Special education: public complaint database., the official text

An act to add Section 56049.2 to the Education Code, relating to special education.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

Existing law requires that every individual with exceptional needs, as defined, who is eligible, be provided with educational instruction, services, or both, at no cost to their parent or guardian or, as appropriate, to them. Under existing law, a free appropriate public education is required to be made available to individuals with exceptional needs in accordance with specified federal regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Existing law requires the State Department of Education to investigate a complaint alleging a violation of the act and to issue a written decision within 60 days of the complaint being filed, as provided.
This bill would require the department, on or before January 1, 2030, to create, or contract to create, and maintain a publicly available online aggregate database of all complaints that the department receives on and after July 1, 2027, that allege a violation of the federal law described above. The bill would require the database to include specified data for each complaint, including, among other things, the total number of complaints the department investigated disaggregated by school district, county office of education, or charter school. After the database has been created, the bill would require the department to ensure that the data required to be included in the database is updated and published on or before December 31 of each year.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.
Section 56049.2 is added to the Education Code, immediately following Section 56049.1, to read:
56049.2.
(a) (1) On or before January 1, 2030, the department shall create, or contract to create, and maintain a publicly available online aggregate database of complaints received by the department, on and after July 1, 2027, for an alleged violation of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.) or regulations implementing the act (Part 300 (commencing with Section 300.1) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations).
(2) The database shall include, but not be limited to, the following data for complaints described in paragraph (1):
(A) The total number of complaints the department investigated, disaggregated by local educational agency.
(B) The number of complaints in which a violation was found, disaggregated by local educational agency and the federal law violated.
(C) The total number of complaints in which a violation was found and corrective action was required, and the total number of corrective action requirements that were met within one year of the written decision, disaggregated by local educational agency.
(b) After the database described in paragraph (1) of subdivision (a) has been created, the department shall ensure that the data required to be included in the database, as described in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a), is updated and published on or before December 31 of each year.
(c) This section shall not be construed to require the department to publicly disclose individual complaint files, written decisions, or any other records that are subject to the provisions of Section 56504 or the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 2001 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1232g).
(d) For purposes of this section, “local educational agency” means a school district, county office of education, or charter school.