AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 21, 2026

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2025–2026 REGULAR SESSION

98

Introduced by Assembly Member Krell

February 9, 2026

An act to add Section 33546.5 to the Education Code, relating to pupil instruction.

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal committee: yes   Local program: no

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

Existing law establishes the Instructional Quality Commission and requires the commission to, among other things, develop, and the State Board of Education to adopt, modify, or revise, model curriculum frameworks, as specified. Existing law requires the commission, when the health curriculum framework is next revised on or after January 1, 2025, to consider providing for inclusion, in that curriculum framework, content on sextortion, as defined.

Existing law, the California Healthy Youth Act, requires school districts, defined to include county boards of education, county superintendents of schools, the California School for the Deaf, the California School for the Blind, and charter schools, to ensure that all pupils in grades 7 to 12, inclusive, receive comprehensive sexual health education and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention education from instructors trained in the appropriate courses, at least once in junior high or middle school and at least once in high school. Under the act, this instruction includes, among other things, information about human trafficking. Existing law requires school districts, as part of the requirement of the California Healthy Youth Act that pupils receive comprehensive sexual health education and HIV prevention education from instructors trained in the appropriate courses, to ensure the periodic conduction of continuation training to enable school district personnel to learn about new developments in the understanding of, among other things, human trafficking, and to receive instruction on current prevention resources, as provided.

This bill would require the commission, when the health curriculum framework is next revised on or after January 1, 2027, to consider providing for inclusion in that framework recommendations content related to school districts, county offices of education, and charter schools providing annual, developmentally appropriate lessons for each grade served by the local educational agency about human trafficking and online safety, including how to prevent human trafficking, how to prevent exploitation for labor and services, how to stay safe from sexually exploitative materials and deepfakes online, foundational digital citizenship skills, and skills-based content that builds protective factors, as provided. The bill would require the recommended lessons topics considered to follow a cumulative, age-appropriate progression from kindergarten to grades 1 to 12, inclusive, as provided.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 33546.5 is added to the Education Code, to read:

33546.5.

(a) (1) When the “Health Education Framework for California Public Schools” (health framework) is next revised, on or after January 1, 2027, the commission shall consider including recommendations content related to human trafficking and online safety. This shall include consideration of all of on the following topics:

(A) How to prevent human trafficking, including understanding online exploitation and how traffickers target vulnerabilities, and how to prevent exploitation for labor or services, with the evaluation criteria for instructional materials addressing both community-based and intrafamilial exploitation risks.

(B) How to stay safe from sexually exploitative materials and deepfakes online, including information on reporting processes and pupil rights, and foundational digital citizenship skills that equip pupils to respond safely when exposed to harmful or uncomfortable online content.

(C) Skills-based content that builds protective factors, such as help-seeking strategies, healthy boundaries, digital citizenship, rights of workers, and identifying trustworthy adults, and supports adults to support early disclosures through predictable, developmentally appropriate safety routines aligned with mandated reporting expectations. requirements.

(A) Follow a cumulative, age-appropriate progression from kindergarten to grades 1 to 12, inclusive, ensuring foundational safety skills are taught in early grades and expanded upon in later grades. For

(B) For pupils in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6, inclusive, recommended instruction shall be nongraphic and developmentally aligned, introducing concepts of healthy touch, bodily autonomy, safe versus unsafe secrets, how to say “no,” how to seek help from trusted adults, and basic online safety in an age-appropriate manner. The recommendations shall ensure

(C) Ensure that universal safety concepts provided in early grades, such as bodily autonomy, boundary setting, and how to access help, remain developmentally appropriate and consistent with statewide child abuse prevention standards, especially for pupils at heightened risk of intrafamilial exploitation. standards.

(D) Be evidence-based, evidence based, survivor informed, culturally responsive, and aligned with trauma responsive trauma-responsive best practices.

(3) The recommendations required topics considered pursuant to subparagraph (A) paragraph (1) and related recommended instruction shall be grounded in research-supported prevention models and may include curriculum developed by input from community-based organizations with demonstrated evidence of effectiveness, effectiveness related to measurable outcomes related to knowledge of trafficking, including those using survivor-informed and culturally responsive frameworks. Recommended instruction shall be designed to gradually introduce concepts tied to exploitation prevention, ensuring age-appropriateness for younger pupils and increasing complexity at developmentally suitable stages.

(4) Instruction that is recommended pursuant to this paragraph shall be consistent with the instructional quality standards established under Section 51900.5 and subdivision shall meet all of the following criteria:

(A) Reinforce prevention-focused content required under the California Healthy Youth Act (Chapter 5.6 (commencing with Section 51930)).

(B) Promote cultural competency, including content relevant to disproportionately impacted communities.

(C) Be designed to reduce stigma for survivors and pupils with applicable lived experience.

(D) Ensure that instructional materials reflect a developmental sequence that builds knowledge year to year supporting healthy relationship education, online safety skills, and the ability of pupils to recognize and report concerning behaviors.

(A) Identifying pupils who may be victims of human trafficking or online exploitation, including recognizing indicators of forced labor and intrafamilial abuse across developmental stages.

(B) Responding using trauma-responsive, survivor-informed protocols.

(C) Mandatory reporting responsibilities and referral pathways.

(D) How to engage culturally and linguistically diverse pupils safely.

(E) How to avoid criminalization of pupils who may be exploited.

(F) Understanding how disclosures occur differently across ages and how to support early, developmentally appropriate reporting pathways.

(2) Recommended resources may include guidance produced by qualified organizations with demonstrated subject expertise in evidence-based human trafficking prevention education, including using survivor leadership in curriculum development. development, and with demonstrated expertise in scientific program evaluation, data analytics, and child and adolescent development.