Legislative Alert - Governor Signs SB 328

Today, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 328 (Portantino, D – La Cañada Flintridge) into law. The "school start time bill," as it has come to be known, prohibits middle schools from starting the regular school day before 8:00 a.m., and prevents high schools from starting the regular school day before 8:30 a.m. The bill exempts, but does not provide a definition of, rural school districts. Schools, including charters, must comply with the new start times by July 1, 2022, or the date on which the school’s collective bargaining agreement that is in place on January 1, 2020 expires, whichever is later.

This bill was vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown last year. Despite strong opposition from a diverse coalition of education stakeholders, labor and management groups, and both chairs of the education policy committees, Senator Portantino was able to get the bill signed. We expect there to be several attempts to "clean up" SB 328 in the coming legislative session, which will likely include defining rural school district.

Today was the last day for the Governor to act on any legislation that was still on his desk and we will soon be sending out our Changes in Law Reports, which will cover all new education laws that were passed this year.

 Barrett Snider

Partner

Capitol Advisors Group

925 L Street, Suite 1200

Sacramento, CA 95814