Bill Text: CA AB302 | 2015-2016 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Pupil services: lactation accommodations.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2015-10-09 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 690, Statutes of 2015. [AB302 Detail]
Download: California-2015-AB302-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 302 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 690
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 9, 2015
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 9, 2015
PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 1, 2015
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 3, 2015
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 14, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 1, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 20, 2015
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 26, 2015
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Cristina Garcia
FEBRUARY 12, 2015
An act to add Section 222 to the Education Code, relating to pupil
services.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 302, Cristina Garcia. Pupil services: lactation accommodations.
Existing law requires an employer to provide a reasonable amount
of break time to accommodate an employee desiring to express breast
milk for the employee's infant child. Existing law requires the
employer to make reasonable efforts to provide the employee with the
use of a room or other location, other than a toilet stall, in close
proximity to the employee's work area, for the employee to express
milk in private. Existing law establishes the California School Age
Families Education Program, which is a comprehensive, continuous, and
community linked school-based program that focuses on youth
development and dropout prevention for pregnant and parenting pupils
and on child care and development services for their children.
Existing federal law requires an educational institution to treat
pregnancy, childbirth, recovery from childbirth, and other specified
conditions in the same manner and under the same policies as any
other temporary disability. Existing law also prohibits
discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, or other specified
characteristics in any program or activity conducted by an
educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state
financial assistance or enrolls pupils who receive state financial
aid.
This bill would require a school operated by a school district or
a county office of education, the California School for the Deaf, the
California School for the Blind, and a charter school to provide,
only if there is at least one lactating pupil on the school campus,
reasonable accommodations to a lactating pupil on a school campus to
express breast milk, breast-feed an infant child, or address other
needs related to breast-feeding. The bill would require that these
reasonable accommodations include, but are not limited to, access to
a private and secure room, other than a restroom, to express breast
milk or breast-feed an infant child, permission to bring onto a
school campus any equipment used to express breast milk, access to a
power source for that equipment, and access to a place to safely
store expressed breast milk. The bill would also require that a
lactating pupil on a school campus be given a reasonable amount of
time to accommodate the need to express breast milk or breast-feed an
infant child. The bill would prohibit a pupil from incurring an
academic penalty as a result of her use, during the schoolday, of
these reasonable accommodations. The bill would authorize a complaint
of noncompliance with the requirements of the bill to be filed with
the local educational agency, and would require the local educational
agency to respond to such a complaint, in accordance with specified
procedures. The bill would also authorize a complainant to appeal a
decision of the local educational agency to the State Department of
Education and would require the department to issue a written
decision within 60 days of its receipt of the appeal. The bill would
require a local educational agency to provide a remedy to the
affected pupil if the local educational agency finds merit in a
complaint or if the Superintendent of Public Instruction finds merit
in an appeal. The bill would also include a statement of legislative
findings and declarations. By imposing additional duties on local
educational agencies, this 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 these
statutory provisions.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec.
1681 et seq.) prohibits sex discrimination in educational
institutions, which includes discrimination against pregnant and
parenting pupils.
(b) The federal regulations implementing Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 specify that sex discrimination includes
discrimination against a pupil based on pregnancy, childbirth, false
pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery from
childbirth-related conditions.
(c) The federal regulations implementing Title IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972 require a pupil with temporary medical conditions
occasioned by pregnancy or related to recovery from childbirth to be
treated the same as any other pupil with a temporary disability.
(d) The Sex Equity in Education Act (Article 4 (commencing with
Section 221.5) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 1 of the
Education Code) prohibits sex discrimination in educational
institutions, which includes discrimination against pregnant and
parenting pupils.
(e) The regulations implementing the Sex Equity in Education Act
prohibit educational institutions from applying any rule concerning a
pupil's actual or potential parental, family, or marital status that
treats a pupil differently on the basis of sex.
(f) The Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code)
prohibits businesses, including public schools, from discriminating
based on sex, which includes discrimination on the basis of
pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy or
childbirth.
(g) Denial of accommodations to a pupil who chooses to breast-feed
or express breast milk while at school is prohibited sex
discrimination.
(h) Despite these laws, California schools are failing to
accommodate the needs of lactating pupil parents on their campuses by
providing them with reasonable time and private space to express
breast milk, breast-feed infant children, or address other needs
related to breast-feeding.
SEC. 2. Section 222 is added to the Education Code, to read:
222. (a) A school operated by a school district or a county
office of education, the California School for the Deaf, the
California School for the Blind, and a charter school shall provide
reasonable accommodations to a lactating pupil on a school campus to
express breast milk, breast-feed an infant child, or address other
needs related to breast-feeding. Reasonable accommodations under this
section include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
(1) Access to a private and secure room, other than a restroom, to
express breast milk or breast-feed an infant child.
(2) Permission to bring onto a school campus a breast pump and any
other equipment used to express breast milk.
(3) Access to a power source for a breast pump or any other
equipment used to express breast milk.
(4) Access to a place to store expressed breast milk safely.
(b) A lactating pupil on a school campus shall be provided a
reasonable amount of time to accommodate her need to express breast
milk or breast-feed an infant child.
(c) A school specified in subdivision (a) shall provide the
reasonable accommodations specified in subdivisions (a) and (b) only
if there is at least one lactating pupil on the school campus.
(d) A school subject to this section may use an existing facility
to meet the requirements specified in subdivision (a).
(e) A pupil shall not incur an academic penalty as a result of her
use, during the schoolday, of the reasonable accommodations
specified in this section, and shall be provided the opportunity to
make up any work missed due to such use.
(f) (1) A complaint of noncompliance with the requirements of this
section may be filed with the local educational agency under the
Uniform Complaint Procedures set forth in Chapter 5.1 (commencing
with Section 4600) of Division 1 of Title 5 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(2) A local educational agency shall respond to a complaint filed
pursuant to paragraph (1) in accordance with Chapter 5.1 (commencing
with Section 4600) of Division 1 of Title 5 of the California Code of
Regulations.
(3) A complainant not satisfied with the decision of a local
educational agency may appeal the decision to the department pursuant
to Chapter 5.1 (commencing with Section 4600) of Division 1 of Title
5 of the California Code of Regulations and shall receive a written
decision regarding the appeal within 60 days of the department's
receipt of the appeal.
(4) If a local educational agency finds merit in a complaint, or
if the Superintendent finds merit in an appeal, the local educational
agency shall provide a remedy to the affected pupil.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this
act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local
agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant
to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of
the Government Code.
