Official Summary Text
SB 334, as amended, Reyes.
Pupil instruction: sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse prevention: safety.
(1) Existing federal law, known as Title IX, prohibits a person, on the basis of sex, from being excluded from participation in, being denied the benefits of, or being subject to discrimination under, any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Existing state law, the Sex Equity in Education Act, requires public schools, private schools that receive federal funds and are subject to the requirements of Title IX, school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to post in a prominent and conspicuous location on their internet websites specified information relating to Title IX.
This bill would require the State Department of Education to, on or before January 1, 2028, review the existing California School Climate, Health, and Learning Surveys system to identify areas of the
surveys where age-appropriate questions related to sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse safety can be incorporated, as provided.
The bill would declare the
first 2 full weeks in April and the first 2 full weeks
second full week
in September as “Sexual Harassment Safety
Weeks,”
Week,
”
during which time the bill would require all public schools, including charter schools, to focus on fostering a safe and secure environment for all members of the school community and
place an emphasis on preventing sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse, as provided. By imposing new duties on schools, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would encourage public schools to host interactive activities that cover school policies related to preventing sexual harassment, sexual assault, and sexual abuse, and prominently post specified resources and information about preventing those acts on the school’s digital platform, as provided. The bill would encourage school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to, in coordination with specified personnel, send a written notice to the school community highlighting the Sexual Harassment Safety
Weeks.
Week.
(2) Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, recommend curriculum frameworks to the State Board of Education. Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, charter schools, county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, and the California School for the Blind to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education, as specified. The act requires that instruction to include, among other things, information about sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and human trafficking, as provided.
This bill would require the commission, when the Health Education Framework for California Public Schools,
Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve is next revised on or after January 1, 2026, to consider including in that curriculum framework information related to, among other things, the Uniform Complaint Procedures, Title IX, and what a pupil should do if they believe another pupil has been subjected to sexual abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, or retaliation, as provided. The bill would encourage the same information to also be provided as part of the instruction required under the comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education provisions.
(3)
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 an act from a list of specified acts, including acts of sexual harassment and sexual assault, as provided.
This
bill would require school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools to, in order to identify ways to achieve rehabilitative outcomes, periodically review consequences that the local educational agency may impose on a pupil for carrying out acts of (A) committing or attempting to commit a sexual assault or committing a sexual battery, (B) cyber sexual bullying, or (C) sexual harassment, as provided. By imposing new duties on local educational agencies, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(4)
(3)
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.