Postsecondary education: Gender and Sex Discrimination Educational Oversight Office.

Senator Cervantes proposes establishing a statewide Gender and Sex Discrimination Educational Oversight Office under California's Attorney General to monitor Title IX compliance across postsecondary institutions. The office would serve as a point of contact for students dissatisfied with their campus policies or investigative procedures related to harassment, rape, sexual assault, and gender discrimination.

The legislation creates new reporting requirements for California's higher education institutions. Community colleges, California State University campuses, independent institutions, and University of California locations must submit annual reports detailing incidents of harassment, sexual assault, and related violence involving enrolled students. These reports must include investigation timelines, outcomes, imposed sanctions, and any resulting criminal proceedings. The oversight office would have authority to examine institutional policies and procedures following incidents, with power to make recommendations to the Attorney General or local prosecutors.

Under the measure, the office would receive and review student complaints about campus non-compliance with Title IX and state discrimination laws. The office may develop processes to investigate campus policies and procedures related to these complaints. For community college districts, which would face new mandated costs under these requirements, the bill provides for state reimbursement through existing statutory mechanisms if the Commission on State Mandates determines expenses qualify.