CUSDWatch Comment

State and Federal Law require public schools to provide equal rights and opportunities to all persons in protected classes.

The District is required by law to notify parents and guardians of their children’s right to a free public education in an environment that is free from discrimination.

California Law requires CUSD to send notifications in 3 languages - English , Spanish and Farsi

Federal Protected Classes- Education

Source: US Department of Education- Office of Civil Rights 

Federal Law prohibits Discrimination in Public Schools based on Sex, Race and National Origin, Age, Disability and ensures Equal Access to the Boy Scouts of America.

State Protected Classes - Education 

Source: California Education Code Section 200

California Education Code Section 200 was amended January 1, 2018 to broaden the class of people that are protected from discrimination to include Gender, gender identity and gender expression.

It is the policy of the State of California to afford all persons in public schools, regardless of their: disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic that is contained in the definition of hate crimes set forth in Section 422.55 of the Penal Code, including immigration status, equal rights, and opportunities in the educational institutions of the state. The purpose of this chapter is to prohibit acts that are contrary to that policy and to provide remedies therefor.

In 2017 California Assembly Bill 699 added "Immigration status" as a protected class.

California Education Code Section 48985(a)

(a) If 15 percent or more of the pupils enrolled in a public school that provides instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, speak a single primary language other than English, as determined from the census data submitted to the department pursuant to Section 52164 in the preceding year, all notices, reports, statements, or records sent to the parent or guardian of any such pupil by the school or school district shall, in addition to being written in English, be written in the primary language, and may be responded to either in English or the primary language.