SB 98: Elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education: immigration enforcement: notification.

(1)Under existing law, each school district and county office of education is responsible for the overall development, as specified, of a comprehensive school safety plan for each of its schools operating kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive. Existing law requires a comprehensive school safety plan to, among other things, identify appropriate strategies and programs that will provide or maintain a high level of school safety and address the schools procedures for complying with existing laws related to school safety.

This bill would additionally require, until January 1, 2031, when a comprehensive school safety plan is next reviewed and updated, or by no later than March 1, 2026, those plans to include procedures specifically designed to notify parents and guardians of pupils, teachers, administrators, and school personnel when the school confirms the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, on the schoolsite.

Existing law prohibits a chartering authority from denying a petition for the establishment of a charter school unless it makes written factual findings supporting at least one of specified bases for denial. One of those bases for denying a petition is if the petition does not contain a reasonably comprehensive description of the development of a school safety plan that includes the same safety topics required in the comprehensive school safety plan of a school district or county office of education.

This bill would authorize, until January 1, 2031, a chartering authority to deny a charter school petition that does not include in its proposed development of a school safety plan the same provisions on procedures and policies relating to notifying parents and guardians of pupils, teachers, administrators, and charter school personnel when the charter school confirms the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, on the schoolsite as are required by the bill in a school district or county office of education comprehensive school safety plan. The bill also would make conforming changes.

To the extent that this bill would impose new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

(2)Existing law establishes the California State University, under the administration of the Trustees of the California State University, the University of California, under the administration of the Regents of the University of California, the California Community Colleges, under the administration of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges, and independent institutions of higher education as 4 segments of postsecondary education in the state.

Existing law requires the Trustees of the California State University, the governing boards of community college districts, and independent institutions of higher education that are qualifying institutions for purposes of the Cal Grant Program, and requests the Regents of the University of California, to the fullest extent consistent with state and federal law, to implement various precautionary measures when federal immigration enforcement activities are undertaken on campuses of those segments, as specified, including, among others, that those postsecondary entities advise all students, faculty, and staff to notify the office of the chancellor or president, or their designee, as soon as possible, if they are advised that an immigration officer is expected to enter, will enter, or has entered the campus to execute a federal immigration order.

This bill would require, until January 1, 2031, those postsecondary educational entities, and each campus of those postsecondary educational entities, to notify, as specified, all students, faculty, staff, and other campus community members who work on campus when the presence of immigration enforcement, as defined, is confirmed on campus. To the extent that the bill would impose new duties on community college districts, 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.

This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.