In 1990, Section 51203 of the California Education Code deemed that instruction on alcohol and its effects on prenatal development was required for all schools. Receiving a DUI in November 2023 motivated Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo to author AB 2865, providing young people with the knowledge to make more informed choices about alcohol. AB 2865 expands the curriculum to include the effects of excessive alcohol consumption, ranging from mental health problems to the risk of chronic disease. For example, according to a California Department of Public Health report, over 50 Californians died per day due to excessive alcohol use between 2020 and 2021. School boards are responsible for deciding which grades and courses this instruction happens in. At Lynbrook, alcohol education is currently taught as part of the health course and is not a part of the science curriculum.
“Because it’s a social and cultural norm, teenagers may be encountering alcohol before they should be legally consuming it,” social studies teacher Mike Williams said. “Students should learn healthy, age-appropriate behaviors regarding alcohol as a young adult.”
AB 1955 prohibits school employees from disclosing a student’s sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression without the student’s consent, unless required by state or federal law in cases like a health emergency. In recent years, states have passed laws that could identify transgender students, requiring schools to notify parents of a student’s name or pronoun change and prohibiting employees from withholding information about gender identity from parents. More than a dozen districts in California have implemented similar policies. California is the first state to ban such disclosures. Proposed by Assemblymember Christopher Ward, AB 1955 requires that the California Department of Education develop additional resources for LGBTQ+ students’ families, such as counseling services and support groups.
“Even if your parents are accepting, there’s still a lot of fear and anxiety involved in coming out,” Gender and Sexuality Alliance officer Ishana Subrahmanyan said. “After recent changes in the political atmosphere, I think this law will make transgender students feel safer.”
AB 2999, authored by Assemblymembers Josh Lowenthal, Gail Pellerin and Pilar Schiavo, encourages school districts to adopt guidelines for homework by the 2028-29 school year and update them every five years afterward. FUHSD currently does not have an overarching homework policy, but Lynbrook’s homework policy states that homework should “enrich and extend classroom learning experiences” and “prepare students for classroom assessments.” A 2023 Challenge Success report of California high school students found that 45 percent of students regarded homework as a primary source of stress. AB 2999 cites concerns that excessive homework causes sleep deprivation, stress, health issues and less time for socialization. The bill encourages districts to consider a list of recommendations when developing and updating their homework policies, such as if homework is appropriate for the grade level, the equity of homework practices and different types of homework.
“In my AP Government classes, I try not to give homework over the weekend,” Williams said. “I think teachers need to reflect on the appropriate amount of homework for students, especially in advanced classes.”
Under AB 1078, a school board cannot ban materials, including novels and textbooks, from appearing in school curriculums and libraries simply for including “the contributions of ethnic, cultural, religious and socioeconomic status groups.” The bill reinforces Section 60040 of the Education Code, which states that boards should only approve materials that represent the cultural and racial diversity of California. The exceptions to this are materials that portray people negatively because of their identity or socioeconomic status. Last year, AB 1825 was also passed, which prohibits book bans from public libraries on the basis of similar characteristics, except in cases of legally defined obscenity. The FUHSD board policy maintains the stance that curriculum material cannot be excluded solely because of controversy, for both classroom books and library materials.
“It’s important that people have the right to choose what to read,” librarian Amy Ashworth said. “If students are going to be reading books in school, it’s because they’ve been vetted by publishers, teachers, administrators and the board. I have faith that these picks are good.”
With AB 2353, nonprofit organization-owned affordable rental housing can be given a welfare exemption, which absolves developers from paying property tax. Previously, affordable housing developers had to pay property tax until their submission for welfare exemption was approved. The approval process could take up to three years, and developers weren’t refunded money until after the approval. Therefore, this process became a cost barrier for the developers. Proposed by Assemblymember Chris Ward, AB 2353 amends the tax code so that if they apply for welfare exemption, developers do not pay property tax until that application is reviewed. This bill encourages the development of affordable housing and is one of many laws addressing the housing crisis that is going into effect. According to a California Housing Partnership report, affordable housing production in California dropped 38 percent from 2023 to 2024.
“California’s Chief Fiscal Officer is very aware of challenges around affordable housing in the State of California,” said Evan Johnson, Deputy Controller for Legislative Affairs, in an assembly hearing testifying for Controller Cohen. “Reducing development costs is critical to improving the utilization of state dollars on affordable housing. I think these changes will really improve the implementation of the welfare tax exemption.”
