AB 302, as amended, 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 schoolbegin delete districtend deletebegin insert 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 schoolend insert tobegin delete provideend deletebegin insert
provide, only if there is at least one lactating pupil on the school campus,end insert reasonable accommodations to a lactating pupil on abegin delete highend delete school campus to express breast milk,begin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert an infant child, or address other needs related tobegin delete breastfeeding.end deletebegin insert breast-feeding.end insert 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 orbegin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert
breast-feedend insert 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 abegin delete highend delete school campus be given a reasonable amount of time to accommodate the need to express breast milk orbegin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert
an infant child.begin delete The bill would require a school district to provide reasonable accommodations, as specified, only if there is at least one lactating pupil on a high school campus in that district.end deletebegin insert 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 in accordance with specified procedures and would require the local educational agency to conduct an investigation and issue a written decision within 5 schooldays of its receipt of such a complaint. 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 30 days of its receipt of the appeal.end insert The bill would also include a statement of legislative findings and declarations. By imposing additional duties onbegin delete school districts,end deletebegin insert local educational agencies,end insert 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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: yes.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(a) Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C.
4Sec. 1681 et seq.) prohibits sex discrimination in educational
5institutions, which includes discrimination against pregnant and
6parenting pupils.
7(b) The federal regulations implementing Title IX of the
8Education Amendments of 1972 specify that sex discrimination
9includes discrimination against a pupil based on pregnancy,
10childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy, or recovery
11from childbirth-related conditions.
12(c) The federal regulations implementing Title IX of the
13Education Amendments of 1972 require a pupil with temporary
14medical conditions occasioned by pregnancy or related to recovery
15from childbirth to be treated the same as any other pupil with a
16temporary disability.
17(d) The Sex Equity in Education Act (Article 4 (commencing
18with Section 221.5) of Chapter 2 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title
191 of the Education Code) prohibits sex discrimination in
20educational institutions, which includes discrimination against
21pregnant and parenting pupils.
22(e) The regulations implementing the Sex Equity in Education
23Act prohibit educational institutions from applying any rule
24concerning a pupil’s actual or potential parental, family, or
marital
25status that treats a pupil differently on the basis of sex.
26(f) The Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code)
27prohibits businesses, including public schools, from discriminating
28based on sex, which includes discrimination on the basis of
29pregnancy, childbirth, or medical conditions related to pregnancy
30or childbirth.
31(g) Denial of accommodations to a pupil who chooses to
32begin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert or express breast milk while at school is
33prohibited sex discrimination.
P4 1(h) Despite these laws, California schools are failing to
2accommodate
the needs of lactating pupil parents on their campuses
3by providing them with reasonable time and private space to
4express breast milk,begin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert infant children, or
5address other needs related tobegin delete breastfeeding.end deletebegin insert breast-feeding.end insert
Section 222 is added to the Education Code, to read:
(a) Abegin insert school operated by aend insert schoolbegin delete districtend deletebegin insert district or a
8county office of education, the California School for the Deaf, the
9California School for the Blind, and a charter schoolend insert shall provide
10reasonable accommodations to a lactating pupil on abegin delete highend delete school
11campus to express breast milk,begin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert
breast-feedend insert an infant
12child, or address other needs related tobegin delete breastfeeding.end delete
13begin insert breast-feeding.end insert Reasonable accommodations under this section
14include, but are not limited to, all of the following:
15(1) Access to a private and secure room, other than a restroom,
16to express breast milk orbegin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert an infant child.
17(2) Permission to bring onto a school campus a breast pump
18and any other equipment used to express breast
milk.
19(3) Access to a power source for a breast pump or any other
20equipment used to express breast milk.
21(4) Access to a place to store expressed breast milk safely.
22(b) A lactating pupil on abegin delete highend delete
school campus shall be provided
23a reasonable amount of time to accommodate her need to express
24breast milk orbegin delete breastfeedend deletebegin insert breast-feedend insert an infant child.
25(c) A schoolbegin delete districtend deletebegin insert specified in subdivision (a)end insert shall provide
26the reasonable accommodations specified in subdivisions (a) and
27(b) only if there is at least one lactating pupil onbegin delete a highend deletebegin insert
theend insert school
28begin delete campus in that district.end deletebegin insert
campus.end insert
29(d) A pupil shall not incur an academic penalty as a result of
30her use, during the schoolday, of the reasonable accommodations
31specified in this section, and shall be provided the opportunity to
32make up any work missed due to such use.
33(e) (1) A complaint of noncompliance with the requirements of
34this section may be filed with the local educational agency under
35the Uniform Complaint Procedures set forth in Chapter 5.1
36(commencing with Section 4600) of Division 1 of Title 5 of the
37California Code of Regulations.
38(2) Within five schooldays of a local educational agency’s
39receipt of a complaint alleging a violation of the requirements of
40this section, the local
educational agency shall conduct a complete
P5 1investigation and issue a written local educational agency decision.
2The investigation and decision shall comply with the requirements
3of subdivisions (b) to (d), inclusive, and paragraphs (1) to (7),
4inclusive, of subdivision (e), of Section 4631 of Title 5 of the
5California Code of Regulations.
6(3) A complainant not satisfied with the decision of a local
7educational agency may appeal the decision to the department
8pursuant to Chapter 5.1 (commencing with Section 4600) of
9Division 1 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.
10(4) If the complainant appeals a local educational agency
11decision regarding an alleged violation of the requirements of
12subdivisions (a) through (d), inclusive, of this section, the
13department shall issue a written decision regarding the appeal
14within 30 days of the department’s receipt of the appeal.
If the Commission on State Mandates determines that
16this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to
17local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made
18pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division
194 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
O
97