AB2159 - Pupil discipline: cyberbullying: parent accountability.

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION Assembly Bill No. 2159 Introduced by Assembly Member Garcia February 18, 2026 An act relating to pupil discipline. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AB 2159, as introduced, Garcia. Pupil discipline: cyberbullying: parent accountability. Existing law prohibits a pupil from being suspended from school or recommended for expulsion, unless the superintendent of the school district or the principal of the school in which the pupil is enrolled determines that the pupil has committed an act from a list of specified acts, including an act of bullying, which is defined as any severe or pervasive physical or verbal act or conduct, including communications made in writing or by means of an electronic act, directed toward one or more pupils that has or can be reasonably predicted to have one or more specified effects. Existing law requires suspension to be imposed only when other means of correction, including, among other things, a conference between school personnel, the pupil’s parent or guardian, and the pupil, fail to bring about proper conduct. This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would, among other things, require that a pupil and the parent or guardian of a pupil who engages in repeated acts of cyberbullying or is suspended for cyberbullying participate in a program of rehabilitative cyberbullying education, counseling, or training. Digest Key Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO Bill Text The people of the State of California do enact as follows: SECTION 1. It is the intent of the Legislature to enact future legislation that would do all of the following: (a) Require the State Department of Education to develop cyberbullying education, counseling, or trainings that a local educational agency may access. (b) For a pupil who engages in repeated acts of cyberbullying or is suspended for cyberbullying, require the pupil and the pupil’s parent or guardian to participate in a program of rehabilitative cyberbullying education, counseling, or training. (c) Require local educational agencies to report to the department the name of a pupil and the pupil’s parent or guardian that has been required to participate in a program pursuant to subdivision (b) and report whether the program was completed. (d) For a pupil’s parent or guardian that fails to complete participating in a program pursuant to subdivision (b), require the department to issue a notice of noncompliance to the parent or guardian and issue a citation and fine if noncompliance continues after notice.