That mandate was included in the education trailer bill signed last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom as part of the 2024-25 budget.
The plan must be operative by July 1st, 2025.
EdSource reports local educational agencies -- school districts, charter schools and county offices of education -- that do not develop an instructional continuity plan as part of their school safety plan will not be eligible to recover lost state attendance funding, if schools close, or a significant number of students are unable to attend because of an emergency.
In a separate action, the trailer bill also addresses chronic absenteeism. It authorizes school districts to provide attendance recovery programs during school breaks, weekends or after school, and to allow students to make up for up to 10 days of school missed for any reason.
Beginning next July, districts that offer the programs will be able to recover state funds lost when students in the program were previously absent from school.
The legislation comes four years after California schools closed for more than a year because of a worldwide COVID pandemic. Since then, chronic absenteeism rates have more than doubled. Wildfires and flooding also have closed schools across the state with increasing frequency in recent years.