Special education: nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies.

Senator Grove, with principal coauthors Senator Rubio and Assembly Members Lackey and Patel, advances a measure that places new requirements on how California oversees placements in nonpublic, nonsectarian schools serving students with disabilities, beginning with a mandate that pupils receive copies of their rights and procedural safeguards alongside existing protections for families. The bill frames this as part of a broader effort to increase accountability for special education placements, including those outside the state, and to document the process as part of the pupil’s individualized education program (IEP).

Key provisions require that pupils be provided with their rights and procedural safeguards, in addition to the rights provided to parents, and that local educational agencies incur new duties as a state-mandated local program. For nonpublic, nonsectarian schools or agencies seeking certification, the bill adds assurances that the application includes compliance with behavioral intervention laws. Commencing with the 2026–27 school year, if the school or agency is located outside California, the Superintendent must perform additional actions before certification: review policies on restraint and seclusion for consistency with California law and interview all pupils with IEPs during onsite reviews to discuss progress and concerns, with a department-developed interview tool to be created by July 1, 2026 and made available to local educational agencies.

The bill also expands onsite monitoring and reporting requirements for out-of-state placements: the monitoring visit must include an in-person pupil interview to evaluate health and safety, and findings must be reported to the department on a department-created form, with updates by July 1, 2026 to require additional findings for out-of-state schools. A quarterly check-in by unmonitored telephone call with the pupil, conducted in a manner consistent with the pupil’s IEP, is required. Beginning in 2026–27, the department must make available certain information about certification status and supporting documentation to local educational agencies upon request, and the LEA must disclose this information to the pupil’s parent or guardian at the time placement is considered, with the IEP noting that the information was provided and discussed. Privacy provisions are strengthened to ensure private and confidential communication between pupils, their IEP teams, and the department’s Constituent Services Office.

In addition to these oversight changes, the bill revises certification processes and related reporting and governance: it imposes annual fees for certification by pupil count, requires separation of financial records and audits for entities operating both nonpublic schools and licensed children’s institutions, and restricts reimbursement for costs not meeting certification requirements. It also tightens conditions for revocation or suspension of certification and requires notification to contracting local educational agencies when a certification decision is made. The act introduces enhanced confidentiality rules for communications and expands the scope of onsite reviews to consider facility, staff credentials, and compliance with state behavioral and safety standards, including specific requirements for incidents and health or safety concerns.

Taken together, the provisions establish a framework to broaden oversight of nonpublic, nonsectarian placements, particularly those located outside California, by formalizing pupil-facing rights disclosures, introducing standardized interview tools and enhanced reporting, and tying certification to explicit behavioral intervention and governance requirements. The measure situates these changes within existing statutory structures for child find, notification of rights, and local plan area monitoring, while adding new mechanisms intended to improve transparency and accountability for placement decisions and the services provided to students with exceptional needs.