AB 1135 adds Section 234.55 to the California Education Code and requires the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop and post guidance and a list of statewide resources aimed at preventing teen dating violence by July 1, 2026. The bill then requires each county office of education, school district, and charter school that maintains any of grades 7–12 to publish that guidance and resource list on their public websites by January 1, 2027.
The statute limits the local duty to posting materials online rather than imposing new curriculum or training requirements, but it does create a state-mandated local program; if the Commission on State Mandates finds the bill imposes reimbursable costs, reimbursement is tied to existing Government Code provisions. For compliance officers and district administrators, the bill is primarily an operational requirement with a short implementation window and potential budget implications if reimbursement is not approved.
At a Glance
What It Does
Requires the Superintendent to produce and post statewide guidance and a resource list for preventing teen dating violence by July 1, 2026, and requires local educational agencies serving grades 7–12 to post those materials on their websites by January 1, 2027.
Who It Affects
County offices of education, school districts, and charter schools that maintain any of grades 7–12; the State Department of Education is responsible for creating the materials. Students in grades 7–12 and their families are the intended beneficiaries.
Why It Matters
It standardizes the availability of prevention resources across California’s secondary schools without mandating curricular changes, while attaching a potential state-mandated local cost and a narrow timeline for implementation.
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What This Bill Actually Does
AB 1135 embeds a focused, low-touch obligation into the Safe Place to Learn Act: the State Superintendent must develop and publish guidance and a list of statewide resources specifically aimed at preventing teen dating violence, and local education agencies that serve middle- and high-school grades must mirror that content on their websites. The bill sets two firm deadlines: the department-level materials are due online by July 1, 2026, and local agencies must have them posted by January 1, 2027.
The law confines the local responsibility to posting the department’s materials on public internet sites. It does not require districts or schools to adopt the guidance as policy, implement a particular curriculum, provide staff training, or report outcomes.
That narrow scope reduces immediate programmatic obligations but leaves open how schools should use the materials in practice.Because the bill creates a state-mandated local duty, it also triggers the Commission on State Mandates process: if the Commission finds the posting requirement imposes reimbursable costs, those costs must be paid under the Government Code provisions cited in the bill. The statute contains no separate appropriation, no enforcement mechanism for nonposting, and no specification about the format, languages, or accessibility standards for the posted materials.Practically, implementation will involve the Department of Education producing the guidance and a resource list (likely identifying hotlines, community organizations, and model policies), and local IT or communications staff updating websites to include the content and links.
The bill’s impact will therefore fall unevenly: larger districts with communications teams will absorb the change quickly, while small districts and charter schools with limited web capacity will face the bulk of the operational burden unless reimbursement is provided.
The Five Things You Need to Know
The Superintendent of Public Instruction must develop and post guidance and a statewide resource list for preventing teen dating violence by July 1, 2026.
Each county office of education, school district, and charter school that maintains any of grades 7–12 must post the Superintendent’s guidance and resource list on its public website by January 1, 2027.
The statutory duty is limited to publishing the materials online; the bill does not require adoption of policies, staff training, or curricular changes.
The act adds Section 234.55 to the Education Code under the Safe Place to Learn Act and declares the requirement a potential state-mandated local program subject to the Commission on State Mandates.
If the Commission determines the bill imposes state-mandated costs, reimbursement to local agencies and districts must follow Part 7 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code (commencing with Section 17500).
Section-by-Section Breakdown
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Statewide guidance and resource list — development and posting
This subdivision requires the Superintendent to create guidance and a list of statewide resources specifically aimed at preventing teen dating violence and to post them on the Department of Education’s internet website by July 1, 2026. Practically, the department must decide the scope, format, and content of the materials; the statute sets a deadline but provides no content standard, leaving room for the department to include legal information, referral services, template policies, or educational materials.
Local posting requirement for grades 7–12
This clause obliges county offices of education, school districts, and charter schools that maintain any of grades 7 through 12 to post the state-produced guidance and resource list on their own public websites by January 1, 2027. The requirement applies regardless of district size and does not differentiate by school site. The duty is limited to publishing the department’s materials rather than creating local content.
Potential state-mandated local program and reimbursement pathway
If the Commission on State Mandates concludes the act imposes costs on local agencies, this section directs that reimbursement be provided according to existing statutory procedures (Part 7 of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code, beginning with Section 17500). The bill itself includes no appropriation language, so reimbursement would follow the Commission’s normal claims and payment process.
Placement under the Safe Place to Learn Act
The bill inserts the new Section 234.55 into the Education Code immediately after Section 234.5 and leaves intact the Safe Place to Learn Act’s statement of policy. This is procedural placement: the new provision sits alongside existing statutes addressing discrimination, harassment, and bullying, signaling that teen dating violence prevention is part of the broader pupil-safety framework.
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Explore Education in Codify Search →Who Benefits and Who Bears the Cost
Every bill creates winners and losers. Here's who stands to gain and who bears the cost.
Who Benefits
- Students in grades 7–12 — gain consistent, state-curated access to prevention resources and referral information online, improving visibility of support options across districts.
- School counselors and health staff — receive a centralized set of materials they can reference or link to rather than compiling disparate resources themselves.
- Parents and caregivers of secondary students — get an easy, public point of access to vetted statewide resources and hotlines related to teen dating violence.
- Nonprofit service providers and hotlines — may see amplified referrals if the state resource list directs students and families to existing community organizations.
Who Bears the Cost
- County offices of education, school districts, and charter schools serving grades 7–12 — must allocate staff time and website resources to post and maintain the materials by the statutory deadline, which is a new operational duty.
- State Department of Education — must staff development of guidance and a resource inventory within the specified timeline, absorbing planning and editorial costs.
- Small charter schools and rural districts — likely face proportionally higher implementation burdens because they often lack dedicated communications or IT personnel.
- Local budgets if the Commission denies reimbursement — without an appropriation, districts may need to cover implementation costs from existing funds.
Key Issues
The Core Tension
The bill trades a low-cost, uniform statewide approach — centralized guidance and a simple posting requirement — for local flexibility and resource constraints: it seeks consistency in available resources without funding or enforcement, forcing local agencies to shoulder implementation unevenly while leaving unanswered whether posting alone will translate into meaningful prevention or improved outcomes.
The bill imposes a precise but narrow legal duty: the creation and online publication of guidance and a statewide resource list, and a mirror-posting requirement for local agencies. Because it stops at posting, the statute avoids mandating substantive prevention programs, staff training, or changes to discipline protocols; that design reduces immediate fiscal exposure but also limits the law’s ability to drive on-the-ground practice change.
The absence of content standards or accessibility requirements (for example, language translations or formats for students with disabilities) creates implementation ambiguity that the Department of Education will have to resolve administratively.
Another open question is reach and equity. Relying on website posting assumes that students and families will find and use those pages; many students rely on school counselors, classroom instruction, or community outreach rather than district web pages.
Smaller districts and charters with limited web capacity will disproportionately feel the operational impact unless the Commission orders reimbursement and payment follows quickly. Finally, the reimbursement mechanism is procedural: the bill refers to the Commission on State Mandates and the Government Code pathway but provides no funding, and the Commission could determine the costs are not reimbursable or that claims require a lengthy administrative process.
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