BILL ANALYSIS Ó SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair 2015 - 2016 Regular Session AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) - Pupil services: lactation accommodations ----------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Version: July 14, 2015 |Policy Vote: ED. 7 - 1 | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Urgency: No |Mandate: Yes | | | | |--------------------------------+--------------------------------| | | | |Hearing Date: August 17, 2015 |Consultant: Jillian Kissee | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File. Bill Summary: This bill requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations, as specified, and a reasonable amount of time to a lactating student to express breast milk, breast-feed an infant child, or address other needs related to breast-feeding on a campus. This bill also allows a complaint of noncompliance with these requirements to be filed with the local educational agency (LEA) under the Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP). Fiscal Impact: New lactation mandate: Unknown, potentially significant reimbursable state mandate costs for schools to provide required accommodations for breastfeeding needs. The bill allows for broad interpretation of accommodation requirements which could result in a broad range of activities determined to be reimbursable under state mandate law. (Proposition 98) AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) Page 1 of ? The California Department of Education (CDE) anticipates the need for one full-time position and one part-time position and about $147,000 to address a potential increase in appeals due to adding a new category of potential complaints. Costs will depend on actual complaints received and appeals filed. (General Fund) Expansion of existing UCP mandate: Unknown, potentially significant reimbursable state mandate costs related to developing procedures and local investigation of complaints. To the extent the Commission on State Mandates determines this bill to impose a new or expansion of an existing state mandate, this could create pressure to increase the K-12 Mandate Block Grant to reflect their inclusion. (Proposition 98) Background: Both state and federal law require employers to provide reasonable accommodations to lactating employees, including break time and the provision of private space (other than a restroom stall) in which to express breast milk or breast-feed. Existing law prohibits discriminatory practices in employment or housing accommodations on the basis of sex, and defines "sex" to include breast-feeding or medical conditions related to breast-feeding. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all aspects of education, but does not explicitly reference breast-feeding. Federal regulations prohibit discrimination against any student, or exclusion of any student from its education program or activity, including any class or extracurricular activity, on the basis of such student's pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom. Federal law also requires pregnant students and those recovering from childbirth-related conditions to be provided with the same accommodations and support services available to other students with temporary medical conditions. (Code of Federal Regulations, Title 34, §106.40) Required by federal law, the UCP was established in 1991 as a means of creating a "uniform system of complaint processing" for educational programs. State regulations require the adoption of the UCP by school districts, county offices of education, charter schools receiving federal funds, and local public or AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) Page 2 of ? private agencies which receive direct or indirect state funding to provide school programs or special education or related services. Proposed Law: This bill requires a school operated by a school district or county office of education, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and a charter school to provide reasonable accommodations and a reasonable amount of time to a lactating student on a campus to express breast milk, breast-feed an infant child, or address other needs related to breast-feeding. Among the required accommodations is access to a private and secure room, other than a restroom, to express breast milk or breast-feed an infant child. This bill authorizes a school to use an existing facility to provide reasonable accommodations. This bill allows a complaint of noncompliance with these requirements to be filed with the LEA under the UCP. A complainant not satisfied with the decision of the LEA may appeal the decision to the CDE. If a LEA or the CDE finds merit in a complaint, the LEA shall provide a remedy to the affected student. Related Legislation: There are numerous bills that expand the UCP to include additional areas in which complaints may be filed with LEAs. AB 379 (Gordon, 2015) expands the UCP to include complaints of non-compliance with certain rights and responsibilities regarding the education of students who are in foster care or who are homeless. AB 379 is pending in this Committee. SB 81 (Chapter 22, Statutes of 2015) among other things, expands the UCP to include complaints regarding an alleged violation by a local agency of federal or state law or regulations governing adult education programs or regional occupational centers and programs. AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) Page 3 of ? AB 1391 (Gomez, 2015), expands the UCP to include complaints of non-compliance with the required minimum instructional minutes for physical education. AB 1391 is pending in this Committee. AB 1012 (Jones-Sawyer, 2015) prohibits a school district serving any of grades 9 through 12 from assigning students to any course without educational content for more than one week in any semester, and prohibits the assignment of any student to a course that the student has previously completed with and received a satisfactory grade, unless specified conditions are met. AB 1012 is pending in this Committee. Staff Comments: This bill requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations for students with needs related to breast-feeding. Schools must provide access to a private and secure room for breast-feeding; allow students to bring necessary equipment to school; provide access to a power source for the necessary equipment; and a place to store expressed breast milk safely. Each school will comply with these requirements differently based on local needs and capacity. Therefore costs will vary across the state. According to the California Department of Public Health, there were about 39,000 births in California in 2011 in which mothers were under the age of 15 and up to age 19. There are over 4,000 schools maintaining grades 7 through 12. Schools may be required to purchase a safe place to store milk, such as a small refrigerator, for which costs could run into the hundreds of thousands statewide. However, since federal and state law require similar accommodations for employees, costs could be mitigated to the extent schools can use the space already established for employees. Ultimately CDE's resulting workload is unknown, as it depends on the number complaints made to LEAs, and of those, how many are appealed to the CDE. The bill's requirements for reasonable accommodations are broad and could result in additional complaints depending upon interpretation of the law. For example, "access to a private and secure room" could have broad interpretations. AB 302 (Cristina Garcia) Page 4 of ? The CDE anticipates that adding a new category of potential complaints could increase workload and the need for additional resources. Additional workload may include: amending existing or developing new regulations and related activities; updating current UCP-related documents, procedures, and policies; increasing the CDE's monitoring role including revising the monitoring instrument and training LEAs on compliance with the new requirements; technical assistance; processing appeals; and legal counsel assistance. -- END --