Bill Text: CA AB543 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Education: sexual harassment: written policy: posters.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-10-02 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 428, Statutes of 2019. [AB543 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB543-Chaptered.html
Assembly Bill
No. 543
CHAPTER 428
An act to amend Section 231.5 of, and to add Section 231.6 to, the Education Code, relating to education.
[
Approved by
Governor
October 02, 2019.
Filed with
Secretary of State
October 02, 2019.
]
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 543, Smith.
Education: sexual harassment: written policy: posters.
Existing law requires each educational institution in the state to have a written policy on sexual harassment and to display that policy in a prominent location, as defined, in the main administrative building or other area of the educational institution’s campus or schoolsite. Existing law requires a copy of that policy, as it pertains to students, to be provided as part of any orientation program conducted for new students at the beginning of each quarter, semester, or summer session, as applicable.
This bill would require a copy of that policy to also be provided as part of an orientation program conducted for continuing pupils, as specified.
This bill would require each schoolsite in a school district, county office of education, or charter school, serving pupils in any of grades 9 through 12,
inclusive, to create a poster that notifies pupils of that policy and to prominently and conspicuously display the poster in each bathroom and locker room at the schoolsite. The bill would authorize the poster to be prominently and conspicuously displayed in public areas at the schoolsite, as specified. The bill would require the poster to be age appropriate and culturally relevant, be displayed in English and any primary language spoken by 15% or more of the pupils enrolled at the schoolsite, be no smaller than 8.5 by 11 inches, use at least 12-point type, and display certain information pertaining to that policy, including the rules and procedures for reporting a charge of sexual harassment.
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.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: YESBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 231.5 of the Education Code is amended to read:231.5.
(a) It is the policy of the State of California, pursuant to Section 200, that all persons, regardless of their sex, should enjoy freedom from discrimination of any kind in the educational institutions of the state. The purpose of this section is to provide notification of the prohibition against sexual harassment as a form of sexual discrimination and to provide notification of available remedies.(b) Each educational institution in the State of California shall have a written policy on sexual harassment. It is the intent of the Legislature that each educational institution in this state include this policy in its regular policy statement rather than distribute an additional written document.
(c) The educational institution’s written policy on sexual harassment shall include information on where to obtain the specific rules and procedures for reporting charges of sexual harassment and for pursuing available remedies.
(d) A copy of the educational institution’s written policy on sexual harassment shall be displayed in a prominent location in the main administrative building or other area of the campus or schoolsite. “Prominent location” means that location, or those locations, in the main administrative building or other area where notices regarding the institution’s rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct are posted.
(e) A copy of the educational institution’s written policy on sexual harassment, as
it pertains to pupils, shall be provided as part of any orientation program conducted for new and continuing pupils at the beginning of each quarter, semester, or summer session, as applicable.
(f) A copy of the educational institution’s written policy on sexual harassment shall be provided for each faculty member, all members of the administrative staff, and all members of the support staff at the beginning of the first quarter or semester of the school year, or at the time that there is a new employee hired.
(g) A copy of the educational institution’s written policy on sexual harassment shall appear in any publication of the institution that sets forth the comprehensive rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct for the institution.
SEC. 2.
Section 231.6 is added to the Education Code, to read:231.6.
(a) Each schoolsite in a school district, county office of education, or charter school, serving pupils in any of grades 9 through 12, inclusive, shall create a poster that notifies pupils of the applicable written policy on sexual harassment described in Section 231.5.(b) The schoolsite may partner with local, state, or federal agencies, or nonprofit organizations, for purposes of the design and content of the poster.
(c) The language in the poster shall be age appropriate and culturally relevant, and the schoolsite may partner with local, state, or federal agencies, or nonprofit organizations, for these purposes.
(d) The poster shall be displayed in English and any primary language spoken by 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled at the schoolsite as determined pursuant to Section 48985.
(e) The poster shall be no smaller than 8.5 by 11 inches and use at least 12-point font.
(f) The poster shall display, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) The rules and procedures for reporting a charge of sexual harassment.
(2) The name, phone number, and email address of an appropriate schoolsite official to contact to report a charge of sexual harassment.
(3) The rights of the reporting pupil, the complainant, and the respondent, and the responsibilities of the schoolsite in accordance with
the applicable written policy on sexual harassment.
(g) (1) The poster shall be prominently and conspicuously displayed in each bathroom and locker room at the schoolsite.
(2) (A) The poster may be prominently and conspicuously displayed in public areas at the schoolsite that are accessible to, and commonly frequented by, pupils, including, but not limited to, classrooms, classroom hallways, gymnasiums, auditoriums, and cafeterias.
(B) The governing board of a school district, governing body of a charter school, and county board of education shall have full discretion to select the appropriate public areas to display the poster at the schoolsite.
