BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1390
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 13, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 1390 (Blumenfield) - As Amended: April 29, 2009
Policy Committee: Education
Vote:8-0
Public Safety
7-0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill requires a school security or police department to
notify in writing, within 24 hours, the appropriate county or
city law enforcement authorities of any act that triggers an
automatic suspension of a pupil or non-pupil that takes place on
a schoolsite.
FISCAL EFFECT
Annual increased GF/98 state reimbursable mandated costs, likely
between $160,000 and $480,000, to comply with this measure.
According to the State Department of Education, there were
824,231 pupil suspensions in 2007-08. Of this number, 338,164
were categorized as violence/drug suspensions.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . According to the author, "Prompt, accurate and
transparent reporting of school-related crimes is a critical
first step toward the development of effective early warning,
prevention and intervention strategies for at-risk youth. This
is particularly important in large urban settings where school
police and city police departments share some concurrent
responsibilities and one or both may be involved in the
investigation of a school incident depending on the nature of
the crime. To effectively address school crime, districts must
first acknowledge it exists (transparency) and principals and
school police must cross report all serious crime to local law
enforcement at the earliest possible stage to assist in early
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intervention strategies."
2)Existing law requires a principal or superintendent of schools
to immediately suspend and recommend expulsion of a pupil that
he or she determines committed any of the following acts at
school or at a school activity:
a) Possession, sell, or otherwise furnishing a firearm.
b) Brandishing a knife.
c) Unlawfully selling a controlled substance, as defined in
the Health and Safety Code.
d) Committing or attempting to commit sexual assault or
sexual battery.
e) Possession of an explosive.
This bill requires a school security or police department to
notify local law enforcement, within 24 hours, of any one of
these incidents that occur on a schoolsite.
3)Is there a deficiency under current law ? Existing statute
requires a principal or the principal's designee (i.e., a vice
principal), prior to the suspension or expulsion of any pupil,
to notify law enforcement authorities of crimes that involve
the following: (a) assault with a firearm or deadly weapon and
(b) crimes associated with the possession or sale of narcotics
or a controlled substance.
Likewise, current law also specifies that the principal's
failure to make a report to law enforcement is an infraction
punishable by a fine not more than $500 to be paid by the
principal or principal's designee. Also, many school
districts have established working relationships with their
local law enforcement agencies. For example, the Los Angeles
Unified School District Police Department already submits
copies of crime reports to the appropriate law enforcement
agencies for statistical and information purposes.
This bill requires all acts resulting in suspension to be
reported to local law enforcement, which creates a state
reimbursable mandated cost. It is unclear that there is a
problem with current statute that needs to be addressed.
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Therefore, the committee may wish to consider whether or not
it is appropriate to place additional mandates on schools
during this state fiscal crisis.
4)Existing state mandates related to school safety and the
suspension/expulsion of pupils . Currently, the state has not
reimbursed local education agencies for the annual on-going
cost of K-12 mandates for the last four years, which equals a
$913 million GF/98 outstanding obligation. The annual
on-going cost of existing K-12 state mandates is approximately
$171.2 million GF/98. The following table illustrates the
current mandates that affect school safety and their annual
estimated costs.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
| Mandate | Description | Annual |
| | | Costa |
|-----------------+------------------------------------+----------|
|Law Enforcement |Requires districts to notify law |$1.45 |
|Notifications |enforcement when students involved |million |
| |in illegal activity during school. | |
|-----------------+------------------------------------+----------|
|Notification to |Requires districts to: (1) notify |$5.6 |
|Teachers of |teachers of students mandatorily |million |
|Pupil Expulsion |expelled, and (2) collect and | |
| |maintain this data. | |
|-----------------+------------------------------------+----------|
|Comprehensive |Requires districts to: (1) develop |$4.9 |
|School Safety |and adopt plans that meet the |million |
| |safety needs of each school, and | |
| |(2) update those plans annually. | |
|-----------------+------------------------------------+----------|
|Pupil |Requires districts to: (1) expel |$3.5 |
|Suspension, |students for having firearm, |million |
|Expulsion, |committing robbery, other offenses, | |
|Expulsion |and (2) adhere to due process such | |
|Appeals |as by providing written notice to | |
| |parents and explaining appeal | |
| |options. | |
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aGF/98 costs represent the average cost of claims over the last
five years.
Source: Legislative Analyst Office
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Analysis Prepared by : Kimberly Rodriguez / APPR. / (916)
319-2081