Special education: public complaint database.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify the exact content that needs to be communicated to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools. This information was removed as it is not supported by the provided text.

Special Education Complaint Database

This law requires the State Department of Education to create a public online database for complaints about special education violations, starting in 2030.

What This Bill Does

• Requires the State Department of Education to make an online database available by January 1, 2030.
• The database will show information from complaints that the department has received and got permission to post.
• Before putting a complaint in the database, the department must get consent from the person who filed it and remove any personal details.

Who It Names or Affects

• People with disabilities or special needs
• Parents or guardians of people with disabilities or special needs
• The State Department of Education

Terms To Know

Individuals with exceptional needs

Students who need extra help in school because they have a disability or other special needs.

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE)

The right of students with disabilities to receive an education that meets their specific needs at no cost to them.

Limits and Unknowns

• It is not clear how many complaints will be included in the database.
• The bill does not say what happens if a school district or charter school refuses to follow these rules.

Official Summary Text

AB 1861, as amended, Lackey.
Special education:
public
complaint database.
Existing law requires that every individual with exceptional needs, as defined, who is eligible, be provided with educational instruction, services, or both, at no cost to their parent or guardian or, as appropriate, to them. Under existing law, a free appropriate public education is required to be made available to individuals with exceptional needs in accordance with specified federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to investigate a complaint alleging a violation of the act and to issue a written decision within 60 days of the complaint being filed, as provided.
Existing law requires the findings and declarations of the written decision to be made available to the public after any personally identifiable information has been deleted.
This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, to create, or contract to create, and maintain
an
a publicly available
online
aggregate
database of all complaints
described above
that the department receives
and that the department has received consent to post beginning with
the first school year in which the database is operational. The bill would require the department, before entering any documents into the database, to obtain consent from the complainant to add the report to the database and to redact any personally identifiable information, as provided. The bill would require the department to notify school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools of these requirements.
on and after July 1, 2027, that allege a violation of the federal law described above. The bill would require the database to include specified data for each complaint, including, among other things, the total number of complaints the department investigated disaggregated by school district, county office of education, or charter school. After the database has been created, the bill would require the department to ensure that the data required to be included in the database is updated and published on
or before December 31 of each year.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF