Elsinore Boy's Tragic Death Ushers New PE Rules For California Schools

CALIFORNIA — An awful lesson learned a year ago in California will hopefully never be repeated. On Aug. 29, 2023, Yahushua Robinson, 12, died after running during a physical education class at Canyon Lake Middle School in Lake Elsinore. Temperatures were over 100 degrees that day, and the region was under an excessive heat warning.

At the time, there were no uniform heat rules for California public schools to follow. That changed Sept. 22 when Newsom signed Senate Bill 1248 — dubbed Yahushua’s Law.

The new law requires the State Department of Education to adopt standardized guidelines for public and charter schools to follow during extreme weather conditions. The guidelines will specify temperature thresholds, or index ratings, that trigger modifications to physical activities.

PE classes, sports, and athletic practices and games sponsored by local schools and districts will be impacted by the new law. Any interscholastic athletic programs administered by the CIF will be required to comply with recently established CIF guidelines regarding extreme heat and air quality.

According to the new state law's text, the standardized guidelines will be drafted in consultation with relevant stakeholders and experts. Other extreme weather factors like air quality must also be considered under the law that takes effect July 1, 2026.

Yahushua's mother, Janee Robinson, is a PE teacher in the same school district that her son attended class — the Lake Elsinore Unified School District. She told ABC7 that she kept her students inside on the day her boy died.

"These students should not have been outside, and to think that my child died while my students were in," she told the news outlet.

Yahushua collapsed during the PE class and was pronounced dead at 12:25 p.m. that same day after being transported to a local hospital. A heart defect — with heat and physical exertion as contributing factors — led to his death, according to Los Angeles Times reporting based on a Riverside County coroner’s office report.

Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) introduced the legislation that became Yahushua’s Law, and she said the boy's family helped get the legislation to Newsom's desk.

"No student should ever lose their life on campus to extreme weather when we can take steps to protect them by preparing statewide plans to minimize exposure to the most harmful elements of exposure," Hurtado said in a statement. "I commend the family of Yahushua Robinson ... for lending their emotional strength and compassion for others in order to help ensure that no other student loses their life this way."

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