Back to School - August 2026

JULY 2026 LEGISLATIVE UPDATES

Just a few updates on legislative changes are noted below. 

Phone-Free Schools

Beginning July 1, California schools are required to have policies limiting student cellphone use during the school day to support learning, reduce distractions, and promote student well-being.

Legislative Information AB 3216

Expanded Substitute Teacher Flexibility — AB 2490 (Valencia)

While the original proposal would have restored the previous 60-day flexibility, subsequent amendments expanded the limit to 70 cumulative days and added new training, mentoring, parent notification, and reporting requirements. 

AB 2490 continues to advance through the California Legislature as a proposed stopgap measure to help schools address ongoing teacher and substitute shortages. The bill has passed the Assembly and is currently under consideration in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Under the latest version, AB 2490 would:

• Allow certain holders of an Emergency Career Substitute Teaching Permit to serve for up to 70 cumulative days in a single classroom, including special education classrooms.

• Create an alternative to the existing requirement that applicants complete at least 90 days of substitute teaching during each of the previous three years.

• Require participating substitutes to receive at least five hours of professional development, assignment-specific orientation and support from an assigned mentor.

• Require an additional 30 hours of professional development when the permit is renewed for the first time.

• Require districts and other local educational agencies to notify families within 10 schooldays when an eligible substitute is placed in the classroom.

• Require annual public reporting on extended substitute assignments and reporting to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

The legislation emphasizes that extended substitute placements should be used only as a limited, temporary option when a fully credentialed or otherwise more appropriately authorized educator is not available.

Current Status: AB 2490 passed the Assembly unanimously and advanced from the Senate Education Committee on June 24, 2026. As of August 4, it remains an active bill in the Senate Appropriations Committee and has not yet been signed into law. 

Legislation Website - AB 2490

PROPOSITION 28 UPDATE - AB 2440

I want to share an update on Proposition 28 and the ongoing work to expand K–12 arts and music education across California, along with key details below on Assembly Bill 2440.

While Prop 28 guaranteed nearly $1 billion annually for school arts programs, ambiguous administrative rules left many districts in gridlock—hesitant to spend allocations due to strict "supplement, not supplant" compliance requirements and fear of audit penalties. AB 2440 offers a practical legislative solution. By allowing local educational agencies to pool resources across campuses, share traveling arts teachers, and clearly adjust baseline funding calculations, the bill cuts through accounting red tape. If your district has faced staffing shortages or compliance hurdles while attempting to expand its arts programming, AB 2440 provides the statutory flexibility needed to get those dollars out of administrative limbo and directly into classrooms.

Here is a breakdown of information to help understand AB 2440:

• Resource & Fund Pooling: Authorizes school districts to pool Prop 28 allocations across multiple school sites. This allows smaller and mid-sized districts to share itinerant arts teachers, specialized equipment, or district-wide arts programs that individual school budgets could not fund alone.

• Clearer "Supplement, Not Supplant" Guidelines: Establishes a concrete formula to determine whether a district is maintaining its baseline arts spending. It explicitly accounts for expiring funding sources (such as temporary grant funds that ended), ensuring districts aren't penalized or accused of supplanting local funds when baseline funding shifts occur.

• Flexible Spending & Waivers: Expands allowable uses to include standards-aligned curriculum, instructional materials, and professional development—giving districts immediate options to build their programs when staffing shortages make immediate hiring unfeasible.

Legislative Update - AB 2440

PROP 28 FINAL EXPENDITURE REPORTS 2023-24 ALLOCATIONS

To help LEAs prepare to submit their Final Expenditure Reports to the CDE by October 1, 2026, for their FY 2023-24 AMS allocations, School Services of California (SSC) has created the Proposition 28 Yearly Grant Expenditure Excel Workbook, which has been updated to correct an autocomplete error associated with the district data population. The workbook contains instructions and prompts to input expenditure data by instructional, non-instructional, and administrative spending. Additionally, the CDE provides AMS Audit Compliance Worksheets that help ensure LEAs are compliant with Proposition 28’s spending requirements.

SSC encourages collaboration between instructional and business leaders to ensure accurate accounting of AMS funding and expenditures.

2026 ASSESSMENT & ACCOUNTABILITY INFO. MEETINGS

Registration is open for the virtual 2026 Assessment & Accountability Information Meetings scheduled for August 13 (Assessment Updates) and August 20 (Dashboard & Accountability Updates). These sessions provide local coordinators with critical updates regarding statewide testing and accountability indicators. You can sign up on the 2026 AAIM Zoom Registration page or request presentation updates via the Materials and Recordings form.

TCDE ATTENDANCE PROCESS OVERVIEW 

Attendance meetings play a key role in identifying barriers and connecting students and families with support. The information below provides an overview of the attendance process and the various levels of attendance meetings and supports available to schools.  Running attendance letters helps to identify students who may need additional support. Truancy letters and the 10% Attendance letter are key indicators for when an attendance meeting should be considered.  If you need assistance in how to run these reports/queries in Aeries, please reach out and we can support your school sites with these reporting how-tos. 

School Attendance Review Team (SART) Meetings

• We recommend scheduling a SART meeting after a student receives their second truancy letter, typically when they have 4–7 unexcused absences.

• Students with an excessive amount of excused absences should also be scheduled for a SART meeting after the 10% attendance letter is sent.
  
  

Who Participates in a SART Meeting
A SART (School Attendance Review Team Meeting) brings together:

• The student

• Parents or guardians

• School administration

• School and district support

• The County Attendance Department
  
  

If absences are related to illness, physical or mental health concerns, it is strongly recommended that the school nurse and counselor or mental health support be invited. The purpose of the team is to identify barriers to attendance, provide education, and connect families with appropriate supports, resources, and community referrals.

Additional Support
At any point in the attendance process, schools may request a home visit from the County and District Attorney SARB Investigator. These visits are intended to strengthen or reconnect communication between the home and school and to directly offer support.

Referral to SARB
If a student has:

• Received all three truancy letters, and

• Participated in an attendance meeting (or an attempt has been made to hold a meeting), and

• Continues to be truant
  
  

The student should then be referred to SARB (School Attendance Review Board) for further support.

UPCOMING SARB HEARINGS

South County SARB is October 22nd

North County SARB is October 29th

RESOURCES

Resources for homeless education information and the McKinney-Vento definition can be found at the following links: 

https://www.hetac.org/

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/hs/homelessdef.asp

https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/hs/cy/index.asp

Resources for Foster Youth education rights can be found in the following links:

https://www.cde.ca.gov/ls/pf/fy/fyedrights.asp

https://fyscptap.scoe.net/

https://www.cfyetf.org/_files/ugd/e7e2f5_4a5e194dfaa14bca8645b44e28189a70.pdf

AMAZING FUNDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR BILINGUAL TEACHERS AND PARAEDUCATORS

For bilingual, credentialed teachers who do not hold a BCLAD/BILA: 

CRECEMOS is a project funded by the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) grant aiming to grow and strengthen the bilingual teacher workforce. Current bilingual, credentialed teachers who do not have a bilingual authorization in Yolo, Tehama, or Glenn County are encouraged to apply for funding and support in adding on their bilingual authorization (BILA, formerly called BCLAD). 

CRECEMOS BiLA Funding Application 

FLYER

For bilingual paraeducators who want to pursue a bilingual teaching credential: 

CRECEMOS is a project funded by the Bilingual Teacher Professional Development Program (BTPDP) grant aiming to grow and strengthen the bilingual teacher workforce. Current bilingual paraeducators, preschool teachers, and teachers working on permits in Yolo, Tehama, or Glenn County or are encouraged to apply for funding and support for the path toward teaching credentials with bilingual authorization.  

CRECEMOS Paraeducator Funding Application

FLYER

Lets Read Together: August Books of the Month

Looking for your next family or classroom read? NEA's Read Across America has handpicked a book for every age group this month — perfect for building a shared reading habit at home or in class.

• Elementary: Everybelly by Thao Lam

• Middle Grades: The Blue Dress by Rebecca Morrison

• Young Adult: Ambrosia Lee Drops the Mic by Patricia Park

Grab a copy, start a conversation, and celebrate the joy of reading together this month!

See all the details and discussion guides

Your Digital Classroom: Start Strong 💻

Welcome back! A new year is a clean slate for your digital classroom, and a little setup now pays off all year long. Before the back-to-school rush hits, carve out time to get your Google Classroom running smoothly. Here are five quick wins to tackle in the first weeks:

✅ Audit your rosters first. Confirm student accounts and class rosters are active before day one. 

📂 Organize with Topics. Head to the Classwork tab and use Topics to group materials by unit, week, or subject. Set this up now, and your class stream stays clean instead of becoming an endless scroll.

🗂️ Standardize your Drive. Google Classroom auto-creates a Drive folder for each class. Decide how you will name assignments and organize folders from the start. Future you will be grateful come grading season.

🔌 Test the basics. Check student logins, your projector or display, sound, and any classroom hardware before students arrive. Spot an issue? Report it to tech support early

🤝 Set norms in week one. Establish clear expectations for device use, comment behavior, and turning in work. Norms set in the first week stick far better than rules introduced after problems start.

💬 Need a Hand?

Reach out to Erin Sutter for support or more information. Happy to help you start the year strong!