Learn how new state laws might impact local learning and school environments.
A historic civil rights case that began in Orange County. Changing biological trends in young girls. Protection for kids still figuring out their identity. And a deeper look at Native Americans in California’s history.
A quartet of new state laws that came into effect in January might have ripple effects in Orange County public schools this school year and for your own family.
Two laws add new lessons that could deepen and widen students’ views of California history, while two other laws allow elementary school girls to have access to menstruation products and LGBTQ teens to be protected from being outed by teachers or school staff.
Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Assemblymember Tri Ta (R-Westminster) authored Assembly Bill 1805, which will highlight the importance of the Mendez vs. Westminster case in the nation’s history.
In 1943, Gonzalo and Felicitas Mendez, both U.S. citizens, were not allowed to enroll their kids at Westminster’s 17th Street School because of their Mexican heritage. They were told to enroll them at a school for Mexican-American kids. But the Mendezes teamed up with four other families in the same predicament and took the case to court, arguing the segregation policy violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The U.S. District Court ruled in their favor in 1946 and the decision was upheld a year later by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The success of the case set up the legal groundwork that eventually lead to the landmark case of Brown vs. Board of Education.
Orange County Superintendent of Schools Stefan Bean said in the Orange County Department of Education Newsroom in September that the addition of the case to social science classes “will help ensure that every student understands … the immense potential of uniting for a common purpose — educational access,” and that it “serves as a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when we work together to support all students.”
A 2024 study in the Journal of American Medicine gave scientific credibility to what many parents were already seeing: A rising number of girls are reaching puberty earlier than girls in the 1950s and 1960s. But in what is called precocious puberty, some girls are now experiencing their first menstrual periods as early as age 9. Endocrinologists point to rising childhood obesity, poor nutrition and pesticides, plastics and other environmental factors as likely causes.
Because of the trend, AB 230 amends existing law so that elementary schools will also stock free menstrual products, like pads and tampons.
Assembly Bill 1821 adds instruction in social science classes for grades one through 12 of the mistreatment of Native Californian tribes at the hands of the Spanish during their colonization of the state, as well as by settlers during the Gold Rush era. But also, instruction about indigenous contributions to state history and perspective from native tribes themselves.
Recent forced outing policies required teachers to notify parents if their child identifies as transgender, even if doing so put the child in danger.
Assembly Bill 1955, known as the SAFETY Act, is intended to strengthen existing state protections against forced outings of LGBTQ+ students in schools, and also “provide additional protections to educators who face retaliatory actions from administrators and school boards for seeking to create an inclusive and safe school environment,” according to the bill.
The bill allows families to decide when they are ready to have conversations about gender and sexual orientation, and keeps local governments from imposing policies that interfere in people’s lives. The SAFETY Act is also in step with existing California law and most school district policies.
By Shawn Price
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