Pupil attendance: excused absences: religious observance.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide details on the exact amount and timing of state reimbursement to schools, only that it will be made according to statutory provisions if mandated by the Commission on State Mandates.

Allowing Religious Holidays as Excused Absences

This law makes it so that students can miss school for religious holidays without needing a note from their parents or approval from the principal.

What This Bill Does

• Makes observing religious holidays and ceremonies an excused absence for students.
• Removes the need for written permission from parents or guardians for these absences.
• Eliminates the requirement that principals approve these types of absences.

Who It Names or Affects

• Students who observe religious holidays and ceremonies
• Schools and local educational agencies

Terms To Know

state-mandated local program

A program that the state requires local schools to follow, which might need extra funding.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how many days of religious observance are allowed as excused absences.
• It is unclear what happens if a student misses too much school for religious reasons.

Official Summary Text

AB 1763, as introduced, Lee.
Pupil attendance: excused absences: religious observance.
Existing law, notwithstanding the requirement that each person between 6 and 18 years of age who is not otherwise exempted is subject to compulsory full-time education, requires a pupil to be excused from school for specified types of absences, including, among others, for justifiable personal reasons when the pupil’s absence is requested in writing by the parent or guardian and approved by the principal or a designated representative, as provided. Existing law specifies that a justifiable personal reason includes observance of a holiday or ceremony of the pupil’s religion.
This bill would include observance of a holiday or ceremony of the pupil’s religion as a type of required excused absence without the requirement that the absence be requested in writing by the parent or guardian and approved by the principal or a designated representative. To
the extent that this bill would impose additional duties 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.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF