Elementary and secondary education: omnibus.

The California Assembly Committee on Education proposes changes to teaching credentials, preschool program requirements, smartphone policies, and physical education standards through amendments to multiple sections of the Education Code. The legislation removes restrictions preventing teachers from adding subject authorizations in areas where they already hold credentials, while maintaining existing competency requirements for additional teaching authorizations.

For preschool programs, the bill clarifies that alternative term schedule requirements must be calculated based on schooldays rather than other metrics. It maintains the requirement that state preschool programs reserve 5% of enrollment for children with exceptional needs, with full funding mandated to support this provision. Programs not meeting this threshold by July 2026 may face conditional contracts unless granted a waiver.

The measure requires school districts, county education boards, and charter schools to develop evidence-based smartphone usage policies by July 2026, with mandatory stakeholder input from students, parents and educators. While the policies may include enforcement mechanisms limiting access, exceptions are preserved for emergencies, teacher-approved use, medical necessity, and accommodation of individual education plans. The legislation explicitly prohibits monitoring students' online activities.

Physical education requirements are modified to specify that alternative term schedules must provide grade 6 students with 400 minutes of instruction per 10 schooldays and grades 7-12 with 800 minutes per 10 schooldays, maintaining existing total instructional minute requirements. The amendments establish formal procedures for filing and appealing complaints about non-compliance with physical education mandates.