2026 Uniform Complaint Procedures Update

Prepared by the
Education Equity Uniform Complaint Procedures Office

Description: Update on California Department of Education Uniform Complaint Procedures.
Authority: Assembly Bill 107 of the 2025–26 Budget Act
Due Date: On or before January 31, 2026

2026 Uniform Complaint Procedures Update
California Department of Education
Report to the State Legislature

The Budget Act of 2025 (AB 107 [Chapter 22, Statutes of 2025] Item 6100-001-0001, para. 21) requires the California Department of Education (CDE) “to provide a report by January 31 of each year with a summary of the number of days for completion of appeals [of local educational agency (LEA) decisions on Uniform Complaints] by complaint type and program area, including the rationale for complaints that exceeded 60 days .

The Uniform Complaint Procedures (UCP) 2025 Annual Statistical Summary (Attachment 1) (DOCX) identifies each of the complaints and appeals by program area and whether the CDE was able to complete the appeal process within 60 days of receipt of the appeal. For those appeals that exceeded 60 days, the rationale is indicated.

Under the UCP, LEAs are responsible for investigating and resolving most complaints, and the CDE is responsible for reviewing appeals of LEA investigations. The CDE may also directly investigate in cases where a student may suffer immediate and irreparable harm due to an unlawful policy and filing the complaint locally would be futile. The CDE processes complaints and appeals pursuant to the UCP statutory and regulatory timelines and procedures for processing these matters.

Attachment 1 includes the Program Areas and Complaint Types and indicates the date the appeal or request for direct intervention was received and the date the appeal decision or direct intervention investigation report was issued. Program areas that accepted appeals and requests for direct intervention in 2025 were:

• After School Education and Safety
  • Discrimination; Retaliation; Improper Fees; Failure to Implement Accommodations; Employee Misconduct; Hostile Environment.
• Categorical Programs Complaint Management (CPCM)
  • Title I; Title III; Courses without Educational Content; English Learner Classification; English Learner Advisory Committee; English Learner Instruction; Private Schools; Pupil Fees; School Site Council; School Safety Plans; Single Plan for Student Achievement.
• Education Equity
  • Discrimination, Harassment, Intimidation, and/or Bullying based on a protected characteristic; Retaliation.
• Local Control Accountability Plan
  • Stakeholder Engagement
• Williams
  • Facilities (Paint Concerns; Pest Control Issue; Restroom Closures; Safety Concerns for a Temporary School Location; Water Damage).

The Education Equity Program accepted the highest number of appeals with 210 (84 percent of the total), followed by the Categorical Programs Complaint Management Program with 33 appeals and/or complaints (13 percent). The Williams Program completed four appeals, The After School Education and Safety Program had three, and the Local Control Accountability Program addressed one appeal.

Public interest in seeking redress from CDE under the UCP has been on an upward trajectory in recent years, particularly as to complaints raising claims of discrimination based on protected status (i.e.,disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation).

The capacity of CDE to respond to the very high volume of requests, both informal inquiries and formal complaints, has been greatly strained as the availability of resources for the work has lagged well behind the need required to address the high volume of communications, requests for direct intervention, and appeals of LEA decisions. In recent years and increasingly, the disparity between available resources and the demand for CDE’s support has resulted in a practical inability to resolve submissions in a reasonably timely manner.

Recent legislation (AB 715, effective January 1, 2026) will undoubtedly increase public awareness of CDE's functions and promote increased interest in accessing CDE's support in furthering the prevention and amelioration of discrimination in California public education. To effectively meet these increasing responsibilities, especially in a national climate that appears poised to shift most matters of educational equity to the State, CDE is involved in an intensive effort to reorganize and reallocate existing resources while seeking necessary increased budgetary support to improve the timeliness and effectiveness of its antidiscrimination efforts.

CDE remains enthusiastic and confident in its ability to help fulfill the expectation for all the citizens of the State that public education be increasingly equitable and that instances of suspected unlawful discrimination be addressed promptly and, where warranted, ameliorated swiftly and effectively.

If you have any questions regarding this report, please contact Celina Arias-Romero, Education Administrator, Education Equity UCP Office, by phone at 916-324-9820 or by email at CAriasRomero@cde.ca.gov.

If you need a copy of this report, please contact the Education Equity UCP Office by phone at 916-319-8239 or by email at eeucpo@cde.ca.gov.