December 3, 2018
EDCAL 7
New laws promote student health and safety
The following article was written by Loza-
no Smith Partner Ruth Mendyk and Associate
Nicholas Felahi.
California lawmakers demonstrated a
concerted effort to promote student health
and safety by approving several bills this
session. Assembly Bills 1798, 2435 and
2816 were passed to create or expand
requirements or funding for school districts
in relation to bus transportation, air quality,
and pesticide use.
• AB 1798 - Passenger restraint systems
on all school buses by July 1, 2035.
Existing law requires passenger restraint
systems on certain classes of school buses
manufactured on or after July 1, 2005, and
July 1, 2004, depending on capacity and
weight. AB 1798 amends section 27316 of
the Vehicle Code to require that, on or be-
fore July 1, 2035, all school buses in use in
California must be equipped with a passen-
ger restraint system, effectively phasing-in
the requirement as old buses are retired and
new buses are manufactured. While the
new law creates a state mandated cost, the
bill itself provides that no reimbursement
is required because violation of the law is a
crime.
• AB 1840 - Delays implementation of
school bus safety alert requirements until
March 1, 2019.
Following a few well-publicized
incidents where students with special
needs were left on school buses, in 2016
the Legislature enacted Senate Bill 1072,
which required Local Educational Agen-
cies to install child safety alert systems in
school buses and other specified student
transport vehicles by the beginning of the
2018-19 school year. Many LEAs were
unable to meet the original deadline due to
a variety of factors, including the inability
of manufacturers and installers to meet
the demand for these devices. In response
to these issues, the Legislature included a
provision in the Education Budget Trailer
Bill, AB 1840, that extends the deadline
to install these safety devices until on or
before March 1, 2019, with an additional
six month extension for LEAs with average
daily attendance of less than 4,000, or until
September 1, 2019.
• AB 2453 - Air quality.
AB 2453 amends section 17074.25
of the Education Code and adds section
44391.3 to the California Health and
Safety Code to expand the use of certain
state aid apportionments to school districts,
allowing modernization grant money to be
used to update air filtration systems in or-
der to limit student exposure to harmful air
pollutants. The bill also authorizes schools
and school districts located in communities
with a “high cumulative exposure burden”
to work with air districts to identify schools
sites in need of air quality improvement
and to be eligible for grants as part of a
community emission reduction program.
Improvements may include, but are not
limited to, air filter installation or upgrade
and vegetation buffer planting.
• AB 2816 - Report on pesticide use.
The purpose of AB 2816 is to evaluate
certain existing rules related to the use
of pesticides at school sites, ostensibly in
order for lawmakers and regulators to make
improvements. Under the Healthy Schools
Act of 2000 (the Act), school districts are
required to follow the preferred method
of managing pests, keep records of pesti-
cide use for four years, and to notify staff
and parents about expected pesticide use
at school sites. The Act also requires the
Department of Pesticide Regulation to
establish a training program that must be
annually completed by any person who
intends to apply a pesticide at a school
site. AB 2816 adds Section 17614.5 to the
Education Code, directing the Department
of Pesticide Regulation to submit a report
to the Legislature on or before January 1,
2021, evaluating the implementation of
the Act and providing recommendation for
improvement. This new law will become
inoperative on July 1, 2021, and be repealed
on January 1, 2022.
Takeaways
Districts now have additional time to
install child safety alert systems in their
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school buses and other student transport
vehicles. Although these other new laws do
not require immediate action on the part of
LEAs, school districts should be mindful
of future compliance with bus seatbelt re-
quirements and opportunities for air quality
funding. In connection with pesticide man-
agement, school districts should continue
careful monitoring and compliance with
existing law while awaiting the Depart-
ment of Pesticide Regulation’s forthcoming
report.
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lozanosmith.com.
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