Effective Jan. 1, 2022, Assembly Bill 438 modifies the Education Code’s classified layoff statutes, creating additional protections for classified employees and changing how school districts and county offices of education can conduct classified layoffs. CSBA opposed AB 438 and aggressively lobbied the Legislature, highlighting the greater instability for schools the bill would create. School districts will need to plan carefully to mitigate the financial and logistical challenges AB 438 creates.

Previously, classified employees could be laid off at any time during the school year with at least 60 days’ notice, due to lack of work or lack of funds. With AB 438, the process for laying off permanent classified employees now mirrors the process for certificated employees. Except for employees whose positions must be eliminated as a result of the expiration of a specially funded program, permanent classified employees can only be laid off for the following school year if notified by March 15. While districts may still lay off classified employees due to lack of work or lack of funds, permanent classified employees have the right to request a hearing before an administrative law judge to determine if there is cause for their layoff. According to AB 438, a permanent classified employee includes an employee who was permanent at the time the notice or right to a hearing was required and an employee who became permanent after the date of the required notice.

AB 438 is expected to have significant impact on school district staffing and budgeting. School districts will need to ensure that March 15 notices are properly provided to classified employees as needed, and that the district’s collective bargaining agreements and board policies are updated as needed. The layoff process may be more burdensome and expensive as additional employees request hearings.

CSBA has updated its sample policies to reflect the changes made by AB 438.

Effective Jan. 1, 2022, Senate Bill 442 allows a county committee on school district organization to approve a school district’s creation of trustee areas and adoption of by-trustee area elections without needing an election to seek voter approval or an election waiver.

Most school districts moving to trustee areas and by-trustee elections are required to get approval by the county committee on their election change. Previously, a district would either get a waiver from the State Board of Education to change electoral systems or — after submitting their maps to their county committee on school district organization for approval — put the matter before voters. Under SB 442, school districts with election proposals approved by their county committee will no longer need to seek an election for voter approval or a State Board waiver of their election change as long as the change was made in furtherance of the purposes of the California Voting Rights Act.

On Sept. 15, 2021, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed AB 361, which amended the Brown Act to allow governing boards to continue conducting remote public meetings, subject to certain requirements. As an urgency measure, AB 361 took effect immediately, and remains in effect through 2023.

Generally, if a board uses teleconferencing for a public meeting, the Brown Act requires that a quorum of the board participate from within the geographic boundaries of the board’s jurisdiction, the meeting notice be posted at each teleconference location, and the public be allowed to address the board from each teleconference location. These requirements are waived when meeting under AB 361.

AB 361 provides that boards need not follow the Brown Act’s teleconferencing rules if the board makes a finding that there is a proclaimed state of emergency and either state or local officials have imposed or recommended social distancing measures or meeting in person would present imminent risks to the health or safety of attendees due to the emergency. If a board chooses to continue to use the option provided in AB 361, the board must make such findings every 30 days. While a resolution is not required, it does provide one way to record such findings. CSBA has sample resolutions recognizing a state of emergency and authorizing teleconferenced meetings pursuant to AB 361 available at www.csba.org/Resolutions.

Boards utilizing the remote meeting option under AB 361 must give notice of the meeting and post the agenda as otherwise required by the Brown Act, provide members of the public virtual access to the meeting and an opportunity to address the board in real-time through that virtual access, stop the meeting if there is a disruption to the call-in or internet-based service option, and allow reasonable time per agenda item for public comment.

Under existing law, school districts must provide a union with the name, job title, department, work location, work, home and personal cellular telephone numbers, personal email addresses on file with the employer, and home address of all bargaining unit employees every 120 days, and of any new bargaining unit employee within 30 days of hire or by the first pay period of the month following hire.

Effective July 1, 2022, SB 270 authorizes unions to file an unfair labor practice charge before the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) against public employers that fail to comply with the requirements to disclose employee information to the unions. Specifically, a union can now file an unfair practice charge with PERB if the employer does not provide the required information within 20 calendar days after receipt of written notice of the alleged violation, with potential penalty up to $10,000 and attorney’s fees for violations. The union must provide written notice to the employer before filing an unfair labor practice, and the employer may cure the violation within 20 days. Employers may only use the option to cure three times in any 12-month period.

Please note that the information provided here by CSBA is for informational purposes and is not legal advice. Please contact your district or county office of education’s legal counsel, or CSBA’s District and County Office of Education Legal Services, for legal questions related to this information.