Latest bill textAmended version, April 9, 2026 · 860 words
Amended IN Assembly April 09, 2026
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Amended IN Assembly March 23, 2026
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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 1861
Introduced by Assembly Member Lackey
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan and Lowenthal)
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February 11, 2026 |
An act to add Section 56049.2 to the Education Code, relating to special education.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1861, as amended, Lackey. Special education: public complaint database.
Existing law requires that every individual with exceptional needs, as defined, who is eligible, be provided with educational instruction, services, or both, at no cost to their parent or guardian or, as appropriate, to them. Under existing law, a free appropriate public education is required to be made available to individuals with exceptional needs in accordance with specified federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to investigate a complaint alleging a violation of the act and to issue a written decision within 60 days of the complaint being filed, as provided. Existing law requires the findings and declarations of the written decision to be made available to the public after any personally identifiable information has been deleted.
This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, to create, or contract to create, and maintain an a publicly available online aggregate database of all complaints described above that the department receives and that the department has received consent to post beginning with the first school year in which the database is operational. The bill would require the department, before entering any documents into the database, to obtain consent from the complainant to add the report to the database and to redact any personally identifiable information, as provided. The bill would require the department to notify school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools of these requirements. on and after July 1, 2027, that allege a violation of the federal law described above. The bill would require the database to include specified data for each complaint, including, among other things, the total number of complaints the department investigated disaggregated by school district, county office of education, or charter school. After the database has been created, the bill would require the department to ensure that the data required to be included in the database is updated and published on or before December 31 of each year.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Section 56049.2 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 56049.1, to read:
56049.2.
(a)
(1) On or before January 1, 2030, the department shall create, or contract to create, and maintain
an a publicly available online
aggregate database of complaints received by the
department pursuant to Section 56500.2. The database shall include both of the following: department, on and after July 1, 2027, for an alleged violation of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.) or regulations implementing the act (Part 300 (commencing with Section 300.1) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations).(1)All complaints received by the department that it has received consent to post beginning with the first school year in which the database is operational.
(2)Within 30 days of the department issuing its decision pursuant to Section 300.152(a)(5) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, the investigation report, which includes the summary of allegations, applicable citations, findings of fact, conclusions, and required corrective actions.
(b)Before entering any documents into the database, the department shall obtain consent from the complainant to add the report to the database and redact any personally identifiable information consistent with the confidentiality requirements of Section 1417(c) of Title 20 of the United States Code.
(c)The department shall notify school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools of the requirements of this section.
(2) The database shall include, but not be limited to, the following data for complaints described in paragraph (1):
(A) The total number of complaints the department investigated, disaggregated by local educational agency.
(B) The number of complaints in which a violation was found, disaggregated by local educational agency and the federal law violated.
(C) The total number of complaints in which a violation was found and corrective action was required, and the total number of corrective action requirements that were met within one year of the written decision, disaggregated by local educational agency.
(b) After the database described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) has been created, the department shall ensure that the data required to be included in the database, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), is updated and published on or before December 31 of each year.
(c) This section shall not be construed to require the department to publicly disclose individual complaint files, written decisions, or any other records that are subject to the provisions of Section 56504 or the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g).
(d) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.
