Special education: nonpublic schools and agencies

Local educational agencies may use a broader pool of nonpublic schools and agencies for students with disabilities, but public placements and funding must remain secular and subject to stronger accountability. The law also tightens screening, reporting, monitoring, and certification requirements.

What the law does ​

• Removes the requirement that contracted nonpublic special-education schools and agencies be nonsectarian.
• Bars public funds from paying for religious instruction and bars providers from giving religious instruction to students placed by local educational agencies.
• Requires contracted services to be secular, neutral, respectful of religious views, and free from discrimination based on protected characteristics.
• Requires expanded fingerprint-based background checks, arrest-notification enrollment, credential monitoring, and reporting of serious student incidents and alleged misconduct.
• Requires suspension or revocation of certification for specified violations and immediate action when student health or safety is compromised or at risk.
• Bars the State Board of Education from granting general waivers of special-education law and sets stricter conditions for placement-related waivers beginning in 2027.

Who it affects ​

• Students with disabilities placed in certified nonpublic schools or receiving services from nonpublic agencies.
• Parents and guardians participating in individualized education program placement decisions.
• Nonpublic schools, nonpublic agencies, their owners, staff, contractors, and credentialed employees.
• School districts, county offices of education, charter schools, and special education local plan areas that contract for these services.

Breakdown ​

Rules for Special Education Providers ​

SB 685 allows religiously affiliated nonpublic schools and agencies to contract for special education services, but bars public funding and services for religious instruction. It adds safeguards on religious neutrality, nondiscrimination, staff credentials, criminal-background checks, state monitoring, and reporting of student incidents and employee misconduct. Contracts and service agreements must include these requirements.

Key takeaways

• The bill removes the rule that contracted nonpublic schools and agencies must be nonsectarian, while prohibiting them from giving religious instruction to students placed by local educational agencies.
• Public funds may not pay for religious instruction, and tuition or fees under these contracts must exclude costs attributable to religious instruction.
• Applicants for certification or renewal must certify under penalty of perjury that services for publicly placed students are secular, neutral, and respectful of religion and religious views.
• Nonpublic schools and agencies may not discriminate against any person on the protected bases specified by law while providing services under these contracts, agreements, or education programs.
• The bill strengthens certification and oversight requirements by requiring criminal-background clearances and arrest-notification enrollment for owners, operators, employees, and applicable contractors, along with added credential and staffing documentation for nonpublic schools.
• Nonpublic schools must report additional serious student incidents and certain reportable conduct, and must report credentialed employees’ misconduct-related employment-status changes to the Commission on Teacher Credentialing within 30 days.

Mandatory Certification Action ​

The bill makes suspension or revocation of a nonpublic school or agency's certification mandatory when it commits specified reporting violations, rather than leaving that decision to the Superintendent. It also changes the deadlines for reporting certain events. When a department investigation finds that pupil health or safety has been harmed or is at risk, the department must immediately suspend or revoke certification.

Key takeaways

• The bill requires certification to be suspended or revoked for specified violations that previously allowed, but did not require, that action.
• The covered violations include failing to report certain staff or facility changes, license or permit suspensions or revocations, and a pupil's death.
• The bill revises the deadlines for providing these required notices.
• If an investigation finds that pupil health or safety has been compromised or is at risk, the department must immediately suspend or revoke the school's or agency's certification.

Limits on Special Education Waivers ​

The bill stops the State Board of Education from waiving any state special education laws through the general waiver process. Starting January 1, 2027, a public agency seeking a waiver connected to placing a student outside a local educational agency must meet added conditions before the waiver can be approved, including explaining how it will oversee and evaluate the placement.

Key takeaways

• The State Board of Education may no longer waive any part of state laws related to special education through the general waiver process.
• The bill adds approval limits for certain public-agency waiver requests submitted on or after January 1, 2027.
• These limits apply when a waiver concerns placing a student somewhere other than a local educational agency.
• A qualifying waiver request must describe how the requesting public agency will oversee and evaluate the student’s placement.
• The waiver also must satisfy other specified requirements before the State Board of Education may approve it.

Monitoring Credential Actions at Nonpublic Schools ​

The bill requires the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to give the State Department of Education its list of credentialholders facing final adverse credential action. It requires the department and certain local educational agencies to monitor credentialholders at nonpublic schools and verify that anyone whose credential is suspended or revoked is removed from contact with California pupils.

Key takeaways

• The Commission on Teacher Credentialing must provide its adverse-action credentialholder list to the State Department of Education, in addition to private schools.
• The State Department of Education must request notice from the commission about the list and monitor the status of credentialholders working at nonpublic schools.
• The department must confirm that a credentialholder is removed from contact with California pupils when that person's credential is suspended or revoked.
• A local educational agency must meet the same monitoring and confirmation requirements for each nonpublic school with which it has a master contract.

Conditional Coordination With Other Bills ​

This part coordinates SB 685 with two other bills that may amend the same Education Code sections. The added changes to Sections 48986 and 51225.2 apply only if the related bills are also enacted and SB 685 is enacted after them.

Key takeaways

• SB 685 includes additional changes to Education Code Section 48986 that were proposed by AB 1943.
• Those Section 48986 changes take effect only if both SB 685 and AB 1943 are enacted and SB 685 is enacted last.
• SB 685 also includes additional changes to Education Code Section 51225.2 that were proposed by AB 1659.
• Those Section 51225.2 changes take effect only if both SB 685 and AB 1659 are enacted and SB 685 is enacted last.

State Reimbursement ​

The bill states that the state does not have to reimburse local agencies or school districts for costs caused by this act. It gives a specified reason for that conclusion under California’s state-mandate reimbursement rules.

Key takeaways

• The bill says no state reimbursement is required for costs resulting from this act.
• California ordinarily reimburses local agencies and school districts for certain state-required costs.
• This provision applies the state’s existing rules for determining when reimbursement is not required.