered grant activity.
The California Urban Forestry Act of 1978 has a purpose of, among other things, promoting the use of urban forest resources for purposes of increasing integrated projects with multiple benefits in urban communities. The act requires the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection to implement a program in urban forestry to encourage better tree management and planting in urban areas to increase integrated, multiple-benefit projects by assisting urban areas with innovative solutions to problems, as provided. The act authorizes the Director of Forestry and Fire Protection to make grants to provide assistance of 25% to 90% of costs for projects, as provided. This bill would require funds appropriated or allocated to the department for the bill's purposes to be administered to support school greening, as defined, by providing grants to eligible local educational agencies, as defined, nonprofit organizations, cities, counties, and districts, including special districts, through a competitive grant process that the bill would require the department to develop, including guidelines and selection criteria, as specified, on or before July 1, 2024. The bill would require the department, before developing the grant process, to hold at least 2 public hearings to gather public input on the grant process development. The bill would, upon appropriation in the annual Budget Act, require funding for these purposes to be transferred to the School Greening and Resiliency Fund, which the bill would establish in the State Treasury.
Existing federal law provides for allocation of federal funds through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant program to eligible states. Existing law provides for the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) program under which, through a combination of state and county funds and federal funds received through the TANF program, each county provides cash assistance and other benefits, including allowances for other purposes such as pregnancy, homeless assistance, and recurring special needs, to qualified low-income families. This bill would, beginning April 1, 2025, make a menstruating person who is qualified for aid under the CalWORKs program and between 10 and 55 years of age, inclusive, entitled to $20 per month to assist with menstrual product costs. The bill would require the State Department of Social Services to work with the County Welfare Directors Association of California and the California Statewide Automated Welfare System (CalSAWS) to develop and implement the necessary system changes on or before April 1, 2025. By increasing the duties of counties administering the CalWORKs program, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law continuously appropriates moneys from the General Fund to defray a portion of county costs under the CalWORKs program. This bill would instead provide that the continuous appropriation would not be made for purposes of implementing the bill. 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 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 declare that the Legislature should pass laws that halt the importation of cobalt or any product using cobalt mined in Africa using child slave labor and encourage the production of cobalt and other critical minerals ethically sourced from within the United States.
This measure would condemn Azerbaijan's blockade of the Republic of Artsakh and urge the United States government and the international community to take action to protect and assist the Armenians of Artsakh.
This measure would recognize July 17, 2023, to July 23, 2023, as Outdoor Worker Appreciation Week.