SB 848 Expands AB 2534’s School Employee Misconduct Disclosure Requirement, Expands Mandated Reporter Training Requirements, and Addresses Pupil Safety Policies for both Public and Private Schools

11.03.2025

On October 7, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 848. SB 848 is a comprehensive bill the Legislature intended to address pupil safety and school employee misconduct disclosure for both public and private K-12 employers. The significant changes implemented by SB 848 will take effect January 1, 2026. In summary, SB 848 requires a former school employer to release employment records pertaining to “egregious misconduct” of noncertificated (classified) employees and expands existing similar requirements for private school employers. SB 848 also expands the requirements for school safety plans and mandated reporting requirements.

Existing law (AB 2534) requires that, upon inquiry, a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school that has made a report of a certificated employee’s egregious misconduct to the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing (“CTC”) disclose this fact to a school district, county office of education, charter school, or state special school considering an applicant for certificated employment. SB 848 amends Education Code section 44939.5 expanding this requirement to include private schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education.

Effective January 1, 2026, SB 848 adds Education Code section 44051 to require a similar process for noncertificated (classified) applicants seeking employment with a school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school or diagnostic center operated by the department, and/or a private school. SB 848 applies to applicants for any type of employment with a private school. Specifically, section 44051 requires an applicant for a noncertificated position at a school district, county office of education, charter school, state special school or diagnostic center operated by the department, or any position at a private school to provide their prospective employer with a complete list of every educational institution at which the employee has been employed. Prospective employers must inquire with each listed agency as to whether the applicant was the subject of any credible complaints of, substantiated investigations into, or discipline for, egregious misconduct “that were used to support a substantiated investigation.”[1] The former employer is also required to provide the inquiring agency with a copy of all relevant records in its possession regarding egregious misconduct when responding to an inquiry.

Notably, there is no statutory or regulatory reporting requirement for noncertificated employees. In contrast, local educational agencies (“LEA”) are required to notify the CTC when a certificated employee has a change in employment status because of an allegation of misconduct, or while an allegation of misconduct is pending. (5 CCR § 80303.). To address this, SB 848 added Education Code section 44052 to have the CTC create a statewide data system for tracking noncertificated complaints and investigations of egregious misconduct. However, the provisions of Education Code section 44052 are “contingent upon an appropriation for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another statute.” Thus, until the funding is provided, the requirements of section 44052 are not triggered. AALRR will continue to track whether funds are appropriated for the data tracking system, as it would trigger additional reporting requirements for school employers.

Regarding pupil safety and the learning environment, SB 848 adds Education Code section 32100 which requires each governing board of a school district, county board of the education, and governing body of a charter school or private school, and the department, for purposes of state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the department to adopt a written policy to “promote safe environments for pupil learning and engagement” by July 1, 2026. The policy must address “professional boundaries” between employees and students and “[e]stablish appropriate limits on contact during or outside of the school day between pupils and [employees] via social media internet platforms, text messaging, and other forms of communication that do not otherwise include the pupil’s parent or guardian.”

SB 848 also amended Education Code section 32280 et. seq. to require that comprehensive school safety plans include procedures designed to address supervision and protection of children from abuse, neglect, and sex offenses. This Education Code section is only applicable to public school districts and county offices of education.

SB 848 amends Penal Code section 11165.7 and Education Code section 44691 to clarify and expand mandated reporter training requirements. Existing law requires that school districts, county offices of education, state special schools and diagnostic centers operated by the State Department of Education, and charter schools provide annual training to employees and persons working on their behalf who are mandated reporters as defined by Penal Code section 11165.7. SB 848 broadens these requirements by expanding the annual training requirement, for instance, to private schools and to volunteers and board members of a public school. SB 848 clarifies that volunteers will be deemed mandated reporters subject to the training requirement if they “interact with pupils outside of the immediate supervision and control of the pupil’s parent or guardian or a school employee.”

If your agency requires counsel on how to prepare for upcoming changes and compliance with SB 848 or if you have any questions about this Alert, please contact your AALRR attorney or the authors of this Alert.

[1] This is the phrasing of Education Code section 44051.