The Assembly Appropriations Committee today approved SB 161, a bill by Senator Nell Soto (D – Pomona). SB 161 would require the State Department of Education (SDE) to prepare a statement of pupil rights (in both English and Spanish) with regard to discrimination and medical care (including mental health, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases). 

Soto’s bill would mandate the posting of the pupil rights statement on the SDE website by July 1, 2006, and would require the department to notify school districts of the statement's availability. SB 161 would also allow school districts to display the statement at school facilities.  

In 2003, Soto established the 32nd Senatorial District Teen Pregnancy Prevention Consortium in response to the high teen pregnancy rate in the district – the fourth highest in the state. The consortium, which consists of stakeholders, community members, and youth, concluded that young people would benefit greatly from knowing about the laws that are pertinent to their lives.

Current law establishes certain rights relating to a pupil's ability to consent to certain medical care, rights relating to adoption procedures, and rights relating to criminal 

procedure.  It also provides pupils with certain rights relating to the attendance of safe schools and the right to be free from discrimination in schools.

Soto’s bill would not establish any new rights for youth, “but by creating a central clearinghouse for young people to learn about the rights already available to them, we will empower youth and their parents to make informed decisions.”