Pupil safety: school employee misconduct: child abuse prevention: criminal communications with a minor.

Senator Pérez's comprehensive school safety legislation mandates new protocols for preventing and reporting child abuse in California educational institutions. The bill requires all K-12 schools to incorporate specific procedures for protecting students from abuse and sex offenses into their safety plans by July 2026. These plans must address professional boundaries between students and school personnel, establish limits on communication outside school hours, and ensure facilities are designed for adequate supervision.

The legislation creates a statewide database, operational by July 2027, to track noncertificated school employees and any substantiated misconduct reports. Schools must report hiring decisions, employment changes, and investigation outcomes to this system within specified timeframes. The database will be accessible to personnel responsible for hiring and conducting employee investigations.

The bill expands mandated reporting requirements to include all school employees, volunteers, and contractors whose duties involve student contact. These individuals must complete annual training on identifying and reporting suspected abuse. Schools that do not use the state's online training module must implement an equivalent program approved by their insurance provider. The legislation also requires schools to provide age-appropriate instruction to students on abuse prevention and maintaining appropriate boundaries, though parents retain the right to opt their children out of this education.

Additional provisions broaden the definition of sex offenses in hiring decisions and modify requirements for notifying parents about violent or sex-related incidents on campus. The bill prohibits schools from entering agreements that would prevent mandatory reporting of misconduct or allow removal of substantiated complaints from personnel files.